Siloviki i demokratiya po-prezhnemu nesovmestimy? Analiz dannykh Issledovaniya rossiiskikh elit 2016 goda (Are Siloviki and Democracy Still Incompatible? An Analysis of the 2016 Survey of Russian Elites)

Type of Work

Article

Date

2021

Journal Title

Monitoring Public Opinion: Economic and Social Changes

Journal Title - Alternate

Monitoring obshchestvennogo mneniya: ekonomicheskie i sotsial’nye peremeny

Journal ISSN

2219-5467

Journal Issue

5

First Page

163

Last Page

176

DOI

10.14515/monitoring.2021.5.1867

Abstract

Do elites with a strong background really share less liberal attitudes than civilian elites in Russia? This is an important question in the context of Vladimir Putin's personnel policy, focused on the employment of the security forces, and the last systematic attempt to answer dates back to 2009. In this article, we examine the orientations of respondents - representatives of the Russian elites regarding several central components of liberal democracy. The analysis is based on data from the seventh wave of the Survey of Russian Elites, conducted approximately every four years since 1993. The findings show continuity with previously discovered patterns: current law enforcement officers are less inclined to support political pluralism and human rights than their former retired colleagues, and members of the civilian elites who have experience in the security forces are less liberal than those who have built a completely civilian career. The consequences for the future of the Russian political system are as follows: the more the practice of employment in the leading state positions of the security forces expands, the less likely it will be to resume democratization processes in the future.

Hamilton Areas of Study

Government, Russian Studies, World Politics

Link to Full Text

Share

COinS