Transitional Citizens - Voters and What Influences Them in the New Russia

Transitional Citizens looks at the newly empowered citizens of Russia's protodemocracy facing choices at the ballot box that just a few years ago, under dictatorial rule, they could not have dreamt of.While in the West politicians argue over refinements to social systems in basically good working order, in the Russian Federation they address graver concerns -- dysfunctional institutions, individual freedom, nationhood, property rights, provision of the basic necessities of life -- in an unparalleled economic downswing. While recent Russian campaigns might give an impression of political chaos, Timothy Colton finds that voting in transitional Russia is in fact highly patterned. Further, Colton reveals that post-Communist voting is not driven by any single explanatory factor such as ethnicity, charismatic leadership, or financial concerns, but rather by multiple causes interacting in complex ways. He gives us the most sophisticated and insightful account yet of the citizens of the new Russia.

List of contents

Preface 1. Subjects into Citizens 2. Transitional Citizens and the Electoral Process 3. Society in Transformation 4. Partisanship in Formation 5. Opinions, Opinions ... 6. Performance, Personality, and Promise 7. Tying the Strands Together Appendix A. Post-Soviet Election Results, 1993-1996 Appendix B. Survey Data, Methods, and Models Appendix C. Summary of Issue Opinions Appendix D. Supplementary Tables Notes Acknowledgments Index

About the author

Timothy J. Colton is the Morris and Anna Feldberg Professor of Government and Russian Studies, and the Director of the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies, at Harvard University.

Summary

This book looks at the newly empowered citizens of Russia’s protodemocracy facing choices at the ballot box that just a few years ago, under dictatorial rule, they could not have dreamt of. Colton finds that despite their unfamiliarity with democracy, subjects-turned-citizens learn about their electoral options from peers and the mass media.

Product details

• Authors: Timothy J. Colton, Colton Timothy J.
• Publisher: University Presses
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 31.07.2000
• EAN: 9780674001534
• ISBN: 978-0-674-00153-4
• Weight: 454 g
• Illustrations: 53 graphs, 64 tables
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > History > Regional and national histories; Social sciences, law, business > Political science > Political science and political education; POLITICAL SCIENCE / Political Freedom, Russia, European History, HISTORY / Europe / General, Political structures: democracy, Later 20th century c 1950 to c 1999, Far-left political ideologies and movements, Sociology & anthropology, c 1990 to c 1999, Elections and referenda, Elections and referenda / suffrage, HISTORY / Russia / General, HISTORY / Russia / Post-Soviet