Russian democracy- contradiction in terms?

It’s easy for Westerners to find fault with Russian elections. Russia, however, is Russia. Nothing is simple or straightforward. Russian views of democracy are like the fish’s idea of flight: It’s no expert, and anyway, it’s a fish.

Deutsche Welle has come up with a really interesting perspective on Russian democracy, from a Russian, for once. Lev Gudkov is a Russian sociologist. If that sounds a bit daunting as a profession, it is. Keeping track of the social mentality of Russia since the fall of the Soviet Union obviously hasn’t been all that easy. Gudkov tries, pretty successfully, to explain Russian social history to identify the Russian mindset of government. He points out that Russia has had no experience of real managed democracy in its entire history. It’s had a couple of governments which were trying to look democratic, but that’s it. Putin, apparently, is popular because he’s providing what’s considered government services. Some recent prosperity hasn’t hurt, either, but that’s only really affecting about 20% of the population, according to Gudkov. He makes the point that Russians are used to dependency on government. That’s the way it should be, in the minds of many Russians. Understandable, because many of those services are daily, life-affecting things. Medical and social services are quoted by Gudkov as examples. Under the Soviet system, which the vast majority of Russians were raised with, those services were crucial, particularly in rural areas. The tough times after 1991, in which the country dissolved, and people lost possessions just to buy scarce food, have obviously reinforced that view. Most of the nostalgia for Soviet times during that period can be traced to the fact that those were, relatively, the good times for services. (Not that things were exactly idyllic, and shortages were well known during the Soviet era, but by comparison, things were a lot simpler, and less dangerous.) Putin has given the Russian version of government to the Russians. Actually, short of riding around in a samovar driven by reindeer or novelists, that’s about as Russian as any Russian political platform could be. Gudkov, early in this DW interview makes a very telling point: “We're dealing here not so much with the formula: "Look how well off we are," but rather with the principle: "Thank God, nothing bad is going on."” Not as though Russia hasn’t had enough experience of bad times, and the political bad times were frequently the worst. Between the Russian Civil War and the end of World War Two, call it 25 years, Russia received the dubious blessings of Lenin, Trotsky, Stalin, the OGPU, the NKVD, and the KGB, and their related joys. The Gulag Archipelago could more aptly have been called the Gulag Continent. Economics weren’t the strong point, either. Collectivization created a famine, and a lot of the social ideology simply killed people, with or without a reason, or pretense of a reason. No real figures exist, but Russia experienced the equivalent of more than one Second World War. The Soviet Union collapsed on the basis of hideous economics, where even basic numeracy is debatable to this day, and a corrupt, stagnant, dacha-dwelling elite more interested in personal gain than anything else. When that fell apart, it took public assets with it, (one way or another), and the Russians were living yet another Russian tragedy. No wonder, then, that by Gudkov’s assessment, the Russians are inclined to believe what comes out at their end, rather than what’s supposed to be happening on the top of the heap. That perspective, by now, is probably genetic. Putin is no idiot. That is exactly what he’s been doing, delivering the basics, and that’s being appreciated. By Russian measures, that’s good government. Even the freedom of the press isn’t that much of an issue to people who’ve barely experienced anything of the sort. Rather a pity, because exposing problems is sometimes very much in the interests of both government and people. But it’s a very Russian approach. Pravda, or the equivalent, will be the expected, not the unpredictable. According to Gudkov, 53% of Russians support the present version of Russian government. The other 47%, he says, don’t have a hope of taking power. History chooses some strange ways of making its points. Russia has apparently opted for something it understands. Whatever it does, they’ve seen worse. Interesting point, really. What would happen if Western governments were judged by what they deliver, rather than what they claim to represent? Hmmm….