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Unit 12: Politics of Representation and Participation

in civic life builds social capital—networks of reciprocal ties of trust and obligation among citizens Notes
that facilitate collective action. Where social capital is greater, people treat one another as equals
rather than as members of social hierarchies. They are more willing to cooperate in ways that benefit
the society and improve the quality of government by sharing the burden of making government
accountable and effective. For example, where people feel less distance and mistrust toward
government, governments are better able to float bonds to provide improvements to community
infrastructure. People are more willing to pay their taxes, so that government has more revenue to
spend on public goods—and less ability and less incentive to divert it into politicians’ pockets. It is
not only capitalism, but also, to a large extent, democratic government, that rests on people’s ability
to cooperate for the common good.
In Russia, however, social capital has been thin, and state and society have been separated by mutual
mistrust and suspision. State authorities have usually stood outside and above society, extracting
what resources they needed from society but not cultivating ties of obligation to it. To a large extent,
the gap between state and society still exists today in Russians’ attitudes and behavior. Thus, although
Russians turn out to vote in elections in rather high numbers, participation in organized forms of
political activity (that is, not simply talking about politics with others and engaging in protest) is low.
Opinion polls show that most people believe that their involvement in political activity is futile, and
have little confidence that government serves their interests.
Since the late 1980s, political participation in Russia has seen a brief, intense surge followed by a
protracted ebb. Low participation appears to reflect a collapse of people’s faith that life can be improved
through the political process. Alienation of the populace from the state has long characterized Russian
political culture. Still, although few Russians belong to social organizations and most doubt they can
influence government through political participation, Russians today do take elections seriously and
value their freedom to participate in public life as they choose.
Participation in voluntary associations in contemporary Russia is extremely low: according to survey
data, 90 percent of the population do not belong to any sports or recreational club, literary or other
cultural group, political party, local housing association or charitable organization. Only 1 percent
report being a member of a political party. About 13 percent report attending church at least a few
times a year, and about 17 percent report being members or labor unions. These are very passive
forms of participation in public life. But even when these and other types of participation are taken
into account, however, almost 60 percent of the population still are outside any voluntary public
associations.
This is not to say that Russian citizens are psychologically disengaged from public life. Half of the
Russian adult population reports reading national newspapers “regularly” or “sometimes” and almost
everyone watches national television “regularly” (81 percent) or “sometimes” (14 percent). Sixty-
nine percent read local newspapers regularly or sometimes. Sixty-six percent discuss the problems of
the country with friends regularly or sometimes and 48 percent say that people ask them their opinions
about what is happening in the country. A similar percentage of people discuss the problems of their
city with friends. Russians do vote in high proportions in national elections—higher, in fact, than
their American counterparts.
Moreover, Russians prize their right to participate in politics as they choose, including the right not to
participate. Today’s low levels of political participation are a reflection of the low level of confidence in
political institutions and the widespread view that ordinary individuals have little influence over
government. In one late 2000 survey, 85 percent of the respondents expressed the opinion that they
have no influence to affect the decisions of the authorities. In another survey, 60 percent said that their
vote would not change anything; only 14 percent of the respondents thought that Russia was a democracy
while 54 percent said that “overall” it is not a democracy. The political authorities are viewed very
negatively (except for Putin). Fifty-five percent of the respondents in a survey in late 2000 said that the
authorities are concerned only with their own material wellbeing and career. Another 13 percent regarded
them as honest but weak, while another 11 percent considered them honest but incompetent.
Popular disengagement from politics was stimulated by the disappointment of expectations that the
change from communism to democracy would improve people’s lives. In the late 1980s and early

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