Russians know election not fair, but will participate anyway

If western democratic values are really based at their root on a belief in a Hobbesian contract whereby the governed consent to the sovereignty of those who govern, then it appears that Russia falls comfortably within this model. A poll conducted by Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty suggests that Russians are under no illusions about the electoral process they are about to partake in.

Despite an acceptance that the presidential election will not be transparent or honest, the electorate assent to the process as it is. Over 75% intend to cast there vote and a majority will support Putin’s chosen successor, Dmitri Medvedev. What is inferred is the emergence of a social contract between the Russian people and the Kremlin.

"There is an unwritten agreement in which people have received a certain level of personal freedoms and a rise in their living standards," Nikolai Petrov of the Moscow Carnegie Center explains to RFE/RL's Russian Service.

Comments

Dinamo said…
Trust. Fukiyama saw this as the key. As a boy I trusted my fellow party members and the central committee. I did not trust others such as railway saboteurs and kulaks. And the Soviet Union flourished. Gorbachev through Glasnost and perestroika was well-meaning but westerners exploited this and sought to destroy us by appealing to base instincts of greed. Now we have just enough democracy and a burgeoning confidence again. If not Zyuganov, then only Medvedev can take us forward!
14 February 2008 at 20:34
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