Virtual Politics: Faking Democracy in the Post-Soviet World
Virtual Politics: Faking Democracy in the Post-Soviet World
复制标题
虚拟政治：后苏联世界的虚假民主
DOI：
10.2307/20031813
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发表时间：
2005
影响因子：
--
通讯作者：
Andrew Wilson
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Andrew Wilson
像俄罗斯和乌克兰这样的国家可能不会回到极权主义或传统的独裁主义模式，即塞满投票箱，恐吓民众和压制反对派--或者不是很明显。但是一个完整的“政治技术”产业却发展起来了，影子私人公司和政府“修理工”在利润丰厚的合同上致力于组织选举成功的黑色艺术。这本书揭示了用于使后苏联政权合法化的“虚拟”政治体系的复杂技术：整个假政党，幽灵般的政治对手和“稻草人”对手。它暴露了大众媒体在投射这些创造物和伪造整个政治过程中的最重要作用。威尔逊认为，使前苏联世界发展有意义的民主如此困难的主要原因并不是经济问题。尽管西方也有自己的“舆论医生”、肮脏的伎俩和咄咄逼人的广告活动，但正是独特的后布尔什维克文化的“政治技术”才是该地区更好的治理、真实的民众参与公共事务以及长期政治经济现代化的主要障碍。
States like Russia and Ukraine may not have gone back to totalitarianism or the traditional authoritarian formula of stuffing the ballot box, cowing the population and imprisoning the opposition--or not obviously. But a whole industry of "political technology" has developed instead, with shadowy private firms and government "fixers" on lucrative contracts dedicated to the black arts of organizing electoral success. This book uncovers the sophisticated techniques of the "virtual" political system used to legitimize post-Soviet regimes: entire fake parties, phantom political rivals and "scarecrow" opponents. And it exposes the paramount role of the mass media in projecting these creations and in falsifying the entire political process. Wilson argues that it is not primarily economic problems that have made it so difficult to develop meaningful democracy in the former Soviet world. Although the West also has its "spin doctors," dirty tricks, and aggressive ad campaigns, it is the unique post-Bolshevik culture of "political technology" that is the main obstacle to better governance in the region, to real popular participation in public affairs, and to the modernization of the political economy in the longer term.