Democratization in the USSR: The Impact of Political Culture on Processes of Political Change

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This award supports exploratory research on the political and legal culture of the Soviet Union. The political culture of the Soviet Union is experiencing profound strains. In part, these are the cause, and in part an effect, of the dramatic convulsions taking place in the politics of that country as it attempts the difficult transition from authoritarian government and socialist economy to democracy and markets. This research examines the linkages between public opinion, political change, and the process of democratization. This project is structured around national surveys of public opinion and political elite attitudes to be conducted in the Soviet Union in mid-1991. The research will provide the basis for developing a profile of the major attributes of Soviet legal and political culture, permit the testing of hypotheses about the origins of and recent changes in Soviet values, and facilitate comparisons of the differences in value content and structure between the Soviet Union, Western Europe and the United States. When completed this research will provide valuable evidence for understanding the changes underway in the Soviet Union. It should facilitate assessments of the distance the Soviet Union has traveled down the road to democracy and whether it is likely to continue moving along that road. More generally, this research should help us understand the role of political culture in processes of democratization and global change.