Public Values and the Transition to the Market Among Post- Soviet Republics

尽管后共产主义国家在经济改革的方法上有所不同，但许多国家都有一个共同的抱怨：社会上相当大的群体反对市场经济的基本价值观。特别是在独立国家联合体和波罗的海国家，支持和反对市场的领导人都注意到了他们认为公众对私有财产、市场价格和严重不平等的根深蒂固的抵制。从沙皇时代早期到后苏联时代，文化传统和社会主义价值观似乎加强了公众对强大但仁慈的福利国家的品味。公众的负面反应肯定会破坏向自由市场经济的过渡。不仅存在彻底抵抗的威胁，改革可能只会被怨恨的公民所颠覆。正如其他地方的一些私有化试验所显示的那样，缺乏公众支持可能会滋生长期的不满或简单地脱离参与。正如后共产主义领导人的不情愿所表明的那样，对公众负面反应的恐惧既影响了改革的内容，也影响了改革的顺序。在经济结构调整伴随着政治自由化的情况下，这个问题就更加具有挑战性。当社会的许多最珍视的价值观和习以为常的经济安全受到政治领导人的攻击时，社会就被“赋权”了。这种情况导致了对自由市场经济要素的实际阻力程度，如私营企业、放松管制和结果不平等。目前的项目旨在衡量公众对市场经济的抵制程度和性质，并解释其来源。它还旨在解决其他几个问题，其中一些是实质性问题(如文化价值观、对经济改革的支持和民主态度之间的关系)，另一些是方法问题(如前苏联加盟共和国调查数据的一致性和可靠性)。这项研究探讨了前苏联四个加盟共和国公众对经济改革的态度。基于对俄罗斯、亚美尼亚、立陶宛和爱沙尼亚的一项调查，调查人员考察了对市场经济不同要素的支持和反对，以及塑造公众观点的核心价值观。这项研究应该有助于为西方和前几个加盟共和国关于后苏联市场经济前景的辩论提供信息。

Although post-communist countries vary in their approaches to economic reform, many share a common complaint: the opposition of sizeable groups in society to the basic values of a market economy. Particularly in the Commonwealth of Independent States and the Baltics, pro-and anti-market leaders alike have noted what they see as deep-seated public resistance to private property, market prices, and substantial inequality. Cultural traditions and socialist values appear to have reinforced a public taste for a strong but benevolent welfare state, from early Tsarist times to the post-Soviet era. An adverse public reaction could surely undermine the transition to a free market economy. Not only is there a threat of outright resistance; reforms may simply be subverted by a resentful citizenry. As some experiments with privatization elsewhere reveal, lack of public backing can breed chronic dissatisfaction or simple disengagement. And as the reluctance of post-Communist leaders demonstrates, fear of adverse public reaction influences both the content and the sequencing of reforms. The problem is all the more challenging where economic restructuring is accompanied by political liberalization. Society is "empowered" just at the time when many of its most cherished values, and its accustomed economic security, are under attack by political leaders. This situation leads to examining the extent to which there is in fact resistance to the elements of a free market economy, such as private enterprise, deregulation, and inequality of outcomes. The current project is designed to gauge the extent and nature of public resistance to a market economy, and to explain its sources. It is also designed to address several other issues, some substantive (such as the relationship between cultural values, support for economic reform, and democratic attitudes); and some methodological (such as the consistency and reliability of survey data from former Soviet republics). The research explores public attitudes toward economic reform in four republics of the former Soviet Union. Based on a survey in Russia, Armenia, Lithuania and Estonia the investigator examines support for, and opposition to, different elements of a market economy, and the core values that shape public views. The research should help to inform the debate both in the West and in the former republics over the prospects for a post-Soviet market economy.