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

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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.