Can Democracy Be Sustained? Civic Engagement, Social Capital and the Future of Democratic Goverance in Moscow

提出的研究探讨了莫斯科公民参与模式、社会资本水平和民主化进程之间的关系。该项目围绕三个相关问题展开：1)当代莫斯科公民参与的特征和强度是什么？Ii)公民参与的水平和广度是否在扩大？iii)当代公民参与形式是否促进了民主价值观？公民参与是对正式和非正式的政治和社会互动模式的参与和了解。该项目的数据将来自对3500户家庭的挨家挨户调查，以及对当地官员和社会活动家的深入访谈。我们将探讨个人特征、态度/信仰、物质福利和住房状况之间的关系，以了解公民参与水平和范围的变化。该项目的数据将加深对俄罗斯首都民主化的实证分析，并评估整个俄罗斯民主巩固的前景。它将提供关键问题的答案。如果没有发达的社会资本储备，民主能否生存？公民参与的特定模式是否能够产生新的社会资本储备？基层公民参与能否为俄罗斯“自上而下”立法的正式民主制度提供可持续的基础？该项目的研究将由代表科罗拉多大学、俄罗斯科学院和莫斯科国立大学的学者组成的合作小组进行。

The proposed research explores the relationship between patterns of civic engagement, levels of social capital, and the process of democratization within Moscow. The project is framed around three related questions: i) what is the character and intensity of civic engagement in contemporary Moscow?; ii) is the level and breadth of civic engagement expanding?; and iii) are contemporary forms of civic engagement promoting democratic values? Civic engagement is participation in, and knowledge of, formal and informal modes of political and social interaction. Data for the project will derive from a door-to-door survey of 3,500 households as well as in-depth interviews conducted with local officials and social activists. We will explore the relationships between personal characteristics, attitudes/beliefs, material well-being, and housing status to understand variations in the level and scope of civic engagement. Data from the project will deepen the empirical analysis of democratization in the Russian capital and gauge the prospects for democratic consolidation across Russia. It will provide answers to key issues. Can democracy survive without well-developed reserves of social capital and are particular modes of civic engagement capable of generating new stocks of social capital? Can grassroots civic engagement provide a sustainable foundation for the formal democratic institutions legislated 'from above' in Russia? Research for the project will be carried out by a collaborative team of scholars representing the University of Colorado, the Russian Academy of Sciences, and Moscow State University.