Political and Economic Markets: Changes in the Connections Between Attitudes Toward Political Democracy and a Market Economy Within the Mass Culture of Russia and Ukraine

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to examine the attitudes of ordinary citizens toward democracy and the market economy. To what degree are attitudes toward democratization and "marketization" connected and how has the connection changed over the course of the initiation of democratization? Based on a survey conducted in spring 1992, in Russia and Ukraine, I begin with a detailed conceptual and operational consideration of support for values (1) conducive to democracy and (2) conducive to the development of a market economy. I then examine the causal interconnections of the two sets of values, exploring in particular the hypothesis that support for democracy is largely a function of the desire for a more productive economic system. Finally, I consider change in the interrelationship of these attitudes, focusing especially on the changing interconnections between the two sets of attitudes during the early stage of Soviet democratization (1990 to 1992). This research demonstrates that economic values are not primary, that democratic institutions and processes were probably valued for their intrinsic benefits, and that, while attitudes toward democratic institutions and processes were relatively stable from 1990 to 1992, substantial crystallization of economic attitudes occurred.

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