Research On Russia's Democratization (from 1992)

In the mid 1980's, under the influence of third wave of democratization, the Soviet Union and more than 20 Eastern European socialist countries started their transition in democratization. The transition in Russia's democratization with the breakup of the Soviet Union as premise was particularly attention-getting and was achieved at great expense. It brought great unstability to Russian society. The economy of Russia was on the verge of collapse and ordinary Russian people experienced sharp decline in living standard at that time. People were shocked and began to reflect on the road of democratization in Russia. Domestic and foreign scholars tried to give some explanation, such as criticism, instruct, or conclusions. It can be said that Russia's democratization experience has a very important value for any countries in transition. From the aspect of traditional political culture which is Russia's traditional values and most able to reflect Russia's unique, this paper will give some analysis and interpretation about the internal logic of the democratization process , hoping that it can provide some useful inspiration to China's reform.In this paper, the cause, mode, path and inherent logic of the democratization in Russia are interpreted firstly. In the statement, especially considering the most unique Russia's traditional political culture, this paper points out that the nation perceive has been playing an important role when Russian changed their attitude towards liberalism and accepted the concept of "controlled democracy" and "sovereign democracy". From the first phase of the liberal democratic orientation to the second phase of the authoritarian return, and then to the strategic objectives "renaissance" of Russia's great power proposed by Putin in "Russian idea", all reflect that Russia's national concept plays an important role in their country's development. The presidential power is the core between executive, legislative, and judicial powers. This kind of system created by Russia can be called super-presidential system. It is the best manifestation of Russian's pursuit and proves the objective existence of historical inertia role in Russian traditional political and cultural to some extent. So, Russia's inherent difficulty in democratization comes from the conflict between traditional Russian political culture and the western liberal democratic concept. To achieve the development of democratization, the political system will be further improved first, and then build a democratic society political culture through the development of its own citizens. These measures will help to realize its democratic consolidation and further development. Therefore, this article selects Russia's national concepts, the creation and improvement of the Russian political system and civil society to explain further the democratization of Russia, hoping that the desired results will be achieved.At the same time, under the guidance of some aspects ascribed above, namely the democratization in Russia's motives, methods and the path, the Russia's political system changes, the transformation of political culture, as well as the cultivation of civil society, constitute the frame of this article for analysis the democratization in Russian. Russia's political culture throughout the thesis is analyzed to explain the main phenomena and difficult problems in the process of democratization and try to put forward the opinion of this article.By analyzing the motives, methods and path, we find that there is a natural harmony between Russia's unique polarization and the selection of radical democratization. The polarization affects the selection of Russia's democratization by analyzing its traditional political culture. Such polarization not only determines its development orientation in Russia's history sometimes, but also still plays roles in daily life at present. It is not easy to explain all these phenomena satisfactorily in one word. Secondly, Russia's political system, in which president is the core of the executive, legislative and judicial powers, is the most important result of Russia's democratization. Meanwhile, the representative electoral and multiparty system is also the main signs for judging Russia's democratization. Thirdly, through analysis of Russia's traditional political culture, the concept of nation which is the core elements of its traditional political culture is extracted from Putin's "Russia idea". Although it is from the new "Russia idea", we can still see the shadow of the Russia Empire. Moreover, this concept of nation with the characteristic of obvious Russia's traditional political culture has been playing a unique role in the process of Russia's democratization. This history inertia effect is evident. It reflects the conflict between Russia's traditional political culture and the concept of freedom and democracy. Despite of the difficulties, resolving the conflict between these two cultures is critical in theory for Russia to further promote democratization. Fourthly, because Russia has a profound authoritarian tradition, in order to build a democratic political culture, it is a good choice to cultivate a sophisticated, well-developed civil society. In the history of reform in Russia, the top-down model was always used. Because of the history limits of upper elite, the rift between upper classes and lower classes became more and more deep, leading to the result that the expected goals of Russia's reform are difficult to achieve. So, it is necessary to change the pattern of past top-down reform mode and try the bottom-up path to achieve the promotion of democratic transition. To the current Russia, cultivating a strong middle class is one of the most important problems to solve firstly. However, because Russian government has been in a position of great strength, at the beginning of cultivating a mature and well-developed civil society, guide by government is indispensable. In this process, Russia's political elite should not be underestimated. In particular, the leaders still has a special significance in current Russia. Their awareness and insistence to democracy often influence the direction of Russia's democratization, and even decide the prospects and form of democracy in Russia. From the analysis above, it is not difficult to come to the conclusion that the Russia's democratic form in the future must be different from any country's democratic system in western country.In conclusion, according to the analysis of Russia's democratization in this article, combined with evaluation and research results by academic circles both at home and abroad, we summarize a lot of experiences and lessons which will bring some inspiration for countries in transition. For example, in the choice of transition mode, generally speaking, the so-called "stability of the iron rule" has determined that a gradual approach is superior to a radical approach; awareness of democracy is very important that the democratic system not only means the arrangements of system and the distribution of power, but also means a value concept, a kind of political culture. Therefore, the significance to promote the democratization process is not only for establishment of a democratic political system, the most important is to build a democratic political culture, because the democratic political culture plays protective role in the outcome of democratization and avoiding the return of democratization to authoritarianism; Simple top-down democratization reflects the worship for authority of the country and results in passive acceptance to the values of democracy, which would further enhance the subject-based political culture and not contribute to the transition from traditional political culture to a democratic political culture. So, although it is under the guidance of country and political elites to cultivate their own civil society, once the civil society becomes the self-consciousness of active participation in country's political life, the bottom-up driving force for democracy will be formed. It can be seen that Russia's democratization as a typical test will provide experience and enlightenment for countries in transition and be worthy of studying continuously.