|
It
appears, however, that the real problem is not the challenge of
making democracy and market work in an allegedly unsuitable
environment, such as Russia, but the uncritical application of these
concepts to the distinctly “un-Western” sociocultural, historical,
and economic realities. |
Russia’s current and past reform efforts demonstrate that the powerful
inertia of its political and social traditions is capable of
withstanding the biggest “bangs” of reform and resisting institutional
changes even when these are administered in “shock therapy” doses.
In
“classic” democracies, political and socioeconomic systems have been
formed in the course of a long-term natural historical development
and their congruence with these countries’ social, political, and
cultural characteristics is natural and “organic.” By contrast, many
of Russia’s new political and economic institutions were copied from
Western originals in a basic and mechanical manner. In the 1990s,
under the banner of “joining the rest of the civilized world,” the
democratically minded part of the Russian political elite attempted
to force this imitation democracy on a post-authoritarian society.
The Russian reformist government in charge of implementing
institutional changes was itself under the intense ideological (and
sometimes political and economic) pressure that was exerted on it by
the “international democratic community.”
It
seems obvious now that the success of democratisation and
marketization is measured not by how accurately Western models have
been replicated but by how well they have been selected and adapted
to reflect the conditions of a given society. The choice of a
particular pattern – whether it concerns the system of government
(presidential or parliamentary), the type of representation, or the
kind of electoral system – is not made in a social vacuum. Such
choices should be determined not by what works best in Western
societies, but whether the pattern fits the country’s social and
cultural background.
In
short, the reformist government needs to show resourcefulness and
innovation in promoting and developing those forms of democracy and
capitalism that correspond to the country’s conditions. Only in this
way will it be able to shape a set of institutions and a
sociopolitical system that will be stable and successful.
Copyrighted material
