The Rebirth of Russian Democracy: An Interpretation of Political Culture / Edition 1

The Rebirth of Russian Democracy: An Interpretation of Political Culture / Edition 1

by Nicolai N. Petro
ISBN-10:
0674750020
ISBN-13:
9780674750029
Pub. Date:
09/01/1997
Publisher:
Harvard University Press
ISBN-10:
0674750020
ISBN-13:
9780674750029
Pub. Date:
09/01/1997
Publisher:
Harvard University Press
The Rebirth of Russian Democracy: An Interpretation of Political Culture / Edition 1

The Rebirth of Russian Democracy: An Interpretation of Political Culture / Edition 1

by Nicolai N. Petro
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Overview

How could the West have better prepared for the fall of communism and gained a clearer picture of Russia's new political landscape? By cultivating an awareness, Nicolai Petro argues, of the deep democratic aspirations of the Russian people since Muscovite times. Petro traces the long history of those aspirations, recovering for us an understanding crucial to our formation of successful foreign policy toward Russia.

Expanding the traditional definition of political culture from single thread to continuous historical tapestry, Petro illuminates a reality previously lost to even the most rigorous Sovietology: the fragility of communism. He portrays an abiding "alternative political culture" that tells us Russia indeed possesses a democratic tradition on which its contemporary democracy rests.

Petro's analysis includes many surprising and incisive observations. In a look at the Russian Orthodox Church, he traces its long history of support for opposition sentiment during both tsarist and Soviet times and its support for democracy today. He also explores the character and power of contemporary Russian nationalism and traces its origins to the neo-Slavophile national identity that took its shape as a challenge to Bolshevik oppression. Delineating Russia's postcommunist political parties, the author reveals their roots in prerevolutionary times and explains how this continuity makes Russian political aspirations far more predictable than is commonly assumed.

Awakening us to Russia's historical involvement in the democratic quest that lies at the heart of Western values, Petro opens a path for a more meaningful, more productive understanding of modern Russia.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780674750029
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Publication date: 09/01/1997
Edition description: New Edition
Pages: 240
Product dimensions: 6.12(w) x 9.25(h) x 0.60(d)
Lexile: 1620L (what's this?)

About the Author

Nicolai N. Petro is Professor of Political Science at the University of Rhode Island, and the author of The Predicament of Human Rights: The Carter and Reagan Policies.

Table of Contents

Preface

Note on Transliteration

Political Culture and the Failure of Sovietology

Constrained Autocracy in Russian History

Orthodoxy's Symphonic Ideal: The Russian Church in Search of Tradition

The "Russian Idea": Forging an Alternative National Identity

Russia's Alternative Political Organizations: The Re-emergence of Civil Society

Back to the Future of Russian Politics

Notes

Index

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