Journal Article

Putting up with Fellow Russians: An Analysis of Political Tolerance in the Fledgling Russian Democracy

Gibson, James L.

1998

Overview

Research from the early days of Russian democratization has suggested that political tolerance among the mass public was in terribly short supply. Several questions remain, however. Has intolerance persisted since the late 1980s and early 1990s? Further, how intolerant are the Russians when compared with the mass publics of other Central and Eastern European democratizing countries; how intolerant are the Russians when compared with Western Europeans and Americans? Most importantly, is Russian intolerance likely to become pernicious? That is, does it have the attributes that make it likely to result in political repression? I answer these questions by theoretically specifying and investigating empirically four attributes of Russian public opinion that presage whether political consequences are likely to flow from political intolerance. My overriding conclusion is that Russian intolerance has several traits that may indeed make it pernicious, especially for unpopular political minorities.

• Publisher: University of Utah,SAGE Publications,University of Utah Press, etc,SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
• Subject: Central Europe / Communism / Comparative analysis / CONTEMPORARY EUROPE / CONTEMPORARY RUSSIA / Democracy / DEMOCRATIC PROCESS AND INSTITUTIONS / Democratization / Eastern Europe / Fascism / Government and politics / Opinion leaders / Political attitudes / Political power / Political science / Political sociology / Political systems / Political tolerance / Politics / Post-communist societies / Public Opinion / Repression / Russia / Russian culture / Russian Federation / Russians / SOCIAL, POLITICAL TOLERANCE OR INTOLERANCE / Tolerance / TOLERANCE OR INTOLERANCE / Toleration / U.S.A / UNITED STATES, 1945 TO PRESENT