Russia's Road to Deeper Democracy by Tom Bjorkman (review)

Abstract

394 SEER, 82, 2, 2004 however, thepositive contributionsmakethe book a usefuladjunctto broader, more conventional studies of the flawed process of transformation of the Russian economy. Transformation ofCommunist Systems Project ROBERT F. MILLER Research School ofPacific andAsianStudies TheAustralian NationalUniversity Bjorkman,Tom. Russia'sRoadtoDeeper Democracy.BrookingsInstitutionPress, Washington, D.C., 2003. x + I41 pp. Notes. Tables. Figures. Index. ? I 2.50: $ I6.95 (paperback). 'DEEPER democracy' is hardlythe phrase most used when describingmodern Russia, but that is the whole point of this interesting,forceful, but somewhat superficialvolume. Tom Bjorkman takes strong issue with post-I998 views that Russia is in someway 'lost' to a period of semi-authoritarianismdictated by history and political culture. Rather, such views have allegedly vastly underestimated the latent democratic potential that has been evident in the attitudesof large swathesof the population; specificleadershippolicies in the past and the influence of a relativelysmall proportion of the political elite in the present have been most to blame for inhibiting this potential. Given the relativelybenign foreignpolicy environmentfosteredby Vladimir Putinin his first term, the possibilities for the West (principally America) to bring this democraticpotential to fruitionarehigherthan conventional wisdom asserts. The meat of a vigorous argument is provided by a useful surveyof existing opinion poll data and political culturedata in chapter two that acknowledges the deep popular distrust towards politics and the significant minorities sceptical of the very concept of democracy. However, the author argues that the glass is filling rather than emptying: majority support for democratic values and institutions has survived attrition, 'order' is wanted, not dictatorship , and outright opponents of democracy, even in the elite, are relativelyfew. Chapter three describes Putin's attempts to introduce the infamous 'managed democracy' and identifies the key components and supporters of this concept, but argues that this is a potentially transientphase. Indeed, the centralizingcomponents of Putin'spoliciesmay counteracthis need to combat corruptionand attractinvestment,and areat oddswith hisrecentunequivocal pro-Westernforeign policy alignment, while his popularity will increasingly depend on policy success rather than his promises and post-El'tsinpolitical style. Chapter four offers proposals for domestic reform which might deepen democracy, including increasing parliamentary power and augmenting the financial, legal and political independence of the judiciary, regions, parties and media, in essence providing the institutional framework to protect pluralism.Finally, chapterfive offersthe American foreignpolicy community proposals for action. It argues that a pro-active 'dialogue on democracy', which avoids the high-handed rhetoric and narrow focus on isolated individualsthat markedUS attitudesto Russia in the I99os, but which treats REVIEWS 395 Russia as an equal partner and an integral part of the West, may create momentum and become a 'self-fulfillingprophecy'. It is refreshingto have a volume which avoids hand-wringing and blamelaying over Russia'sproblems,which avoids narrowunilateralismand victor's hubris, and offerssome constructiveand viable approaches.Moreover, this is a succinctly and energetically written book which compiles a lot of useful sources. But itjust is not especially convincing. Largelyresponsiblefor this is chapter two, which has relatively little data after 2000-0I. Thus it fails to examine adequately the evidence of a 'paradigm shift' towards greater isolationism, statism,and nationalismnoted by many pollstersafter i999, and which arguablyfuelledandwas fuelledby the Chechen war. Symptomatically, this conflict is addressed only on the penultimate page of the book. Bold but simplistic statements brush aside nuanced arguments and may appear to distortthe data. Forexample, the 'decline of the Eurasianists'is assertedrather than argued (pp. 50-5I). While such a decline may be evident in Russia's foreign policy preferences, the ubiquity of figures like Dugin, Rogozin, Prokhanov and even Limonov in the domestic debate gives some cause for caution.Again, when over40 per cent of thepopulation supportsome putative more democratic Soviet system, but just io per cent 'democracy of the Western type' (p. 33), it is not easy immediately to endorse the author'sview that this has 'nothing to do with supportfor the authoritarianattributesof the Soviet political system'. In the same vein, the author tends to judge Putin more by his words than deeds, and his prognoses appear excessively optimistic. Interestingly, the recommended proposals for domestic reform in chapter three are a good benchmark for illustratingquite how far 'managed democracy' actually falls below the ideal. Finally, while it is possible that only 'a tiny...