The Divide in Contemporary Rusian Society: Society vs. Authority

Abstract

This article is a response to the Russian scholar A.S. Akhiezer’s concern regarding the ability of the new Russian government to make conclusions based on his magnum opus Russia: A Critique of Historical Experience. The article undergoes philosophical reflection on the results of an academic study of the views of various sectors of Russian population on the work of public administration. The theoretical and methodological basis of the study is Akhiezer’s concept of historical process of oscillations between the state of disorder (divide) and the restoration of social order (harmony) in society. The author considers the fulfillment of the “civil contract” between the government and society as an indicator of the social order and the government’s capability to overcome external and internal challenges. It turned out that the study was conducted in the period when the Russian government made, as A.S. Akhiezer called them, “lame decisions,” and the people raised concern about the correctness of the country’s policy. Evidence of this is the growing mistrust of Russians in the work of central and regional administrations, which is partially caused by the recent deterioration of living standards and by the implementation of the not popular reform that increased the retirement age in Russia. The sociological approach to the study of the problems of unity and divide in Russian society presumes the correlation between the actions of public administration and the expectations of the population of various Russian regions with different levels of socio-cultural modernization. Thus, this approach provides an opportunity to explain the specifics of socio-cultural processes in some Russian regions. The author concludes that it is necessary to take into account the philosophical and sociological research on the theory of historical development in order to reform all the levels of public administration and to avoid a new social divide in Russia.