Who Are the Legal Nihilists in Russia?

Abstract

The popular media, both Russian and Western, portray legal nihilism—at its core, a lack of respect for law—as a serious problem for Russia. This article uses data collected in 2004 and 2006 as part of the Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Study of the Higher School of Economics to examine the incidence of legal nihilism in Russia and to investigate who the legal nihilists are and what characteristics tend to be associated with legal nihilism. The effects of a number of characteristics, including political participation, political attitudes, the role of material and emotional well-being, and age, are analyzed.