A MILE WIDE BUT AN INCH DEEP() - THE STRUCTURE OF DEMOCRATIC COMMITMENTS IN THE FORMER USSR

Theory: Cultural theories argue that the beliefs, values, and attitude s of ordinary citizens are important for processes of democratization. In order for mass political culture to influence politics, citizens m ust hold views toward democracy that are temporally stable, impervious to short-term economic failure, and connected to actual political beh avior. Hypotheses: 1) To the degree that attitudes toward democracy re present a coherent belief system, there will be a tendency toward atti tudinal stability. 2) If support for democracy is instrumental-the pri mary value being economic prosperity-then economic failure and malaise will cause support for democracy to wither. 3) Based on protest activ ity taking place during the failed Putsch of 1991, I test the hypothes is that democratic political values are associated with resistance to the coup. Methods: The analysis is based in part on a panel survey, wi th interviews conducted in 1990 and 1992, and in part on a large-scale 1992 survey in Russia and Ukraine. Results: I find that attitudes tow ard democratic institutions and processes are reasonably stable, are l ittle affected by perceptions of economic decline, and are connected t o protest against the anti-democratic coup. While democracy is far mor e than the beliefs and values of ordinary citizens, this analysis sugg ests that there is room for some optimism regarding the creation of st able democracies in the states of the former Soviet Union.