Democracy and fatalism in the former Soviet Union

Recent political events in the former Soviet Union suggest that democracy h as only a tenuous hold in this region. Underlying many of these events may be psychological values and beliefs ill conducive to the development of dem ocracy. In the 2 studies described in this paper, conducted in 1995 and 199 8, 2 large and representative groups of manual workers, students, civil ser vants, managers, and the retired from 4 former Soviet republics completed m easures of fatalism, attitudes toward democracy, and democratic participati on (N = 2.672 and 925). Structural equation analyses of the data from both studies find that particular groups (in particular, manual workers and the retired) hold the strongest fatalistic beliefs, which in turn predict democ ratic attitudes, voting behavior, and political-party membership. These fin dings are discussed in the light of possible interventions that might promo te democratic participation in the region.