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Consolidation of Democracy in Post-Soviet Russia

            
             The fall of the Communist regime in the Soviet Union was more than a political event. The powerful interaction and fusion between politics and economics that characterized the state socialist system created a situation that was unique for the successor states of the Soviet Union. The penetration of the Communist regime into every facet of life left the Russian people hardly any democratic traditions. Russia faced the seemingly impracticable task of economic liberalization and democratization. That combined with the necessity to answer nationalist and ethnic questions that have plagued Russia for centuries. This paper addresses the problems of creating a stable democracy in Russia. The prospects for a stable democracy in Russia are limited at best. What is paramount to note is that a stable democracy must adequately address the developmental trinity: nation-building; capitalism and democracy. The dilemma that is especially relevant to Russia is that these conditions are often contradictory. The often messy business of politically reconstructing a nation defies traditional democratic ideals. The establishment of democratic institutions can hinder the development of a market economy and, conversely, programs that are designed to enhance capitalist expansion often are antagonistic towards democratic goals (Jowitt 7). .
             The Process of Creating A Nation-State.
             The question of who is the playing the game and what makes the playing field was an important one for Russia. Ethnic and nationalist questions plagued the Soviet Union. The dynamics of center-periphery relations provides Moscow with some of the greatest challenges in establishing a stable democracy. "There is no simply democratic way of deciding what a nation and its corresponding political unit should be" (Smitter 66). The dilemma that faced Russia was that it finds itself with a charge of establishing and following democratic institutions, while at the same time facing secessionary pressures that seem to require extra democratic means to preserve the integrity of the nation.


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