Candidate: Ekaterina M. Levintova

Degree of: Doctor of Philosophy

Department: Political Science

Title: Official Discourse and Public Opinion in Post-Communist Societies: The Role of Government-Affiliated Intellectuals

Committee:
Dr. James Butterfield, Chair
Dr. Emily Hauptmann
Dr. Vyacheslav Karpov

Date: Friday, April 16, 2004 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm
3301 Friedmann

Abstract: Post-Communist countries are unique in the sense that they are undergoing not a single, but multiple transitions. The extent of social change underway in this region is truly monumental and researchers are faced with the daunting task of studying the extent of this transformation. Change is most evident when one studies formal institutions. But what lies beneath, on the level of value-orientations? The answer to this question helps us understand the real progress of post-Communist countries towards the goals of their institutions.
What were the political, ideological, economic, foreign policy, and ethnic relations attitudes of the Post-Communist Russian and Polish elites and the publics, and were there any changes? Were original liberal attitudes on both the elite and the popular levels replaced by organic-statist/conservative orientations? What were the areas of consensus and disjunction between the elites and the publics? The project traces the relationship between the elite and the public's attitudes along five issue-domains, cross-culturally and over the entire post-Communist period. This is the first study of its kind.
This dissertation uses both quantitative (statistical analysis and extensive review of public opinion data collected by Russian and Polish national polling organizations) and qualitative (content analysis of public
statements of government-affiliated intellectuals) methods. Comparison between elite and public attitudes shows values that are shared by both post-Communist governments and the general populations, and exposes motivations of post-Communist decision-makers.
I find that the organic-statist evolution of the Russian elite's value-orientations is incomplete; some original liberal elements survived. Likewise, the organic-statist shift in public opinion was not absolute; there remains considerable popular support for political democracy and pro-Western foreign policy. In Poland, both the elite and the public consistently supported modified liberal values.
The Russian elite and the general population agree on organic-statist values, as only politically authoritarian, ideologically conservative, anti-Western, and nationalistic preferences are found in both the elite and the popular levels. In Poland, inclusive democratic, ideologically mixed, moderately etatist, and pro-Western attitudes (i.e. moderately liberal value-orientations) are shared by both the elite and the population at large.
In Russia, changes in the elite's value-orientations meant appreciable changes in policies (in political, ideological, and foreign policy areas), while the stability of economically liberal discourse corresponded to consistently liberal economic policies. In Poland, liberal policies were implemented consistently.

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