The evolution of left and right in post-Soviet Russia

The data on which our analysis is undertaken are drawn from three national random samples of the population of Russian undertaken in 1993, 1995 and 1996 using questionnaires designed by the authors. Further details of sampling and fieldwork can be found in Appendix A. These data offer an excellent basis on which to track the development of left-right self-placement and its ideological, social and behavioural associations in a key period in the transition. Our evidence suggests that there has indeed been a dramatic change in the character of left and right in Russia. First we look at the overall distributions of respondents on the self-placement scale - at this level there appears to be considerable stability - and at the social basis of left and right where the evidence suggests significant change. This is then confirmed by evidence relating to the ideological associations of left-right self-placement, which indicates that its meaning has to a large degree evolved as the political and economic transition has progressed. Moreover, the attitudinal predictors of left-right self-placement have changed in important ways. The final section looks at the implications of these developments for political partisanship in Russia over four years. Our conclusion is that the evolution of left and right can be understood as a response to the historical legacies of Soviet communism and to the impact of economic and political reform since its collapse. These events drive understanding of the ideological structure of politics in a direction quite different from that observed in studies of recent trends in Western democracies.