Editor's Introduction

Abstract

In the opening article ("Transformation of the Values of Russian Society") of this issue of Russian Politics and Law Elena Bashkirova asks: how permanent are the political and economic changes adopted in Russia after the collapse of the Communist regime in 1991? Experts disagree as to the depth of the changes that have taken place in the country. The Russians have economic liberalization without economic liberalism, democratization without democracy, freedom of press and assembly without those freedoms flourishing in a way recognizable to most Americans. Still, it is clear that a great deal has changed, generally for the better if you are a Western-oriented civil libertarian and for the worse if you depend on the social safety net. Bashkirova's point is that however you define the changes that have occurred, their permanence depends on their popular acceptance.