Political Systems and Political Culture in Russia, the Baltic States and the CIS: 1994 − 2012

Current paper provides comparative analysis of transformation of the political systems and the development of value systems in seven post-Soviet countries. The paper is analyzing political transformations and development of value systems in Belarus, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Russia, Ukraine and Moldova. The study is beginning with analysis of political change and the emergence of political, cultural, social and economic values after collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. The first data point of this cross-country analysis is 1994 with surveys from the World Value Survey and the New Democracy Barometer as well as the New Russia Barometer. The next data points of comparative analysis are the New Democracy Barometer from 1996 and 1998, the World Value Survey from 2000 and the Eurasia Barometer from 2001. The following data point for analysis is the World Values Survey 2005 as well as the European Values Survey from 2008. The most recent data point is the 6th wave of the World Values Survey, which has been conducted in the CIS area mostly in 2011. The sample size of the data base for this paper is between 1000 and 2500 face-to-face interviews in 7 post-Soviet countries. Dimensions to be analyzed in this paper include trust to social and political institutions, social capital, political participation, political values, materialist and post-materialist values, and cultural values.