State Ideology and Patriotic Education in Belarus

While in several Eastern European countries a wave of colored revolutions challenged the existing political orders, Belarus remained largely untouched by mass protests. The diffusion of democratic ideas leading to the mobilzation of population in larger parts of the world, met a stable authoritarian regime in Minsk, able to counteract any popular discontent. Nevertheless, the stagnating (or never started) democratization process cannot only be attributed to the strong authoritarian rule and the abuse of power. Indeed, Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko still enjoys popularity by the large parts of the population. In the light of the developments in Ukraine, Belarusians are even more hesitant to challenge the current stability in the country, as opinion polls state. Although international observers report that elections in Belarus have never been free and fair, few commentators doubt that Lukashenko would not have won in democratic elections. This evidence suggests that the Belarusian regime succeeded in building a strong legitimizing basis, which has not been seriously challenged during the last two decades. This paper seeks to explore authoritarian stability in Belarus by looking at the patterns of state ideology. The government made an effective use of state ideology since the early 2000s. Ideology departments have been created in almost all state institutions. Education sector has been affected by the introduction of the compulsory course “The Fundamentals of Belarusian State Ideology” at all universities and increasing attention to the patriotic education at schools. Based on the document analysis, this paper traces the creation of “ideological vertical” in Belarus and then focuses on the issue of ideology in education and youth policy sectors. It explores the content of the university ideology courses and patriotic education at schools. This paper seeks to explore whether state ideology has any role as a consolidating force for the regime.