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# Posted 12:38 PM by Patrick Belton

RUSSIAN ATTITUDES TOWARD DEMOCRACY: The Washington Post runs a piece by three Russia scholars disputing Richard Pipes to argue that Russian attitudes with regard to democracy are deeply divided, with a democratic camp which is 'too large to be dismissed and too small for complacency', and as many as one in three Russians backing authoritarianism. Against Pipes who argues that Russians have made up their minds, and it was in favour of authoritarianism, Gerber, Mendelson, and Shvedov find a division into three camps of roughly equal size, one favouring authoritarian government, one democracy and one that cannot decide. (q.v., Atrios's view of American politics) The role of Western and Asian democracies, they argue, is not to be on the sidelines in this dispute:

Our collaboration with dozens of human rights activists in the regions of Russia during the past two years convinced us that foreign assistance can make a difference. One form of support has particular potential to strengthen civil society: funding for social marketing -- the "selling" of certain ideas about how a society should function -- and public awareness campaigns. Social activists around the world use these tools to change and shape attitudes, knowledge, policies and behavior through tactics including education, persuasion and shaming. Surveys on how the public thinks about issues such as police abuse, crises in the military, the war in Chechnya and the collapse of health care provide activists with the information they need to craft messages and communicate with the people they are trying to reach. Public awareness campaigns guide nongovernmental organizations toward local constituencies.

Incidentally, Rob Tagorda takes a look at similar public opinion work that has been conducted in Latin America and the eastern Länder of Germany.

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