Civic Culture: Public Opinion and the Resurgence of Civic Culture

There has hardly been a stretch in Russian history more saturated with sweeping changes than the period between 1988-1993. Packed into this exceedingly brief historical era are the rise of perestroika and the fall of its illustrious leader, Mikhail Gorbachev; the collapse of the Soviet Union and the emergence in its place of 15 independent states; the August \u2791 communist putsch and the democrats\u27 triumphant ascension to power; the proliferation of virulent ethnic conflicts and the recognition of the abiding need for cooperation; the bloody October \u2793 confrontation between the executive and legislative powers and the surprising strength that the nationalist and communist forces showed in the first multi-party Parliamentary elections in post-communist Russia . As people watched their political elites reshuffled and familiar institutions crumble, they could not help feeling alternatively elated, confused, and disillusioned. No sooner hopes for a democratic renewal were raised than they were dashed by the unexpected hardships which made some feel nostalgic for the lost security of the communist system