What’s happening in
Russia is undoubtedly not democratic, whatever you mean by democracy. I am
against implying though, like you do, that democracy means “like in the
western countries”. Russia has shown I the past that it’s a mature enough
country to find its own path of development or even lead social development.
For example, in Russia women got voting rights earlier than in most western
countries. I think free higher education was introduced earlier as
well.
It’s unrealistic to
copy western culture, history, democratic institutions. Also, it has a racist
(or imperialistic) flavour to it, “let’s educate those savages how to do
democracy”.
Alexander
From: On all
aspects of Russia and the FSU [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
Behalf Of R.Thomas
Sent: Wednesday, May 07, 2008
15:50
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: FT
interview with Medvedev
To
which might be added the question: Is it democratic for there to be debate
about who should be leader?
Asking
that question points to a sharp contrast between the open competition in the
US and most Western countries. Would it be fair to
call the mode that that seems currently dominant in Russia an
appointments system?
That
description would also cover Chechnya.
Ray
Thomas, Faculty of Social Sciences, Open University
-----Original
Message-----
From: On all aspects of Russia and the FSU
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Alexander
Antonyuk
Sent: 05 May 2008 21:23
To:
[log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: FT interview with
Medvedev
Dear
Ray,
I am
from Ukraine and am no fan of what’s happening in Russia and Ukraine. But as
I pointed out before, trying to fit the situation into a simplistic
“democracy – not a democracy” framework, drawing all the attention to the
top political figures and ignoring the system as a whole, isn’t helpful.
Could
you at least vaguely define what you call democracy? Once you defined it
would you answer yes or no to the following. Is it a democracy when almost
all prime-ministers come from a certain class, as in Britain? Is it a
democracy when you have competing political parties but they all represent
various business groups’ interests, as in Ukraine? Can a society be at peace
when democratic, or there should be a constant political battle with endless
scandals and court cases to ensure it’s democratic?
Kind
regards,
Alexander
From: On
all aspects of Russia and the FSU [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
On Behalf Of R.Thomas
Sent: 05 May 2008 21:21
To:
[log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: FT interview with
Medvedev
Many
members of ths list must be impressed by this interview as evidence of firm
steps towards constitutional democracy.
Is
the lack of comment on Medvedev's account indicate that members take such
steps as for granted?
Ray
Thomas, Faculty of Social Sciences, Open University
*************************************
-----Original
Message-----
From: On all aspects of Russia and the FSU
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Oleg
Golubchikov
Sent: 25 March 2008 09:00
To:
[log in to unmask]
Subject: FT interview with
Medvedev
Interview transcript:
Dmitry Medvedev
Published:
March 24 2008 21:54 | Last updated: March 24 2008 21:54
Lionel Barber,
editor of the Financial Times, Neil Buckley, Moscow bureau chief, and
Catherine Belton, Moscow correspondent, interviewed Dmitry Medvedev,
president-elect of the Russian Federation, in the Kremlin, Moscow, on
March 21 2008. Below is an edited transcript
FINANCIAL
TIMES: Mr President
Elect, what will be your top three priorities when you take
office?
DMITRY
MEDVEDEV: I think these
priorities are completely obvious. The main one is to continue the social
and economic course which has emerged and evolved in our country in recent
years. The goal of this course is to improve the quality of life for all
Russian citizens.
We
have managed to turn around the economic situation - we have become a much
stronger state in this regard. Russia has joined the seven biggest
economies in terms of purchasing power, but that’s not all. The main
challenge now is to translate these economic successes into social
programmes to show that developing the economy improves the lives of every
Russian citizen. In recent times we have begun to implement some social
programmes in the areas of education and healthcare and I believe that
it’s very important to maintain and develop these programmes, getting on
with the full-scale modernising of work in healthcare and education, as
well as making it possible for the majority of Russian citizens to improve
their housing conditions, which is also very important. And finally,
Russia has pursued and will be pursuing a well-balanced foreign policy,
aiming to defend its own interests in a non-confrontational way, so that
Russia’s positions will contribute towards strengthening world security.
Thus there are several priorities – to maintain economic stability, to
develop economic freedoms, to promote social programmes and to ensure that
Russia sustains its position in the world.
. . .
. . .
*********************************************************************
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