Russia and Eastern Europe now (Pew Research Center report)
Julio Huato
End of Communism Cheered But Now With More Reservations
Two Decades After the Wall's Fall
November 2, 2009
Nearly two decades after the fall of the Berlin Wall, publics of
former Iron Curtain countries generally look back approvingly at the
collapse of communism. Majorities of people in most former Soviet
republics and Eastern European countries endorse the emergence of
multiparty systems and a free market economy.
However, the initial widespread enthusiasm about these changes has
dimmed in most of the countries surveyed; in some, support for
democracy and capitalism has diminished markedly. In many nations,
majorities or pluralities say that most people were better off under
communism, and there is a widespread view that the business class and
political leadership have benefited from the changes more than
ordinary people.
Nonetheless, self reported life satisfaction has risen significantly
in these societies compared with nearly two decades ago when the Times
Mirror Center1 first studied public opinion in the former Eastern
bloc.
The acceptance of -- and appetite for -- democracy is much less
evident today among the publics of the former Soviet republics of
Russia and Ukraine, who lived the longest under communism.
In contrast, Eastern Europeans, especially the Czechs and those in the
former East Germany, are more accepting of the economic and societal
upheavals of the past two decades.
East Germans, in particular, overwhelmingly approve of the
reunification of Germany, as do those living in what was West Germany.
However, fewer east Germans now have very positive views of
reunification than in mid-1991, when the benchmark surveys were
conducted by the Times Mirror Center for the People & the Press. And
now, as then, many of those living in east Germany believe that
unification happened too quickly.
One of the most positive trends in Europe since the fall of the Wall
is a decline in ethnic hostilities among the people of former
communist countries. In a number of nations, fewer citizens say they
hold unfavorable views of ethnic minorities than did so in 1991.
Nonetheless, sizable percentages of people in former communist
countries continue to have unfavorable views of minority groups and
neighboring nationalities. The new poll also finds Western Europeans
in a number of cases are at least as hostile toward minorities as are
Eastern Europeans. In particular, many in the West, especially in
Italy and Spain, hold unfavorable views of Muslims.
Concern about Russia is another sentiment shared by both Eastern and
Western Europeans. A majority of the French (57%) and 46% of Germans
say Russia is having a bad influence on their countries; this view is
shared by most Poles (59%) and sizable minorities in most other
Eastern European countries. The exceptions are Bulgaria and Ukraine,
where on balance Russia's influence is seen as more positive than
negative.
As for the Russians themselves, there has been an upsurge in
nationalist sentiment since the early 1990s. A majority of Russians
(54%) agree with the statement "Russia should be for Russians"; just
26% agreed with that statement in 1991. Moreover, even as they embrace
free market capitalism, fully 58% of Russians agree that "it is a
great misfortune that the Soviet Union no longer exists." And nearly
half (47%) say "it is natural for Russia to have an empire."
These are among the major findings of a new, 14-nation survey by the
Pew Research Center's Global Attitudes Project that was conducted Aug.
27 through Sept. 24 among 14,760 adults. The survey, which includes
nations in Eastern and Western Europe, as well as the United States,
reexamines many of the key issues first explored in the 1991 survey
conducted by the Times Mirror Center, the predecessor of the Pew
Research Center for the People & the Press.
http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1396/european-opinion-two-decades-after-berlin-wall-fall-communism