Dr Tania Biletskaya (University of Glasgow)
A paper presented at the ECPR 2014 General Conference
3 – 6 September 2014, University of Glasgow

Outline of the presentation
1.
Theory: the role of social norms and cultural values in social change and economic development
2.
Empirical analysis: Understanding cultural values and public attitudes, quantitative approach (Russia 2014 dataset*)
 ESRC project ‘Rising Powers: Unequal Powers, Authoritarian Powers, Unstable Powers?’
ES/J012688/1

Introduction
 2012 Russia overtook Brazil, South Korea, and Turkey in its economic growth, which “was inconceivable only two years ago” (World Bank).
 Russian GNI per capita increased from $5,570 in 1995 to $21,210 in 2012.
 Inequality issues play a major role in estimating the success of social change
(Lipset 1959, 1994; Przeworski 2000, 2010)
 Equality of income distribution: Russia is placed between Sri Lanka and Thailand with GINI coefficient being 40.1 percent (2009).

Introduction
 Absolute measures vs. perceptions and attitudes
 Role of cultural factors, including perceptions of inequality, in Russia’s convergence path with other developed countries
 Survey data: Russia, Nationwide Survey in 2014, N=1,602

Theoretical framework


Modernisation theory (Lipset 1959, 1994; Parsons 1964)
Convergence theory (Kerr at al 1962; Deutsch 1954, Sorokin 1960; Galbraith
1967)
As opposed to:
 Cultural Values approach - every society posses its own ‘genetic code’ of cultural values (Hofstede 1980, 1991, 2011; Diamond, Linz and Lipset 1990; Lipset
1994)

Comparing with Europe
-
-
Historical links
Common border
EU is Russia’s biggest trading partner - 35.5% of import and 45.8% of export
(IMF, DoTS) and Russia is the EU’s third biggest trading partner
Energy supplier – biggest importer to the EU of oil and natural gas -
However yet another dimension:
“We share a continent, a history, a rich and diverse cultural heritage forged throughout the centuries. European and Russian intellectual and creative life from science to philosophy, from arts to music and literature have been enriching and influencing each other to the point of being one and the same.” (J.M.
Barroso, Moscow, 21 March 2013)
‘Europe is less of a magnet for the Russian elite than it has been for centuries. It has lost its old attraction and has been unable or has not wanted to create a new one’
(S. Karaganov, ‘Rossiya i Evropa: vmeste ili po sosedstvu?’, Rossiiskaya gazeta,
2 September 2004).

Figure 1. Income should be made more equal or We need larger income differences as incentives for individual effort? (Mean values, 1 to 10 Likert scale).
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
4,45
4,08
6,32
China Germany Poland
3,37
4,88
3,51
5,58
Russia Sweden Ukraine United
States
Source: WVS, http://www.worldvaluessurvey.org/wvs.jsp

Cultural Values Dimensions
‘Cultural values (e.g. freedom, prosperity, security) are the specific norms that tell people what behaviour is appropriate in various situations’ (Schwarz, Bardi and
Bianchi 2000)
 Individualism vs collectivism (refers to the relationship between the individual and society);
 Hierarchy/ equality (egalitarianism) (‘…emphasis on the legitimacy of hierarchical allocation of fixed roles and of resources - authority, humble, influential, social power, wealth’ Schwartz et al 2000);
 Masculinity as opposed to Femininity (mastery versus harmony in Schwartz’s classification, assigns different values to the achievements, assertiveness, material status);
 High as opposed to Low uncertainty avoidance (refers to cultural preferences while dealing with uncertainty).

Cultural values of Eastern Europe (Russia)
 Hierarchy and High power distance (hierarchy vs. egalitarianism value) with Power Distance Index = 93, and Rank = 6
 Collectivism/ individualism value with Individualism index = 39, and Rank = 37-38
(which is the same score as for many Arab countries)
 Masculinity/ femininity value dimension with
Masculinity index value = 36; and Rank = 63 among other countries
 Communist heritage or ideology factor

Q. ‘Incomes should be made more equal vs We need larger income differences as an incentive’ (1 to 10 continuous scale)
6
5
4
8
7
3
2
1
0
6,99
6,46
1990-1994 1995-1999
Source: World Values Survey, Waves 2-6
6,42
2005-2009
3,37
2010-2014

Research question and hypothesis:
‘Cultural values are the core terms of social norms. They may be likened to building blocks of a socio-genetic code that every society is endowed with’ (Licht,
Goldsmith and Schwartz 2006, 2003; see also Schwartz 1999; Hofstede 2001)
 This paper aims to support the theory that existing cultural values and local conditions are crucial for the formation and transformation of social norms in society
 What is the relationship between social norms and specific cultural values such as equality and egalitarianism?
 Can social norms (shared with the EU) in Russia be explained by cultural values in the same way as in the West?

Social norms of governance in Russia: understanding cultural values and public attitudes
Official data vs. public opinion
Figure 2. Estimates of norms of governance (ranges from approximately -2.5 (weak) to 2.5 (strong) governance performance)
Source: Data from Worldwide
Governance Indicators (WGI), time series on Rule of law and democratic accountability (World Bank); http://info.worldbank.org/governance/ wgi
Figure 3.Perceptions of Rule of Law (proximity to legal state) and attitude to elections (democratic accountability), 2000-2014
Source: Glasgow University surveys (2000-2014), N=[1600;
2000]

Social norms of governance in Russia: understanding cultural values and public attitudes
 Model selection (Gibson 2006; Miller, White and Heywood 1998; Licht, Goldsmith and Schwartz 2006; DeBardeleben 2008) -> positive attitudes towards the EU yet ‘values gap’
 DVs: Proximity to the creation of legal (rule-of-law) state*;
Elections being able to change things in the country (democratic accountability)
 IVs: Socio - economic background variables,
Hierarchy/equality value: Q. ‘Incomes should be made more equal vs We need larger income differences as an incentive’
Individualism/collectivism value: Q. ’ People themselves should be responsible for their families welfare or the state should ensure that every family lives normally’
Mastery/ harmony value: Q. ‘To what extent are you satisfied with the way things are going in Russia’

Social norms of governance in Russia: understanding cultural values and public attitudes
Rule of law
(proximity to legal state)
Democratic accountability
(elections)
Hierarchy/ equality
IV1 Income equality or difference as an incentive
Autonomy /
Embeddedness
IV2 Self-reliance or state sup
Mastery/ harmony
IV3 Satisfied with things
Close 45 Can change 49 Equal 68
Far away 46 Cannot change 44 Differ 30
Self-reliance 39 Satisfied 38
State support 54 Unsatisfied 36
DK/Neutral 26 DK/RA 9 DK/RA 7 DK/Neutral 2 DK/RA 7
Source: Glasgow University survey, 2014, N=1,602

Table 2. Relations of Norms of Governance to Cultural Values Dimensions in Russia, 2014 (Pearson
Correlation)
Cultural Values dimension Rule of law
Norm of governance
Hierarchy/ equality
IV1 Income equality
Autonomy / Embeddedness
IV2 Self-reliance or state sup
.147***
.036*
Mastery/ harmony
IV3 Satisfied with things
.241***
N (1,602)
Note: Two-tailed Pearson correlation
*, **, ***. Correlation is significant at the 0.1, 0.05 and 0.01 level (2-tailed).
Democratic accountability
.102***
-.045*
.230***
(1,602)

Table 3 & 4. Proximity to legal state and democratic accountability by ‘value’ characteristics, %
70
60
50
48
56
43
40
40
30
20
10
0
Self-reliance
(individualism)
State-support
(collectivism)
Self-reliance or state help
Equal income Diff income
Differentiation of income as an incentive
59
34
Satisfied Unsatisfied
Satisfaction with things

70
60
50
40
30
49
51
20
10
0
Self-reliance
(individualism)
State-support
(collectivism)
Self-reliance or state help
47
53
Equal income Diff income
Differentiation of income as an incentive
60
41
Satisfied Unsatisfied
Satisfaction with things

Table 5. Predicting Proximity to the Legal state (Rule of Law) and If election can change things in the country (Democratic Accountability) in Russia
(OLS Regression Estimates)
Rule of Law
Age
Gender
Marital status
Tertiary education
Urban resident
State of economy
Church attender
Income equality
(hierarchy vs egalitarianism value)
Self reliance or state help (autonomy vs embededdness value)
Satisfaction with things (mastery / harmony value)
Constant
Adj R-squared
(N)
B
-.00*
-.08*
.11*
-.03
-.22***
.34***
.05**
.05***
.10*
.14***
1.43
.13
(1,602) beta
-.04*
-.04*
.04*
-.08***
.23***
.05**
.11***
.04*
.11***
*, **, *** statistically significant at p<.1, p<.05, p<.01 respectively
Source: see Table 1
-.01
Democratic
Accountability b beta
.00** .05**
-.09**
-.02
.06*
-.12**
.15***
-.01
.03***
-.08**
.14***
1.67
.08
(1,602)
-.05**
-.01
.03*
-.06**
.14***
-.02
.08***
-.05**
.16***

Conclusions
 According to the distribution of frequencies of ‘values’ variables, Russia can be more characterised as a society with Low or Average Hierarchy (64 % of respondents for income equality). This suggests some change in the hierarchy/ egalitarianism value and with stronger collectivism values (54% of respondents) - however with opinion split nearly equally when we speak about proximity to the legal state (45% in favour) or about the democratic accountability qualities of elections (49 per cent or % in favour).
 Public attitudes in 2014 show the influence of socio-economic characteristics and values dimensions on individuals’ opinions about norms of governance; values were shown to be significant predictors of how Russian people perceive the norms; therefore values can be used to measure the extent of social change.
 The hierarchy/ equality value dimension is negatively correlated with the ‘proximity to the rule of law’ state and shows that ‘rule of law’ is probably not associated with equality in the minds of Russian citizens. The same stands for the democratic accountability value.
 As for the ‘individualism / collectivism’ value, people who believe in communitarian values tend not to associate Russia as a state with the rule of law (as predicted in the theory of Licht as well). With the opposite sign of the coefficient for democratic accountability (which contradicts to Licht’s findings). So in the minds of people the collectivist value (strong state support, relying on the state) is in fact positively associated with government being accountable in front of its people (and associated with the probability that elections can change things in the country).

Conclusions
 Those in the sample who keep the traditional values (or changing values) but actually think that Russia is close to the rule of law state/ and think that elections can change things – that group should be studied more closely and their opinion should be taken into an account more. Their understanding of the terms ‘rule of law’ and ‘democratic accountability’ is of particular interest. There might be an answer to the difference in approaches to understanding of rule of law between
Russia and Europe, and this needs to be examined in more depth.