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Conservatism (Russian:Консерватизм,romanized: Konservatizm) is a broad system of political beliefs inRussia that is characterized by support forOrthodox values,Russian imperialism,statism,economic interventionism, advocacy for the historical Russiansphere of influence, and a rejection of latemodernist eraWestern culture.[1]
Like other conservative movements, Russian conservatism is seen as defending the established institutions of its time, such as theTsarist autocracy. Russian conservatism rejects the concept oflaissez-faire economics prevalent inAmerican conservatism, and instead supports amixed economy, as opposed toeconomic liberalism. This makes Russian conservatism largelypopulist in its promotion ofeconomic interventionist views, strongnationalism, andsocial conservatism. Russian conservatives believe that the state should control both economic and social policy, as it aligns with its origins in Tsarism and the teachings of theRussian Orthodox Church.[2]
Russia has a strong history ofauthoritarian practices. Despite the growth ofliberalism in 19th and 20th centuryWestern European countries, likeGermany,Italy, andSpain, a succession ofautocratic governments has shaped the political ideologies of modern Russia. Due to the stagnation ofculturally andeconomically liberal ideals in Russia, Russian conservatism is unique in its support of amixed economy and its condemnation of theWestern world's broad understanding ofliberty andliberal democracy. After thedissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the two main conservativepolitical parties in Russia have beenUnited Russia and theLiberal Democratic Party of Russia.[3]
Russian conservatives believe in the government largely controlling both economic and social policy, with a strongcentralized state influenced bynationalist andimperialist ideologies. They also believe in opposition to Westernglobalism, and the promotion of Russian ideals and culture with support for the Russian sphere of influence through art and media. The authoritarian ideals in bothTsarist andSoviet Russia of devotion to the state and strong nationalism are supported by Russian conservatives, who believe in a return to Russian ideals in reaction to modernism and globalism, with strong opposition to globalist organizations such as theUnited Nations, theEuropean Union, andNATO. Withclassical liberalism playing major roles in the development of conservatism in Western democracies, Russia largely differs fromconservatism in other parts of the world with its belief in state control. With Russian conservatives holding largelyinterventionist views in international affairs, they hold deep contempt for theUnited States and strong support for theCommonwealth of Independent States other thanGeorgia andUkraine.[4]
After 2014, Russia often presented itself as "the last bastion of conservatism"[5] worldwide through its state-controlled foreign media, gaining some traction when in 2016 a conservative German family moved to Russia to "protect their children from sexual permissiveness of German society",[6] but returned to Germany shortly after.[7] In 2023 Russian authorities once again declared themselves "the last bastion" and invited American conservatives to move to a dedicated village in Moscow suburbs.[5]
Social views held by conservative Russians are largely influenced bytraditionalism and theRussian Orthodox Church. Like conservatives in other parts of the world, Russian conservatives believe in the promotion ofChristian ethics in its opposition toabortion,homosexuality,euthanasia, and its support forgender roles in the government and in civil life. Social conservatism is of utmost importance in political discourse. Influenced by the autocratic views held by theRussian tsars and theBolsheviks, Russian conservatives believe in the rule of law, and the cult of personality. Strong nationalist sentiments are largely held, influencing the support for national and state unity against foreign influence. The suppression of individual freedoms are believed to be necessary in law enforcement and haltingsocial progressivism.Western culture andmodernism are largely opposed in favor ofrealism, seen as largely a product of theconsumerist cultures of Western democracies. UnderVladimir Putin, the leader of the Russian government since 1999, Russia has expressively condemned foreign influences, and believes in expanding Russia's own influence, as with theannexation of Crimea in 2014, and opposesnuclear disarmament.[8]
Althougheconomic liberalism andlaissez-fairecapitalism has been key in the history of conservatism in countries such as the United States, the historical role of state control in Russia has resulted in the development ofstate interventionist views of Russian conservatives in respect to the economy. Although both major post-Soviet conservative parties largely condemncommunism, Russian conservatives largely believe in a mixed economy, with a mixture of regulations in the private sector with market freedoms, public ownership of several key industries such as energy and defence, and low to moderate distributions of wealth across the economy. Russian conservatives believe in the government intervening in markets and regulating the private sector, as it has a necessary role in the framework of a capitalist economy. Along with other conservatives in the world, Russian conservatives believe inprotectionism, and the regulation of global interaction with the Russian economy, through the use of tariffs and government subsidies to domestic producers.[9]
As strong adherents to the Russian Orthodox Church, Russian conservatives largely espouse traditional Christian views on social issues, with the church collaborating closely with the state in social and cultural affairs under Russian president Putin's successive administrations. The rise ofglobalization andliberal morality in Western democracies has been frequently confronted in Putin-era Russia. The Orthodox Church's opposition to homosexual lifestyles, support of traditional marriage, and families has met with general domestic acceptance, while its tacit support for Russian expansion intoCrimea andeastern Ukraine has earned international criticism. UnderPatriarch Kirill, the Russian Orthodox Church has sought to promote traditional morality within Russia over liberalrelativism, while working to proscribe homosexual influence in broader society, particularly among minors.[10]
The traditions ofautocracy andpatrimonialism developed in Russia in the 17th and 18th century, asIvan III of Russia built upon Byzantine traditions of autocracy, allowing for the development ofTsarism and the monarchy of theRomanov dynasty in the 19th and 20th centuries. According to anti-communist academicRichard Pipes and political scientistStephen White, this paved the groundwork for the development oftotalitarianism in theSoviet Union after theOctober Revolution, describing the fabric of Russian identity being interwoven withautocracy. This progression of autocratic governments did not allow for the spread and rapid development of liberal ideals as seen in Western Europe, with state interventionism remaining the key ideology in all Russian parties. This influenced the development of conservative thought post thedissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, with state control playing a key role in Russian traditionalism.[11]
Attempts at liberal restructuring of theSoviet economy and political landscape throughMikhail Gorbachev'sperestroika reforms during the 1980s and 1990s were largely suppressed by the return to authoritarian politics under the conservative Putin government, after his predecessorBoris Yeltsin was unable to keep on course with social and economic reform. TheRussian youth played a key role in the 2000s, developing conservative ideas away from the traditional Western liberal sense, with the Gorbachev and Yeltsin liberal reforms being seen as a time of political upheaval and chaos. A 1987 survey undertaken by Russian sociologist Yuri Levada found the ageing soviet citizens of the 1980s, orhomo Sovieticus, who still had memories ofStalinism and theone-party rule in theSoviet Union, were a dying breed, as the younger and more naive generations in Russia began to shape the political climate of the future. A disdain for liberal reform and lack of knowledge for the reign of terror underJoseph Stalin allowed for the youth in Russia to develop into the hardline nationalist faction of Russian politics, allowing for the polarization of Russian politics and development of totalitarian ideas in conservatism.[12]
The two main conservative parties in Russia are theLiberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) led byLeonid Slutsky andUnited Russia led by itsde facto leaderVladimir Putin. Other Russian conservative parties includeRodina, theRussian All-People's Union, and theEurasia Party. United Russia is the ruling party of Russia and largest party of Russia, holding 74.4% of seats in the State Duma.[13][14]
The LDRP was founded in 1992 by Zhirinovsky as a more ideological conservative party. The LDRP scored 22.9% of votes in the 1993 state Duma elections, opposing the right–left dichotomy in Russia like the United Russia party. In 2016, the party received 13.4% of the vote, giving it 39 of the 450 seats in the State Duma. During the 1990s, Zhirinovsky and the LDPR formed a component of the political opposition to Yeltsin in the 1990s, although members of the party largely voted against theimpeachment of Yeltsin in 1999. Into the 2010s, the LDPR has often supported the agenda of the United Russia party and Putin government when voting in the Duma, leading some to believe that the party receives funding from the Kremlin.[15]
Although the ideology itself has not been poorly received by the general public, political parties such as United Russia have come under intense scrutiny as a party of "crooks and thieves", a term coined by activistAlexei Navalny amidst thecorruption in Russia which was consistently used by opposition parties during the 2011 election to characterize the United Russia party as being corrupted and concerned with "maintaining and strengthening their own power". The2011–2013 Russian protests show the Russians public's perception of a flawed election process in Russia, and the yearning for a more democratic process against what they believe has become an authoritarian government.[16][17][18]
The ideology of Russian conservatism has been criticized as authoritarian and an oppressive system of governance. Opposition from bothleft-wing andright-wing groups has characterized the Putin government's harsh laws in promoting stability in the country, as being exercised to cement the government's own power. Regulations onfreedom of the press andeconomic interventionism have been opposed starkly byright-libertarians, while social views on abortion and Putin's ban onLGBT rights has been criticized by left-wing groups.[19]
Declarative conservatism of the Russian authorities has been described as hypocrisy by those who pointed out the lavish lifestyle of Russian elites, numerous morality scandals in which top politicians were involved, a bizarre mix of Orthodox, Soviet, and Stalinist symbolism (the latter two beingideologically anti-religious), widespreadabortion,sexually transmitted diseases, and high divorce rates.[20][21][22]
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