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4 E. Eur. Const. Rev. 34 (1995)
Russia as an Hour-Glass Society: A Constitution without Citizens

handle is hein.journals/eeurcr4 and id is 214 raw text is: EAsT EuRopE-AN CONs'1TuToNAL REVIEW Special Reports 'Beter to have 100 friends than 100 rubles. An old Rusian saying Russia as an Hour-Glass Society: A Constitution without Citizens Richard Rose A constitution is not only about political institu- tions; it also makes assumptions about the relations between the state, society, and citizens. These can take very different forms. In a completely totalitarian system, the relation between the state and citizens is simple: all activi- ties of individuals are meant to be integrated under the direction of the party-state. The distinction between state and society is insignificant, given the unifying role of the Communist Party. Soviet elec- tion results illustrate the support the state could officially mobilize; in 1984, 99.99 percent of adults voted, and 99.94 percent of the votes were cast as the party directed. A civil society integrates individuals and the state, but it does so through intermediary social institu- tions that are independent of the state. A civil society requires that the state be a Rechtsstaat, that is, gov- erned by a rule of law that recognizes the integrity of social institutions independent of it, such as church- es, farmers' cooperatives, businesses, trade unions, universities, and cultural institutions. Individuals are not required to participate in politics or accept the pre-eminence of the state in their everyday life. The modern state developed as a Rechtsstaat, but until the twentieth century such states usually allowed only a small percentage of their citizens the right to vote or participate in government. In a civic democracy individuals are not only inte- grated in intermediate social institutions but also these institutions can influence the state. Robert Putnam, in an innovative study of the relation between individuals, civil society, and the state, Making Democracy Work (Princeton, 1993, p.87), characterizes a civic community as a democracy in which individuals actively participate in public affairs. Individuals participate through a variety of social institutions free of state control, some directly political in nature, such as political parties, and some non-political in purpose, such as choral societies and sports clubs. Putnam advances the argument that cooperation in horizontal (that is, local, face-to- face) groups creates social capital that can then be used to exert influence on the state, for people who learn how to work together have the skill and the networks to represent their views and voice demands upon government. This conclusion fol- lows the argument advanced by Gabriel Almond and Sidney Verba in The Civic Culture (Princeton, 1963), that social trust and cooperation create a sense of civic competence that enables individuals to use their votes to elect a government and hold their rep- resentatives accountable. But what happens if the state is not citizen friendly, because rulers believe that either they or the party know best what the people ought to want and how they ought to be governed? In such cir- cumstances citizens are likely to have an uncivic objective, minimizing contact with the state and relying on dense horizontal networks of friends to

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