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Ethnonationalism and Political Stability: The Soviet Case

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 June 2011

Gail Warshofsky Lapidus
Affiliation:
University of California
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Abstract

While the Soviet system has demonstrated an unusual degree of immunity to the worldwide upsurge of ethnic self-assertion, rising national consciousness among both Russian and non-Russian populations poses a growing, although not necessarily unmanageable, problem for the Soviet leadership. Several issues bearing directly on the resources, power, and status of different nationalities lie at the heart of current debates: the nature and future of the federal system; the pace and pattern of economic development; access to positions of political power; demographic policy; and cultural and linguistic status. Over the long term, the political mobilization of ethnicity is likely to be constrained by both intrinsic and systemic factors, encouraging national elites to focus on strategies and goals that will enhance their power within the system rather than challenging it directly.

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Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Trustees of Princeton University 1984

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