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Democratization and Political Change as Threats to Collective Sentiments: Testing Durkheim in Russia

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  • William Alex Pridemore

    (Criminal justice faculty at Indiana University, Russian and East European Institute)

  • Sang-Weon Kim

    (Department of Police Science faculty at Dong-Eui University in Busan, South Korea)

Abstract

Durkheim argued that acute political crises result in increased homicide rates because they pose a threat to sentiments about the collective. Though crucial to Durkheim’s work on homicide, this idea remains untested. The authors took advantage of the natural experiment of the collapse of the Soviet Union to examine this hypothesis. Using data from Russian regions ( N = 78) and controlling for measures of anomie and other covariates, the authors estimated the association between political change and change in homicide rates between 1991 and 2000. Results indicated that regions exhibiting less support for the Communist Party in 2000 (and thus greater change in political ideals because the Party had previously exercised complete control) were regions with greater increases in homicide rates. Thus, while democratization may be a positive development relative to the Communist juggernaut of the past, it appears that the swift political change in Russia is partially responsible for the higher rates of violence there following the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Suggested Citation

  • William Alex Pridemore & Sang-Weon Kim, 2006. "Democratization and Political Change as Threats to Collective Sentiments: Testing Durkheim in Russia," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 605(1), pages 82-103, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:anname:v:605:y:2006:i:1:p:82-103
    DOI: 10.1177/0002716206286859
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Chervyakov, Valeriy V. & Shkolnikov, Vladimir M. & Pridemore, William Alex & McKee, Martin, 2002. "The changing nature of murder in Russia," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 55(10), pages 1713-1724, November.
    2. Sang‐Weon Kim & William Alex Pridemore, 2005. "Poverty, Socioeconomic Change, Institutional Anomie, and Homicide," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 86(s1), pages 1377-1398, December.
    3. Андриенко Ю.В., 2001. "В Поисках Объяснения Роста Преступности В России В Переходный Период: Криминометрический Подход," Higher School of Economics Economic Journal Экономический журнал Высшей школы экономики, CyberLeninka;Федеральное государственное автономное образовательное учреждение высшего образования «Национальный исследовательский университет «Высшая школа экономики», vol. 5(2), pages 194-220.
    4. Luke March, 2001. "For Victory? The Crises and Dilemmas of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation," Europe-Asia Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 53(2), pages 263-290.
    5. Pridemore, W.A., 2002. "Vodka and violence: Alcohol consumption and homicide rates in Russia," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 92(12), pages 1921-1930.
    6. Richard Sakwa, 2005. "The 2003 – 2004 Russian Elections and Prospects for Democracy," Europe-Asia Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 57(3), pages 369-398.
    7. Pridemore, William Alex, 2003. "Measuring homicide in Russia: a comparison of estimates from the crime and vital statistics reporting systems," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 57(8), pages 1343-1354, October.
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    1. Susanne Karstedt, 2006. "Democracy, Values, and Violence: Paradoxes, Tensions, and Comparative Advantages of Liberal Inclusion," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 605(1), pages 50-81, May.

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