2006年VOA标准英语-The Status and Prospects of Democracy in R

By Peter Fedynsky
Washington, DC
17 February 2006
 
watch G8 Democracy report

Russia recently assumed the rotating presidency¹ of the G-8, prompting a discussion in the United States about whether that country shares the civic² values of the industrialized nations that are the other members of the group.  VOA's Peter Fedynsky looks at the status and prospects³ of Russian democratic reforms.

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As G-8 finance ministers met recently in Moscow to discuss oil supplies and other global economic issues, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice appeared on American television to say "Some elements of democratization in Russia," as she put it, "seem to be going the wrong way" -- specifically a crackdown on non-governmental organizations and the temporary cutoff of natural gas to Ukraine.

 

 
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
  

"Clearly the law on non-governmental organizations is a problem,” said the secretary.  “Clearly the use of energy in the way that it was used concerning Ukraine is a problem.  And Russia is now the president of the G-8 process.  We would hope for behavior that is befitting of the president of the G-8 process."

Secretary Rice added that Russia as a whole - her leaders and people alike - needs to fully⁴ integrate the democratic values of the original G-8 members into the country's future.

Andrew Kuchins, a Russia expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, says wealthy industrialized nations have a major interest in Russian democracy.

Andrew Kuchins   
  
"The fundamental argument as to why we should care about Russia being democratic gets back to democratic peace theory, I suppose.  Democratic nations tend to be more prosperous, democratic nations tend to be less aggressive in their foreign policies towards their neighbors.  Democratic nations generally tend to observe human rights conventions more thoroughly⁵ than non-democratic nations."

Mr. Kuchins says Russia's initial encounter with democracy in the 1990s was associated with chaos⁶ -- mafia hits in city streets, fraud, corruption⁸, illegal privatization, and loss of international prestige.   Since then, President Vladimir Putin has pursued what he calls sovereign democracy, which Andrew Kuchins says is long on Russian sovereignty and short on democracy as it is understood in the G-8. 

Instead, Mr. Kuchins says, Mr. Putin has centralized authority by diminishing the independence of his country's media outlets⁹ and political opposition¹⁰.  However, Russia expert Anatol Lieven at the New America Foundation, a Washington, DC think tank, says centralization has not made the Kremlin as powerful as it once was.

 
Anatol Lieven
  
"Actually, the power of the central state remains¹¹ extremely weak when it comes to influencing what really happens on the ground in most areas of Russia, because the state bureaucracy is too corrupt⁷.  It's too in league with local elites¹², with local businessmen,” Mr. Lieven told us.  “So many of the orders given from the Kremlin never actually have any effect on the ground at all."

Anatol Lieven and Andrew Kuchins agree that rising prosperity is creating a Russian middle class.  However, they are at odds¹³ over the country's prospects for democratic reform.

Mr. Lieven says, "I think the Putin administration is not democratic.  It is sincerely developmentalist.  But I also think that there are many, many reasons to doubt that it will actually succeed in its program, [which has] to do with many things that we see around large parts of the world:  corruption, lack of intelligence and dynamism in the bureaucratic¹⁴ elites, and a whole range of issues."

"The middle class is growing in the Russian Federation,” says Kuchins.  “That's something that gives me optimism about the future, because as more people have investments in property that they want to defend, I think over time that will create a demand for more efficient, more transparent¹⁵ political and legal institutions in which they can do that." 

Mr. Kuchins notes that the demand for a durable¹⁶ and sustainable Russian democracy will take time and must come from below.   In the short term, Russia's membership in the G-8 could help accelerate that country's democracy.

1 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

2 civic   

adj.城市的，都市的，市民的，公民的

参考例句：

• I feel it is my civic duty to vote.我认为投票选举是我作为公民的义务。
• The civic leaders helped to forward the project.市政府领导者协助促进工程的进展。

3 prospects   

n.希望，前途(恒为复数)

参考例句：

• There is a mood of pessimism in the company about future job prospects. 公司中有一种对工作前景悲观的情绪。
• They are less sanguine about the company's long-term prospects. 他们对公司的远景不那么乐观。

4 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

5 thoroughly   

adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地

参考例句：

• The soil must be thoroughly turned over before planting.一定要先把土地深翻一遍再下种。
• The soldiers have been thoroughly instructed in the care of their weapons.士兵们都系统地接受过保护武器的训练。

6 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

7 corrupt   

v.贿赂，收买；adj.腐败的，贪污的

参考例句：

• The newspaper alleged the mayor's corrupt practices.那家报纸断言市长有舞弊行为。
• This judge is corrupt.这个法官贪污。

8 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

9 outlets   

n.出口( outlet的名词复数 )；经销店；插座；廉价经销店

参考例句：

• The dumping of foreign cotton blocked outlets for locally grown cotton. 外国棉花的倾销阻滞了当地生产的棉花的销路。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They must find outlets for their products. 他们必须为自己的产品寻找出路。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

10 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

11 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

12 elites   

精华( elite的名词复数 )； 精锐； 上层集团； （统称）掌权人物

参考例句：

• The elites are by their nature a factor contributing to underdevelopment. 这些上层人物天生是助长欠发达的因素。
• Elites always detest gifted and nimble outsiders. 社会名流对天赋聪明、多才多艺的局外人一向嫌恶。

13 odds   

n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别

参考例句：

• The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win.她获胜的机会是五比一。
• Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once?你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗？

14 bureaucratic   

adj.官僚的，繁文缛节的

参考例句：

• The sweat of labour washed away his bureaucratic airs.劳动的汗水冲掉了他身上的官气。
• In this company you have to go through complex bureaucratic procedures just to get a new pencil.在这个公司里即使是领一支新铅笔，也必须通过繁琐的手续。

15 transparent   

adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的

参考例句：

• The water is so transparent that we can see the fishes swimming.水清澈透明，可以看到鱼儿游来游去。
• The window glass is transparent.窗玻璃是透明的。

16 durable   

adj.持久的，耐久的

参考例句：

• This raincoat is made of very durable material.这件雨衣是用非常耐用的料子做的。
• They frequently require more major durable purchases.他们经常需要购买耐用消费品。