"Native Newspaper" about the LDPR phenomenon

On March 5, 2004, Rodnaya Gazeta published the materials of a round table discussion on the topic "LDPR - the party of one liberal", which, in particular, considered the political slogans under which Zhirinovsky's party entered the current State Duma.

So, for example, Sergei Chernyakhovsky (International Independent Environmental and Political University) believes that the slogan "We are for the Russians, we are for the poor" is not an ideology, but propaganda. Ideology is the project under which the party works. This is not what the party says. The slogan was aimed at satisfying certain social expectations. Zhirinovsky has no slogans that correspond to the idea of ​​creating a project of society as a kind of utopia. He can write books about anything. This is propaganda that has nothing to do with ideology. Political practice confirms that the national-conservative "ideology" of the Liberal Democratic Party performs not the function of a project that Zhirinovsky wants to implement, but the function of a set of slogans that ensure voting. Saying: "We are for the Russians, we are for the poor," the LDPR votes for laws that infringe on the interests of Russia and benefit the rich. Zhirinovsky never fulfilled his campaign promises .

Valery Solovey, an expert at the Gorbachev Foundation, believes that Zhirinovsky is a talented politician; he doesn't care what political scientists think of him. For him, “only what those who vote think about him matters. Zhirinovsky sends them a nationalist message, the degree of which is constantly intensifying. In this sense, he is an indicator of nationalist sentiment in the country. The authorities allow him such antics because he channels nationalist sentiments " Zhirinovsky is perceived by society as a nationalist. As a result, steam goes off the whistle, there are no victims, everyone is happy . "

Sergei Chernyakhovsky did not agree with this opinion. He believes that in the current situation, when the authorities do not need ideology (here you can link to our round table), but prefers to solve everything by force, they are only interested in the “pocket” of the Liberal Democratic Party: “In this sense, the Kremlin will equally suit both nationalism and cosmopolitanism of Zhirinovsky" .

I would like to note that the opinion of V. Soloviev is similar to the opinion of Andrei Sakharov (RAS) . Only the latter believes that nationalism does not threaten Russia, because there are very few nationalists, and V.Solovey believes that this nationalism is "canalized" into Zhirinovsky's nationalist rhetoric and "there are no victims." Of course, no one considers Zhirinovsky an ideologue of skinheads, but we would be careful to say that there were no victims of nationalism, especially after the shameful and scandalous beginning of 2004...

Sources

• One Liberal Party: Materials of the joint "round table" of "Rodnaya Gazeta" and "Political Journal" // Native newspaper. 2004. March 5.