Perceptions of the Soviet system and attitudes towards democracy in Lithuania

Abstract

The authors analyze the relationship between perceptions of the Soviet system and attitudes towards democracy in contemporary Lithuania. Based on the survey and focus discussions conducted in 2010, the article concludes that citizens estimate contemporary democracy in Lithuania differently: some of them feel nostalgic about the economic prosperity which had been created during the Soviet years and use it as the main
argument to criticize democracy in contemporary Lithuania, others question the deficit of state economy and the rigidity of policies in Soviet years and do not link it with the objective quality of democracy in Lithuania.