The deterioration
of neighborhoods in our inner cities, the decline
of elemental safety — never mind education — in many
of our schools, the burgeoning
of jail populations (to the point that we have the highest percentage
of incarcerated
citizens of any
country in the industrial world), the great strains on the family, the general slackening
of discipline, which a consumerist and media - driven society relentlessly encourages, and a huge transfer
of wealth In the 1980s and «90s (during this period, the upper 1 percent
of Americans more than doubled its wealth, while the lowest 20 percent suffered an
actual decline)-- all these changes signal a community at risk.
In the summer
of 2009, we conducted a nationally representative survey
of 1,500 Russian
citizens, and found that respondents who were directly affected by the financial crisis were more likely to respond negatively to questions concerning popular support for the political leadership
of the
country, the efficacy
of the political authorities, and the
actual practice
of democracy in Russia (Chaisty and Whitefield, 2012).