Eastern Europe poll

Twenty years after the Iron Curtain fell, Eastern Europeans have mixed views on democracy and capitalism, a recent poll found.

Overall, approval of democratic government and a capitalistic economic system has diminished somewhat in nine former communist countries polled by the Pew Global Attitudes Project. Answers to the recent poll were compared to those given to the same questions in 1991.

The new survey discovered a generation gap, with young people more open to a "multiparty political system and a market economy," the Associated Press reported.

That was illustrated by response in Russia, where more than 60 percent of people aged 18-29 viewed democracy and capitalism favorably, while only 27 percent of Russians older than 60 agreed. Similar splits were found in all the countries polled.

One positive finding is that more people surveyed in the recent poll said they were satisfied with their lives than those interviewed in 1991. In Poland, 44 percent expressed personal satisfaction compared with only 12 percent in 1991. Yet in Bulgaria and Hungary, only 15 percent did, though the numbers in those countries were even smaller in 1991.

Yet respondents from some countries indicated more satisfaction in their personal lives while opining, ironically, that people had been better off under communism. Sixty-two percent of Ukrainians said that people were worse off now while 45 percent of Russians felt the same way. Some 33 percent of Russians thought their compatriots' lives had improved under the new system.

A majority of Czechs and Poles said that life was better now than under communism. Conversely, 58 percent of Russians deeply regretted that the Soviet Union no longer exists.

The survey affirmed rising nationalism in Russia. It found that some countries placed more emphasis on certain freedoms than did others. Young people tended to be more accepting of democracy and capitalism than their elders, and more satisfied with their lives.

We Americans cherish democracy and freedom, and want to see other countries enjoy the same benefits. But making the transition to democracy and capitalism has been complex and challenging for Eastern Europeans. The latest poll seems to reflect that.