Narodniks saw the peasant commune as a Russia that had not been tainted by western influence; Alexander Herzen wrote that the narod was “the official Russia; the real Russia.”
Narodnik je video seljačku zajednicu kao Rusiju koja nije bila pokvarena zapadnim uticajem; Aleksandar Herzen je napisao da je narod bio „zvanična Rusija, prava Rusija“.