Transcript File - If You Know Your History

Chapter 8
Russia
Russia
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Critical Junctures
– Patrimonialism: A system of governance in which
a single ruler treats the state as personal property
(patrimony). Appointments to public office are made
on the basis of unswerving loyalty to the ruler. In
turn, state officials exercise wide authority in other
domains, such as the economy, often for their
personal benefit and that of the ruler, to the
detriment of the general population.
– Mir: A traditional form of communal peasant
organization in Russia that survived until the
collectivization campaign of the late 1920s and
involved a periodic redistribution of strips of land
among families of the commune.
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The Bolshevik Revolution and the
Establishment of Soviet Power
–
–
Democratic centralism: A system of political organization
developed by V. I. Lenin and practiced, with modifications, by
all communist party-states. Its principles include a hierarchal
party structure in which (1) party leaders are elected on a
delegate basis from lower to higher party bodies; (2) party
leaders can be recalled by those who elected them; and (3)
freedom of discussion is permitted until a decision is taken, but
strict discipline and unity should prevail in implementing a
decision once it is made. In practice, in all Communist parties
in China, the Soviet Union, and elsewhere, centralizing
elements tended to predominate over the democratic ones.
Vanguard party: A political party that claims to operate in the
“true” interests of the group or class it purports to represent,
even if this understanding doesn’t correspond to the
expressed interests of the group itself. The Communist parties
of the Soviet Union and China are good examples of vanguard
parties.
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The Stalin Revolution
–
•
Collectivization: A process undertaken in the Soviet Union
under Stalin in the late 1920s and early 1930s and in China
under Mao in the 1950s, by which agricultural land was
removed from private ownership and organized into large state
and collective farms.
Attempts at De-Stalinization
–
Tacit social contract: An idea put forth by some Western
analysts that an unwritten informal understanding existed
between the population and the party/state in the post-Stalinist
Soviet Union, which helped form the basis of social and
political stability; the implicit agreement involved citizens
granting political compliance with Soviet rule in exchange for
benefits such as guaranteed employment, free social services,
a lax work environment, and limited interference in personal
life.
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Perestroika and Glasnost
–
–
Perestroika: The policy of restructuring embarked on by
Gorbachev when he became head of the Communist Party of
the Soviet Union in 1985. Initially, the policy emphasized
decentralization of economic decision making, increased
enterprise autonomy, expanded public discussion of policy
issues, and a reduction in the international isolation of the
Soviet economy. Over time, restructuring took on a more
political tone, including a commitment to glasnost and
demokratizatsiia.
Glasnost: Gorbachev’s policy of “openness” or “publicity,”
which involved an easing of controls on the media, arts, and
public discussion, leading to an outburst of public debate and
criticism covering most aspects of Soviet history, culture, and
policy.
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Perestroika and Glasnost (continued)
–
–
Demokratizatsiia: The policy of democratization identified by
former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in 1987 as an
essential component of perestroika. The policy was part of a
gradual shift away from a vanguard party approach toward an
acceptance of liberal democratic norms. Initially, the policy
embraced multicandidate elections and a broadening of
political competition within the Communist Party itself; after
1989, it involved acceptance of a multiparty system.
Law-based state: A state where the rule of law prevails, so
that actions of the government as well of nongovernmental
actors are subject to the requirements of the law. The creation
of a law-based state in the Soviet Union was one of the explicit
goals of Gorbachev’s reform process, thus limiting the ability of
state agencies or the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
arbitrarily to circumvent laws or legal provisions.
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The Soviet Economic System
–
–
Market reform: A strategy of economic transformation
embraced by the Yeltsin government in Russia and the Deng
Xiaoping government in China that involves reducing the role
of the state in managing the economy and increasing the role
of market forces. In Russia, market reform is part of the
transition to postcommunism and includes the extensive
transfer of the ownership of economic assets from the state to
private hands. In China, market reform has been carried out
under the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party and
involves less extensive privatization.
Shock therapy: A variant of market reform that involves the
state simultaneously imposing a wide range of radical
economic changes, with the purpose of “shocking” the
economy into a new mode of operation. Shock therapy can be
contrasted with a more gradual approach to market reform.
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The Soviet
Economic System (continued)
– Joint-stock company: A business firm whose
capital is divided into shares that can be held by
individuals, groups of individuals, or governmental
units. In Russia, formation of joint-stock companies
has been the primary method for privatizing large
state enterprises.
– Privatization voucher: A certificate worth 10,000
rubles issued by the government to each Russian
citizen in 1992 to be used to purchase shares in
state enterprises undergoing the process of
privatization. Vouchers could also be sold for cash
or disposed of through newly created investment
funds.
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The Soviet
Economic System (continued)
– Insider privatization: A term used in relation to
Russia to refer to the transformation of formerly
state-owned enterprises into joint-stock companies
or private enterprises in which majority control of the
enterprise is in the hands of employees and/or
managers of that enterprise.
– Oligarchs: A small group of powerful and wealthy
individuals who gained ownership and control of
important sectors of Russia’s economy in the
context of the privatization of state assets in the
1990s.
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The Soviet
Economic System (continued)
– Mafia: A term borrowed from Italy and widely used
in Russia to describe networks of organized criminal
activity that pervade both economic and
governmental securities in that country and
activities such as the demanding of protection
money, bribe taking by government officials,
contract killing, and extortion.
– Pyramid debt: A situation when a government or
organization takes on debt obligations at
progressively higher rates of interest in order to pay
off existing debt. In some cases, a structure of
pyramid debt can result in a default on the entire
debt obligation if interest owed becomes
unmanageable.
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Basics of Russian “Privatization”
• Spontaneous privatization that began in the
glasnost years and continued into the 90s
(no legal basis for it, but managers and
workers in small and mid-sized state
enterprises, especially in service areas,
started transforming their workplaces into
private businesses keeping the same
managers and workers with state owned
equipment and buildings producing private
profits)
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Large-Scale Privatizations of the 90s
•
•
Vouchers given to Russian citizens (caused as
much confusion and froud as they did chances to
invest)
Fire sale prices of stock offered to managers of
state enterprises
–
–
–
–
–
51% of stock sold this way
Much of the money came from company treasuries
Some came from Communist party assets (CP was owner
of banks, stores, tourist agencies)
Foreign investors
Major capital flight.... Huge deposits in swiss banks at the
same time as IMF was making massive loans to the
Russian government and foreign companies were
investing
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Economic Crash
• End of the 1990s (1998) was the economic
crash
• Government defaulted on loans
• Stock market crashed
• Ruble crashed (hyperinflation)
• IMF made more loans and imposed a
Structural Adjustment Policy
• Since 2000, economic recovery, in large part
fueled by rising oil prices…
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State and Economy
in the Russian Federation
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Russian Political Culture and
Economic Change
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The Soviet State
–
–
Autonomous republic: A territorial unit in the Soviet Union that
was a constituent unit of the union republic within which it was
located. Autonomous republics were populated by a large
national (ethnic) group, after which the autonomous republic was
generally named. They enjoyed little actual autonomy in the
Soviet period. Once Russia adopted its new constitution in 1993,
those autonomous republics within Russian territory became
constituent units (now called republics) of the Russian
Federation.
Krai: One of the six territorial units in the Russian Federation that
are defined by the constitution of 1993 to be among the eightynine members of the federation, with a status equal to that of the
republics and oblast. Like the oblasts during the Soviet period,
the krai were defined purely as territorial-administrative units
within a particular union republic of the Soviet Union. A krai
differed from an oblast in that part of its border was on an
external boundary of the USSR or it included a mixture of diverse
ethnic territories (or both). Generally a krai is a geographically
large unit, but relatively sparsely populated.
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The Soviet State (continued)
–
–
Oblast: One of forty-nine territorial units in the Russian
Federation defined by the constitution of 1993 to be among the
eighty-nine members of the federation, with a status equal to
that of the republics and krai. An oblast generally lacks a nonRussian national/ethnic basis. During the Soviet period, the
oblasts were defined purely as territorial-administrative units
located within a particular union republic of the Soviet Union.
Okrug: One of ten territorial units in the Russian Federation
that are defined by the constitution of 1993 to be among the
eighty-nine members of the federation with a status equal to
that of the republics, oblasts, and krai. An okrug generally was
originally formed due to the presence of a non-Russian
national/ethnic group residing in the territory. Alongside their
status as equal units of the Russian Federation, most of the
okrugs are physically located within and constituent parts of an
oblast or krai. This situation has created ambiguity regarding
the relationship between the okrug and the oblast or krai they
are located in.
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1993 Constitution
• 1993 with the economic/political crisis,
Yeltsin dissolved the legislature, called for
new elections, month long struggle,
arrested opposition leaders, new
constitution
• Approved even though opposition won
majority in elections….
• Presidential Republic
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The Executive
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Executive Powers
•
•
•
•
•
•
President is directly elected for a 4-yr term in a twoballot system (like France), 2004 last election, max
two terms, but then Putin proposed no term limits…
Appoints Prime Minister and cabinet, with Duma
approval
President has own staff of advisors, can issue
decrees that have force of law unless
countermanded by the Duma
Can declare a state of emergency
Power ministries (defense, foreign affairs, interiors,
State Security Bureau—new KGB) all responsible
to the president and part of his Sec Council
Security Council (Prime Minister, Finance minister,
heads of legislative bodies, etc)
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Executive Power (cont)
• Dissolve the Duma and call for new
elections
• Veto acts passed by the legislature
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Nomenklatura
•
•
•
•
Special section of the communist party bureaucracy that kept
track of everyone worth keeping track of that was supervised
by the Politburo. They gathered information about people
from teachers, supervisors, military officers, party cadres and
anyone who could evaluate a person`s abilities and loyalties.
If the information on you was favorable enough, you were
recruited and placed on the nomenklatura lists
The nomenklatura provided people for important jobs with the
Party, in government or in a govt enterprise, sometimes it
helped to have a patron to choose your name from the list,
you needed to be a loyal follower (client)
Combination of authoritarian control and patron-client politics
In spite of the elite turnover, the people running most things
in Russia today are products of the nomenklatura system
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Political elite
• Russia today is being run by the people
selected by the old Soviet system that
valued obedience and loyalty to those
above you. Putin reinforces that same
theme
• New routes to power through electoral
politics, business and technology
– Nomenklatura system less important, patronclient relationships are more important
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The National Bureaucracy
–
–
Clientelism (or patron-client networks): An informal aspect
of policymaking in which a powerful patron (for example, a
traditional local boss, government agency, or dominant party)
offers resources such as land, contracts, protection, or jobs in
return for the support and service (such as labor or votes) of
lower-status and less powerful clients: corruption, preferential
treatment, and inequality are characteristic of clientelist
politics.
Siloviki: Derived from the Russian word “sil,” meaning “force.”
Russian politicians and government officials drawn from
security and intelligence agencies (such as the Soviet KGB or
its contemporary counterpart, the FSB), special forces, or the
military, many of whom were recruited to important political
posts under Vladimir Putin.
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Subnational Government
– Asymmetrical federalism: A system of governance
in which political authority is shared between a
central government and regional or state
governments, but where some subnational units in
the federal system have greater or lesser powers
than others.
– Power vertical: A term used by Vladimir Putin to
describe a unified and hierarchical structure of
executive power ranging from the federal level to
the local level, which can be reinforced by various
mechanisms such as appointments by higher level
officials and oversight of activities by higher organs
over lower ones.
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The Legislature
– Civil society: Refers to the space occupied by
voluntary associations outside the state, for
example, professional associations (lawyers,
doctors, teachers), trade unions, student and
women’s groups, religious bodies, and other
voluntary association groups. The term is similar to
society, although civil society implies a degree of
organization absent from the more inclusive term
society.
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Creating a new political culture
• Tsarist times, govt legitimacy divine
designation of Tsar as creator of society
and protector of the faith
• Soviet times, govt legitimacy ideology,
egalitarianism, technological, industrial,
military achievements, rising standard of
living in the 1980s
• Today, legitimacy based on creation of a
rule of law and representative govt, promise
of economic prosperity
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Civil Society
•
•
How do you create a political culture that is diff from what
existed in the past?
Neither tsars nor communist leaders recognized civil liberties,
people weren`t citizens, subjects!
–
•
•
Oligarchic autocracy, strict censorship, secret police, enforced
uniformity of thought, intrusive state
Beginnings of civil society, non-political groups are common
and tolerated, but human rights, environmental or other
groups with hints of politics are likely to be investigated and
restricted.
Political culture is in flux as is economic culture…
–
–
Is Putin a reformer?
Will growth be adequate to support political stability? Will
distribution of income contribute to the growth of a middle
class? Will rule of law become powerful enough to guarantee
property and contract rights? Will Russians stand up for their
own civil liberties or will they sacrifice them for economic
prosperity? (new tacit social contract)
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Appearances CAN be deceiving
•
•
•
Potemkin Village (pretentiously showy or imposing
façade intended to mask or divert attention from an
embarrassing or shabby fact or condition
When Catherine the Great used to cruise the Volga
River she would view picturesque well-built, tidy
houses and shops with villagers happy engaged in
commerce, but just beyond her sight was poverty
and misery. These were a moveable false village
set up along her route to give her a satisfying, but
false experience of her dominions.
What Potemkin Villages exist in Russia today?
Find one…
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Elections
–
–
Proportional representation (PR): A system of political
representation in which seats are allocated to parties within
multimember constituencies, roughly in proportion to the votes
each party receives. PR usually encourages the election to
parliament of more political parties than single-member-district
winner-take-all systems.
Single-member plurality (SMP) electoral district: An
electoral system in which candidates run for a single seat from
a specific geographic district. The winner is the person who
receives the most votes, whether or not that is a majority.
SMP systems, unlike systems of proportional representation,
increase the likelihood that two national coalition parties will
form.
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Russian Politics in
Comparative Perspective
– Conditionality: The requirement that certain
commitments be made by receiving governments in
exchange for credits or other types of assistance
provided by international or foreign agencies, to
assure that the goals of the donor agency are
respected.
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