Midterm Flashcards

1
Q

The how and Why Of Putins Regime Change

A

How?
- Undermine free elections - no genuine competition, limited opposition
- Control civil society - limited independence
Limited information - control the media & internet
- Use law instrumentally

Why?
- Maintain regime support, stability

Real threat: economic instability & the power of ideas

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2
Q

Soviet Regime Characteristic Ideal Types

A
Totalitarian, Statist 
Characteristics:
- Single Dominant Party
- Centralized Economy – no market
- Coercion
- Single Ideology – belief system Communism (utopian)
- Monopoly of Media
- Monopoly of Weapons
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3
Q

Democracy Characteristics

A

Polyarchy - Robert Dahl: Competitive Political Parties and Human Rights

  • Political parties which compete and articulate and aggregate public preferences
  • Elections which allow the public to influence policies
  • Freedom of Speech and Assembly
  • Civil society
  • Independent Legal system
  • Human rights
  • Some form of economic markets - ranging from laissez faire capitalism to socialist market with state role

TRANSPARENCY & ACCOUNTABILITY OF THE STATE & POLITICAL LEADERS

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4
Q

Authoritarianism

A

marked by “indefinite political tenure” of the ruler of ruling party (often in a single-party state) or other authority

  • Lack of institutionalization
  • No rule of law
  • Dominance of state
  • Individual or single party
  • Society is still autonomous from state
Authority/Power: 
Charismatic 
Monarchic 
Normative
Remunerative 
Coercive
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5
Q

Hybrid Regime

A

illiberal democracy, a judicial democracy

A system which has some of the institutions associated with democratic regimes, but which lacks the conditions under which they can function fairly

  • Elections, but unfair playing field due to central intervention and lack of info.
  • Authoritarian - use of law for political reason, not based on independent legal system
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6
Q

Dynamics of Change

A

Categorical - breakdowns lead to change in regime due to:

  • development
  • economic modernization
  • social change

Continuum - shifts on a continuum between regime types

Hybrid - multiple equilibria, steady state

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7
Q

Characteristics of Current Russian Regime

A
  • Single Party: Unified Russia
  • Elections without choice or competition
    • control over registration of candidates
    • lack of information
    • policies made by President with the legislature simply endorsing them
  • Lack of independent judiciary & rule of law
  • weak civil society
  • limited freedom of assembly
    Control over TV, one radio station which is threatened, but freedom of print media and internet
  • Use of legal system & police - intimidation
    political & economic
    Weak institionaization of legal & political system
    Market - state role in favoring some enterprises, large state role in raw materials - gas, oil
  • Threat of nationalization
    Ideology: Russian Nationalism
  • prominent role of the FSB and elites connected with them
  • lack of transparency
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8
Q

Why did liberalization and possibly democratization fail?

A
  • Lack of institutionalization & rule of law
  • Economic corruption
  • Legacy of Soviet era - political control, great power states, lack of civil society, imbalanced economic development
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9
Q

How did the current regime develop?

A

Failure of democratic development
Due to:
- Structural conditions: political and economic
- Isolation and failure of the West

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10
Q

Why now is the current regime like so?

A
  • Economic decline of Russia - oil prices
    • inability to maintain improvement in the standard of living
  • Need for ideology of Nationalism to replace the absence of ideas (Crimea)
  • Fear of the Color Revolutions - Ukraine, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan
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11
Q

What factors exert influence on the Russian federation today?

A
Ideology
Political Culture 
Physical Location of the USSR/Russia
Nature of the Soviet Polity 
Economic System 
Role of ethnicity 
Control over mass media
Use of Coercion - lack of independent rule of law
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12
Q

Ideology

A
  • Soviet Union an entirely new ideological experiment
    • a product of marxism-lenninism or stalinism

By time of Stalin was the soviet Union really a reflection of Russia & empire?
- industrialization from above, repression

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13
Q

Political Culture

A

Values came from Russia or Soviet Union?
Ideology - soviet internationalism?
Empire - Nationalism? Russian

Orthodoxy Communalism vs. Individualism

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14
Q

Physical Location of the USSR/ Russia

A

Maps

  • lack of defendable borders
  • Surrounded by non-orthodox states
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15
Q

Nature of Soviet Polity

A

Structural of the Soviet State & Institutions
- Hierarchical, Federal only in name

Communist Party of the Soviet Union
- Administrative, bureaucrats command system

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16
Q

Economic System

A

Central Planing - Gosplan
No markets (black market)
Money as an accounting mechanism, prices set by commodity balance, not market
Ratchet planning - storming, inefficiency
Legacy of imbalance between industry & agriculture, industrialization from above, gigantism, urban over rural sector, collectivization
Human capital - devalued

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17
Q

Role of Ethnicity

A

USSR & Russian Empire

Russian Federation - Republics based on ethnicity - issue of Sovereignty

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18
Q

The Transition Era

A

1988-1991

  1. Congress of Peoples Deputies of the USSR march 1989
    - Semi competitive Elections
  2. Marketization
    - Coops, Competition
  3. Freedom of the Press
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19
Q

Presidency

A

4 year set terms, changed to 6 years

President appoints the prime minister

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20
Q

Government serves at

A

pleasure of President, not the Duma

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21
Q

Duma

A

lower house of parliament

  • must confirm Prime Minister and ‘powers’ ministers
  • If Duma fails to confirm PM after 3 votes, President can dissolve Duma and call for new elections
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22
Q

Duma can Impeach

A

the President

  • 2 votes on initiative of 1/3 deputies once the courts agree there are grounds for impeachment
    • Treason
      • but President must be convicted by the Federation Council on 2/3 vote not more than 3 months after original charges
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23
Q

President can veto

A

Legislation

but Duma can override Presidential vetoes, but must be 2/3 vote

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24
Q

If president resigns,

A

PM becomes acting President.

- Presidential election must be within 3 months

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25
Q

Prime Minister

A
  • appointed by President
  • Government is subordinated to President not PM
  • president must submit PM nomination to the Duma within 2 weeks of taking office
  • If Duma rejects PM 3 times, President can dismiss Duma and call for new elections
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26
Q

Leadership and the Yeltsin & Putin Presidencies

A

Theme: Agency & Constraint

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27
Q

Breslauer

A

(231) - the importance of individual choices, but choices are shaped by
1. Political organization of regime
2. Ideology & Basis of Legitimation
3. Opinion of Political Establishment
4. Elite Competition
5. Social Forces
6. Foreign Influence

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28
Q

Yeltsin as

A

Charismatic Leader

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29
Q

Yeltsin

1985-91

A

Personality
Beliefs - Populism & Egalitarianism
Shifts in opinion within the establishment
Even if anticipatory, Yeltsin’s positions were consistent with emerging social forces

30
Q

Yeltsin 1991-1993

A

“Stormer” - Radial Economic Reform until Spring 1992

  • Shift due to popular suffering making public available for mobilization by opponents
  • Yeltsin’s choice to end stalemate through force
31
Q

Yeltsin

1994-1999

A

Yeltsin - Reclusive, Authoritarian, Patriarchal
(Political Insecurity) - need for a strong hand in leadership
- Attempt to create stability & consolidation

32
Q

Yeltsin

Accomplishments

A

Federation Treaty 1992
Constitution of December 1993
Economic Reform - Privatization
Regular Elections

33
Q

Yeltsin’s Failures

A

War in Chechnya (1994, 1999)
Corruption in Privatization
Above Political Parties - undermined growth of political party system
Use of Force against Parliament 1993
Weak State - dependence Oligarchs & Federation Council (asymmetric federalism)

Failure to build a strong institutional base for the Russian state. Did not incorporate participation in decision-making

34
Q

Putin as a Leader

Background

A

Not an apparatchik - Background KGB
Former Director _FSB (successor to KGB)
Law degree
Work with Sobchak, liberal mayor of St. Petersburg
Appeared to favor Liberal Economic Reforms

35
Q

Putin

2000

A

Contextual Shifts
Duma - Favorable to Putin
Second War in Chechnya - source of popular support
Attack on Oligarchs - Popular Support
Symbolic Reassertion of Russian Power Internationally

36
Q

Problems Confronting Putin

A

Central - Periphery: Asymmetric Federalism, weakness of center
Lack of enabling legislation, especially on economic issues
Institutionalization - need for legal system
Fragmentation of political parties

37
Q

Putin Reforms

A

Dictatorship of Law, Managed Democracy
Creation of Federal Regions (7, now 8) with Presidential Reps
Stress on Vertical Power - appointment of siloviki - members of FSB
Presidents & Governors Appointed - no longer elected (Confirmation by regional legislations, if rejected - legislation is dissolved by President) 2013, can be elected again

38
Q

Putin Reforms

A

Change in Federation Council: End ex officio membership of Regional Executives & Legislative Heads: Appointed by Regional Exec’s & Legislatures; Full Time
Harmonization of Laws, end Bi-lateral Agreements - Aim to Limit sovereignty/autonomy of Republics
Electoral System - shifts in electoral rules limiting small parties and potentially competition in 2013 return to mixed system

39
Q

Putin

Observations

A

Justification - Use of Beslan, Terrorism
Need for Laws - Government based on Law or government by law? Instrumental use of law to rule
Economic Reform - Tactics to renationalize strategic resources
Intolerance of Dissent - Mass Media, Opposition political parties, mass demonstrations
Limits placed on direct participation - Election of officials

40
Q

Medvedev

A

Upon becoming President emphasized the need to overcome “legal nihilism” and to build a state in which the rights of citizens are “not only guaranteed by the constitution, but in reality observed by the government.”
He called on all public forces to assist in strengthening civil society and the rule of law

41
Q

Who was in Control? Medvedev or Putin?

2008-2012

A

Basis for assessment:

  1. Leadership Decision Making
  2. Personnel - shifts from Siloviki to economic experts from St. Petersburg
  3. Crisis Management: Putin dominating on TV during Moscow fires
  4. Removal of Luzhkov (Mayor of Moscow)

Questions resolved when Medvedev & Putin said they had an agreement as to Putin’s return to Presidency

BASIC FOR DISCONTENT

42
Q

Hallmark’s of Putin’s Presidency & Return 2012 Presidency
2000-2008

A

Stability (later, fear of colored revolutions)
Strengthening of vertical power - increasing the capacity of the Russian state
Use of law - instrumentally (legitimacy)
Pragmatic approach to politics

43
Q

Hallmark’s of Putin’s Presidency & Return 2012 Presidency
2004-2008, 2012 -

A

Para-constitutionalism
para-politics - reforms outside the ‘normal’ representative institutions
Federal districts
State Council
Public Chamber
Selection, rather than election of regional leaders until reversed
Social Contract - shift from economic benefits to nationalism
Political Pluralism to mobilization and statism
Control & limit of civil society and economy
Role of Siloviki - state elite officials drawn from the security agencies

44
Q

Dirigisme

A

state control and central role in the economy and society

This strengthens administrative system

45
Q

Basis of Putin Support

A
  1. Lack of alternatives
  2. Legitimacy - support & consent
    • If legitimacy on what is this based?
      - presidency? institutional support
      - Policy Approval? Short-term support
46
Q

Deficiencies of the Communist System

A

Lack of accountability
Communism
Russia was one of the poorest countries with illiterate and peasantry
Gorbachev became leader of Soviet Union practiced policies of glasnost (openness) and perestroika (restructuring)

47
Q

Communism

A

self-declared socialist governments comprising one-party states which were single legal political party systems operating under centrally planned economies and a state ownership of the means of production, with the state claiming that it represented the interests of the working classes

48
Q

Desire for greater ‘vertical’ (central) control:

A

Federalism

- conflicts between state and federal governments as to which has power in a specific area

49
Q

What explains the failure of robust democratic development?

A
  • Tsarist autocracy then single party rule of vanguard, lack of parties
  • Weak state; corruption within the government; appointing
  • Needed state autonomy and capacity before a democracy could be established
50
Q

What explains the corruption plagued economy?

A
  • Lack of motivation to work since everyone gets the same amount in the end why work harder
  • Oligarchs took over when Yeltsin came to rule
  • Too much government involvement –> collectivization and industrialization, too much focus on building the industry famines ensued
  • Putin era; small business remained at the mercy of the bureaucracy while big businesses were basically partners with the regime
51
Q

What explains the weak civil society?

A
  • Unions not allowed under communist rule
  • Communist beliefs only –> no religions
  • Civic participation very minimal; no pluralistic representation of divergent interests
  • Lack of interests groups
52
Q

What explains the rise of nationalist intolerance?

A
  • Blurred sovereignty and territory; multiple ethnic groups under one territory
  • Through Marx and Engels saw the origins of the nation state and national identity as bourgeois in nature, both believed that the creation of the centralized state as a result of the collapse of feudalism and creation of capitalism had created positive social conditions to stimulate class struggle
53
Q

Analyze the influence of the communist past and the nature of the transition

A
  • Economic stagnant
  • Overthrew the Russian republic and banned any opposing parties
  • Democratic centralization
54
Q

Analyze the design and functioning of state institutions

A
USSR; single party system 
Democratic centralization 
Putin: Federal Assembly (two house parliament)  = more vertical 
Small ruling groups with too much power
Dual State
55
Q

Dual State

A

Concept of dual state implies that despite the normative values and safeguards of certain legal mechanisms in terms of checks and balances, the entire legal system can become de facto function as an instrument at the disposal of the political authorities

  • prerogative state - governed directly by rule of force
  • normative state (lack of in USSR) - regulated through a system of sanctioned legal norms prescribing the permissible boundaries of interpersonal relations and citizen-state relations
56
Q

Analyze the economy and its social consequences

A

Bureaucratic corruption
Economic stagnation –> his reasoning for this stagnation was the growing demand for unskilled workers resulting in a decline of productivity and labor discipline

57
Q

Political Party requirements

A

regional branches in more than half of the subjects of the Russian federation
political party shall have not less than 50k members
2003 - no electoral blocs
2006 - no vote for “Against All”
2012 - Change to Party Law
- reduced the number of members required for registration from 40k to 500
- lessens the restrictions on party activities
- shortens the registration process

58
Q

Currently represented in the State Duma

A
United Russia 
Communist Party 
Liberal Democratic Party 
A Just Russia 
Rodina
Civic Platform
59
Q

Political Parties Assumption

Issue

A

Must have parties before a party system is possible

Coherence - based on ideology, policy positions and/or preferences reflecting economic-social cleavages

60
Q

Supply Side of Electoral Equation

A

Examination of Party Elites: Regina Smyth

  1. Lack issue coherence within the party
  2. Lack Partisan cohesiveness - no consistency among issues to create ‘outlook’
61
Q

Consequences of political parties

A

Parties do not present the mass public with clear choices

As a result, can’t link the electorate with policy making

62
Q

Golosov

A

“Problems of the Russian Electoral System” (Institutional Effects)

63
Q

Does the electoral system prevent a tie between voters and parties, thereby preventing the emergence of electoral parties?

A
  1. Flawed mixed unconnected system, parallel system: No tie between independent SMD and PR 1993-2003
  2. 2007-PR only, problem national electoral district
    No accountability
64
Q

Demand Side

Party Identification

A

Mass Partisanship
Voters know party positions and choose same parties over time
Difficult to judge because of SPLIT ticket voting

65
Q

What leads to Partisanship?

A
  1. Socialization - not in Russia
  2. Running tally of retrospective evaluation - Florina - but this requires responsible parties - questionable in Russia, and it requires the same parties to participate over time
  3. Life Cycle: Here we would look for AGE or generations to explain ideas and policy preferences
66
Q

Parties that reflect social/economic cleavages in society didn’t exist due to

A

the Communist System

67
Q

Why did parties seem to change in 1999 under Putin?

A

Party of Power
Purpose: Electoral vehicles to provide the executive with certain levels of legislative support without sharing power of responsibility

Putin uses Unity (Unified Russia) as a “coordinating mechanism” to resolve executive-legislative tension

68
Q

Is Putins unifying resulting in a one-party system?

A

Smyth argues Putin needed a more moderate party system on issues in a less polarized system: reduce # of veto players in parliament by creating a stable coalition to assert executive control over the legislative agenda
This was done by a change in the internal rules of parliament - DUma

69
Q

Why Weak Party System in Russia?

A

Institutional Rules - Electoral Formula: Little change until Putin
Electoral Volatility - High due to new parties
Effective number of parties - High producing fragmentation

70
Q

Unified Russia - Why did appear to succeed until Dec. 2011?

A

Popularity of Putin

  1. Improved Economy
  2. New Election Laws - Undermining Regional Elites
  3. Decline in Support for Communist Party, Increase in Rural Support
71
Q

Political Party Conclusions

A
  1. No real multiple party system
  2. Weak parties - organization & membership
  3. Effects of Mixed Electoral System
    1. Fragmentation of political organizations/parties
    2. Increased influence of Local Elites w/ resources
  4. Growth of United Russia
  5. Putin Electoral Reform - Is barrier too high for new parties? Has created control over regional elites limited representation of diverse interests
  6. Consequences of Dec. 2011:
    1. United Russia rating declines
    2. Putin’s rating stagnates
    3. Creation of Popular Front of Russia to re-invigorate United Russia - Jun 2013 first congress. Putin elected head of Popular Front of Russia at first congress
    4. Change in Electoral System - SMD & PR Party Lists & 5% threshold