AP Comparative Day 39 Agenda Goal – to understand the Russian political culture and how society and the state interact. 1.Questions from homework? –Finish Kasparov interview – as you listen, add to your answers of the above questions 2 through 6interview 2.How has Putin changed the RF system? 3.Complete ST 2 4.Current events 5.ST 3 citizen, society and state –Complete ST 3 6.Answer homework and review questions. 7. nstitutam_vlasti/ed071901http://bd.english.fom.ru/report/cat/societas/reitingi_doveriya_nedoveriya_i nstitutam_vlasti/ed071901

Putin’s changes 1.Modified elections to Duma – now all 450 are party list selections in nationwide elections where parties must be represented by 50,000 members with regional membership of at least 500 in at least half of the regions and receive at least 7% of the vote to get a seat in the Duma. Parties may not create blocs for election support of joint candidates 2.To tame the regions, the President can fire governors and suspend legislatures and the president can reallocate tax revenues in ways that reward allied regions, but punish recalcitrant ones. a.Further reform after 2004 disallowed for popular election of governors, they are now appointed by President and approved by the regional legislature. b.As part of Power Vertical, 7 “federal districts” were created to oversee administration of federal laws and bureaucracies in the 89 regions – kind of “super state” owing their allegiance to the President 3.To tame the Federation Council, the members of the FC cannot also be members of the regional executive or legislature, one is appointed by the regional exec and the other appointed by regional legislature. Since the President appoints the governor, or can fire the governor, he essentially indirectly appoints half the Federation Council. 4.State Council formed analogous to a council of governors to coopt the now weakened governors onto Putin’s team 5.To coopt business leaders, a Entrepreneurship Council was created in 2000 to offer channel of interest articulation to business community. 6.Coopting people and groups through Civic Forum and the Public Chamber

AP Comparative Day 31 Agenda What cultural problems illustrated by AR 17 presaged problems implementing capitalism? Democracy? What structural problems may prevent the rise of functional capitalism? Democracy? How does AR 18 differ from AR 17 regarding views of the future success of democracy and capitalism?

Russian Federation ST 3 A-Main social cleavages are race/ethnicity and social class. Others include region, religion and now ideology. 1. Ethnic cleavages are vast and deep. Class has continued to be an issue, but most people are still poor, and a fatalist attitude does not translate into frequent political conflict. There is beginning to be a shift in the opportunity to move up socially through education, hard work, cronyism or organized crime. The other cleavages are not so pronounced, but as multi party pluralist democracy burgeons, the ideological cleavages may become more important.

Russian Federation ST 3 2. Consequences of ethnicity have been both violent repression like Chechnya, or the repression that the outer republics faced during the Soviet Era. However, pragmatic leaders during the early 90s recognized the need for compromise to maintain the unity of the federation and the resulting natural, human and physical resources. Therefore, the constitution includes ethnic- based political regions (Republics) like Chechnya, Tatarstan and the JAR. It also includes direct representation with disproportional political power in the federal state through the Federation Council.

Russian Federation ST 3 3. Political conflict came in the transition from USSR as the USSR dissolved along ethnic lines. This political conflict also resulted in the two Chechnya wars. Regional conflict also resulted in greater power being given by treaty or taken by regionalism/nationalism by regional governors, during the early Yeltsin era. Putin has attempted to tame the regions through the use of centralized control a la the old Soviet method exemplified by the creation of 7 federal districts, nomination of regional governors by president, renegotiation of Yeltsin-era treaties. Power vertical. Creation of nationalistic parties like Zhirinovsky's LDPR 4. Institutional expression has been numerous political parties, the Federation Council, the constitutionally created regions, reestablishment of the Russian Orthodox Church

Russian Federation ST 3 B. People tend to like the 1993 regime. They tend to distrust the Duma, the regional and local administrations, but tend to trust the President, especially Putin. They do not trust the bureaucracy, and are not necessarily big fans of the economic reforms (generation gap.) Groups have formed for professionals, some unions, and various think tanks, charities; the most popular groups have been parties, but these have greatly weakened such that civil society today in Russia is smaller & weaker than UK and US

Russian Federation ST 3 C. People learn about politics mainly through TV. Although now the TV and other media outlets are controlled by the state. They were practically controlled by the state under Yeltsin because his oligarchs controlled or owned the major media outlets. Now there are fewer and all but one are owned or operated by supporters of or by the state itself. Newspapers and other print media are also weak and threatened by state crackdowns or even journalist assassinations. People also learn about politics through their experiences with the state. The internet however is a free-flow of ideas, but not widely available to those outside the middle and upper classes, which are small in number.

Russian Federation ST 3 D. People in Russia participate mainly through elections 68% voted in presidential elections in 2000 and 64% in They also participate through strikes and protests. Few have participated through civil society, but it is growing. There is also more participation through parties and electioneering and a new corporatist system (Public Chamber) of the growing civil society, esp. on the local level. Violence has been more prevalent, especially terrorism, political and journalistic killings and Chechnya

Russian Federation ST 3 E. There really are not major social movements in Russia and have not been. There are many small ones, currently tied to parties like the agrarians or pensioners or even Yabloko and now a growing but small democracy movement. There is a corporatist reform program called the Public Chamber and the first meeting of the public Forum to more closely link the state to civil society organizations. But change in Russia is generally not accomplished through movements