Russian Federation: Background NotesSlide 2Political SystemImportanceSlide 5New system versus old systemChanging InstitutionsRevolutionCommunist LeadersGorbachevSlide 11Gorbachev’s Reforms19891989 and consequences for Soviet UnionCollapseCitizen ResponseExplanation for Eastern European Collapse?Democratic Transition: RussiaTransition: 1990-1993Slide 20Slide 21“Shock Therapy”Neo-liberalismDomestic Consequences?Yeltsin constitution of 1993Yeltsin 1993 ConstitutionInstitutionsExecutiveFederal AssemblySlide 30ElectionsPresidential Election Results (3/14/04)Constitutional CourtElite RecruitmentInterest ArticulationInterest AggregationPolitical PartiesPolitical Culture and Public OpinionCultural SummaryCommitment to Democratic Values?2008 ElectionsRussian presidential election results (March 2008)Russian Federation: Background Notes•Population 146.9 million•Size 6,592,735 sq. mi.•Head of State: Vladimir Putin•Prime Minister: Mikhail Fradkov (3/04-present)•People Nationality: Noun and adjective--Russian(s). Annual growth rate: Negative. Ethnic groups: Russian 81%, Tatar 4%, Ukrainian 3%, other 12%. •Religions: Russian Orthodox, Islam, Judaism, Roman Catholicism, Protestant, Buddhist, other.Political System•Current system “transitioning democracy”–Intense conflict over power and property (1991-00)•Results from:–Thousand years of statehood–70 years of communist rule–One decade of democratic reform–Cultural structure•Deeply authoritarianImportance•Post communist Russia the inheritor of the Soviet military industrial complex•Geo-political location•Size and natural resources•Enduring international alliancesNew system versus old system•New political system has inherited the baggage of the past•Tax collection difficult•Governmental orientation attempting to move from Soviet military emphasis to democratic, socio-economic, civic orientationChanging Institutions•9th century onward Russia ruled by hereditary monarch•20th century tsar agreed to a constitution calling for legislature – authoritarian orientation remained•Peter the Great (1682-1725)•Catherine the Great (1762-1796)Revolution•1917 Russian Revolution•Create a socialist society and spread revolutionary socialism throughout the world–Lenin (1917-1924)–Stalin (1924-1953)•Tsarist order collapses unable to deal with modern world (WWI)–Left a legacy of absolute rule–Separation of state from societyCommunist Leaders•Vladimir Ilyich Lenin (1917-1924)•Joseph Stalin (1924-1953)•Nikita Khrushchev (1953-1964)•Lenoid Brezhnev (1964-1982)•Yuri Andropov (1982-1984)•Konstantin Chernenko (1984-1985)•Mikhail Gorbachev (1985-1990)Gorbachev•Glastnost – need for greater openness within the political system•Overcentralization had stymied the exercise of political power at lower levels of government–Resistance to orders–Distortion of information–Bureaucratic immobilismGorbachev•Wanted to reform the economic system•Citizen well-being the ultimate test of a successful system–Market relations–Pragmatism in economic policy–Less secrecyGorbachev’s Reforms•Law-governed state–Even the communist party•International arms control treaties–USA, arms reduction agreements•Free elections–Citizens began to organize into groups•Working parliament1989•Eastern European satellites comprising the “Soviet Bloc” collapsed–At least in part due to loss of economic support•Multiparty parliamentary regimes emerged•Elaborate ties to the Soviets in all areas vanished•Reunified Germany remains a member of NATO (Gorbachev agrees in 1990)1989 and consequences for Soviet Union•Popular hostility•Loss of authority•power transferred to elected bodies•Private property and free markets emerge•Rise of an economic system that begins in a state of chaos.•National republics (15) with new legislatures began to declare their independenceCollapse•1990 elections stimulated political discourse on democracy•Boris Yeltsin wins election to the Russian Supreme Soviet•Spring 1991 Gorbachev begins negotiations on new political structures; confederal union between 9 of the 15 republics•At the signing ceremony Gorbachev is placed under house arrest and by his own vice-president, KGB chief, and other officialsCitizen Response•Citizens take to the street to protest the coup; Yeltsin calls for Gorbachev’s return to office•Coup collapses after three days…Gorbachev is returned to office -- powerless•Confederal arrangement (union) is taken over by the Russian government throughout Fall of 1991•November 1991 President Yeltsin decrees that the Communist party is illegal•December 25, 1991 Gorbachev resigns turns power over to YeltsinExplanation for Eastern European Collapse?•Reforms of Mikhail Gorbachev–But what made these reforms necessary?•Dependence on the Red Army and Soviet money–What about governmental structures?•Economic Crisis–Fails to account for timing – economic crisis the norm•New Social movements–Long march of the oppositionDemocratic Transition: Russia•Questions raised about democracy:–Can we simply set institutions, laws and leaders into place?–Does democracy require something more? Social identification or economic conditions?–Does democracy emerge only from within or can it be imposed from without?Transition: 1990-1993•June 1991 Yeltsin elected president of the Russian Federation•Direct popular election•Yeltsin demands extraordinary powers to deal with economic problems•January 1992 new economic reforms took effectTransition: 1990-1993•January 1992:–Prices skyrocketed•Mid-1992:–Opposition to shock therapy approach grows–Yeltsin and reformers versus opponents of radical reform–Yeltsin exceeds constitutional power to carry out reforms–Parliament refuses to adopt a new constitution giving him greater powers.Transition: 1990-1993•http://www.departments.bucknell.edu/russian/const/constit.html•March 1993: a motion to impeach the president introduced in Congress•September 1993 Yeltsin dissolves parliament – December elections•Opponents barricade themselves in parliament building•Army launches an attack on the building killing several.“Shock Therapy”•The sudden release of price and currency controls, withdrawal of state subsidies, and immediate trade liberalization within a country. –Roots in the 1947-48 withdrawal of government support and price controls in post war