Comp Gov Russia Quiz

Geography

• most of population in Europe Russia

• struggle to access trade—no one wants to trek through the Arctic Circle

Statism

• want a strong & powerful state to protect them

• state over individual rights

Political Culture

• lack of arable land → famine/starvation → reliant on government

• resent the wealthy, do not believe in equal opportunity

• skepticism about those in power

  • ironic since they trust state to help them but also think it’s corrupt

Historical Influence

• absolute, centralized rule because

  • size of Russia

  • constant threats from outside

  • need for security

• extensive cultural heterogeneity

  • expansion of Russia included many ethnic groups (roughly 195) into the Soviet Union → now Russian Federation

• slavic v. western

  • tension between slavic customs and western approach

• 20th century revolutions

  • regime changes in 1917 and 1991

Legitimacy

• Always have strong autocratic rule

  • first tsars, then communist party

• historically christian orthodox

• legitimacy faltered during Yeltsin years—disorder in society

• Putin uses historical institutions and symbols to unify/strengthen the country and his legitimacy

Mongol Invasion Impacts

• population decline

• political fragmentation

• rise of Moscow

• cultural influence: taxes, postal service, military organization

• social disruption

• isolation from western Europe

Tsarist Russia

• orthodoxy!

• tsar is most powerful figurehead

  • Ivan the Terrible—mixed legacy

  • Peter the Great and Catherine the Great—modernize and westernize

  • inconsistent progress

  • Russia late to industrialization

• huge divisions and economic inequalities

  • Marx believed serfs would eventually revolt and overthrow

• Russo-Japanese War and WWI wrecked Russian society and undermined legitimacy of tsar (ended in 1917)

Bolshevik Revolution

• 1917

• Led by Lenin → political system based on Marxism

• overthrew tsarist government

• Marxism-Leninism

  • claims to operate in the “true” interests of the class it represents

  • doesn’t always actually do that

  • Lenin believed once communism was in place state would dissolve

• Democratic Centralism

  • leaders elected from below, strict disciple required in implementing party decisions

• 1922- Bolsheviks form the USSR

  • authoritarian acts remove democratic elements

  • no competing ideologies

  • Cheka

    • secret police

  • time of International diplomatic isolation

Stalinism

• communist party at center of control

• Nomenklatura

  • party members select recruits from lower levels

  • central committee, politburo, general secretary

• Collectivization and Industrialization

  • took land from peasants to create state run collective farms

  • no private land ownership → peasants with large farms mad

• 5 year plan

  • production of heavy industry

• totalitarianism

• media censorship

• millions executed for “treason”

• led USSR through WWII (Great Patriotic War)

De-Stalinization/Stagnation

• Stalin dies → de-stalinization

  • Khrushchev led reforms

  • rejected terror as means for political control

  • loosened censorship

  • restructured collective farms

  • Cuban missile crisis

  • reforms didn’t fix actual problems (damn)

• Brezhnev partially reformed Khrushchev’s reforms

  • controls tighten → individuals against this arrested, exiled

  • economic stagnation crippled living standards in USSR

    • consume goods unavailable → black market

Gorbachev

• reformer who wanted to adapt communist system → led to end of USSR

• 3 main goals

  • glasnost

    • political openness

    • open discussion of issues

    • led to some revolts no biggie

  • democratization

    • creation of congress of people’s deputies

    • president selected by congress

  • perestroika

    • economic reform

    • FAILED

Russian Federation: Yeltsin Years

• coup removes Gorbachev → he’s restored to power → end of USSR

• Yeltsin becomes president of largest/most powerful republic, Russian Federation

• Yeltsin’s goal

  • western democracy

  • constitution of 1993

    • 3 branch government

    • President & PM, Duma & Federation Council, Constitutional Court & Supreme Court

  • Shock Therapy- rapid, radical, market reforms

    • privatization, corruption, oligarchs (small amount of people in charge)

    • effects

      • inflation

      • GDP declined

      • rise of oligarchs—elite owners of natural resources who supported Yeltsin’s 2nd term and Putin’s 1st—very powerful

Putin

• Yeltsin resigned due to alcoholism and erratic behavior

• PM Putin became acting president

• Medvedev becomes President and Putin PM (2008), Putin still had power

• Constitution changed allowing him to be President until 2036

Political Strucuture

• semi-presidential legislative executive system

  • head of state—President

  • head of government—Prime Minister

  • bicameral legislature

  • judicial branch

  • checks and balances but executive branch dominates

• currently considered hybrid regime

  • semi to fully authoritarian

• asymmetric federalism

  • some units have greater/lesser power

  • 85 regions

  • 21 ethnically non-Russian (majority)

• Executive Branch

  • President

    • Powers

      • appoints PM, cabinet, governors

      • in charge of state council

      • can dissolve Duma

      • call state of emergency

      • call referendums

      • suspend actions of other state organs

      • directly elected by majority vote

    • can be impeached, but never has

  • Prime Minister

    • Mishustin

    • no fixed term

    • proposes legislation to parliament

    • in charge of national budget

    • can be removed by 2 votes of no confidence in 3 months

  • State Council

    • advisory body to head of state

    • focuses in governmental institutions, economic and social reforms—things that affect entire public

  • Security Council

    • consults on national security affairs

• Legislative Branch

  • Duma (lower house)

    • attempts to reject PM have failed

    • women and workers underrepresented

    • 450 delegates

    • votes on legislation approved by executive branch

    • power severely checked

  • Federation council (upper house)

    • represents regions

    • very little power—more of a figurehead

• Judicial Branch

  • Constitutional Court

    • judicial review

      • how constitutional things are

      • try not to get in President’s way

      • Putin moved to St. Petersberg—farther from Moscow

  • Supreme Court

    • final court in civil and criminal cases

    • no judicial review

  • rule by law

  • most trained under soviet law, not 1993 constitution

• Local Governments

  • republics, oblasts, krais, federal cities, autonomous okrugs, autonomous oblast

    • each body has different rights

    • asymmetric federalism

      • deals with ethnic cleavages

  • territories have governors and local Dumas

  • frequent changed to local representation → weakens federalism

• Military

  • weaker under Russian Federation than Soviet

  • can fire nukes if president dies

• Intelligence Agencies

  • FSB—former KGB, like CIA

  • SUR—foreign intelligence

  • GRU—military intelligence