STUDENT NOTES - 4

CH. 4 THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION

Linkage Institutions – Overview

• Linkage Institutions – still not strong in Russia• Political Parties– Historically unstable…why?– No strong opposing political parties to dominating party

• State Corporatism– State determines which groups have input into

policymaking– Weak civil society means interest groups have no solid

footing• Media – Some privately owned, but state controlled– Ranks 140th out of 178 in

terms of press freedom

III. CITIZENS, SOCIETY AND STATE:CLEAVAGES

• Biggest Cleavage is Nationality– 80% are Russian– Tatar = 3.8% (Muslim)– Ukrainian = 2%– Bashkir = 1.2%– Chuvash = 1.1%– Other = 12.1%

• Because of structure of federation, ethnicity tends to be coinciding with region and often religion too

• Chechnya - primary Muslim region has fought for independence

III. CITIZENS, SOCIETY AND STATE:CLEAVAGES

• Most ethnic Russians identify themselves as Russian Orthodox, but are largely nonreligious

• Other religions are represented in small percentages– Muslims, Roman Catholic, Protestant,

Jewish• Recent rapid rise in Muslim share of

population– The Caucasus (area between Black &

Caspian Seas)• Includes Chechens• Very unstable region

III. CITIZENS, SOCIETY AND STATE:CLEAVAGES

• Social Class– In USSR – Communist party members (elite) vs. non-

members– Modern times – small class of really rich (started with

Oligarchs) vs working class (middle class small by Western standards)

• Rural/Urban– 73% now live in cities,

mostly in west– More likely to be well

educated and more in touch with western values

V. POLITICAL ENVIRONMENT AND ECONOMIC CHANGE

• SHOCK THERAPY under Yeltsin– Transition from command to market– Really sudden economic liberalization– Criticized as “all shock and no therapy”

• Abolished price controls, raised taxes, cut gov spending, privatization of state industries, trade liberalization

• Citizens give a private voucher worth $30 ~ 10,000 rubles:– Sell or Buy stock or invest in mutual fund– GOAL: make everyone an owner and help transition

culture to investors w/ stake in market• Investment funds bought up most of the vouchers – led to

tremendous concentration of wealth and powerful oligarchs

• ***no competition/level playing field = no capitalism

V. POLITICAL ENVIRONMENT AND ECONOMIC CHANGE

Defined as a kleptocracy: where the government exists to increase the personal wealth and political power of its officials and the ruling class at the expense of the wider population, often with pretense of honest service

1998: lower oil prices, rising gov debt, value of ruble plunged, FDI fled

Early 2000’s: rising oil prices, natural gas – led average GDP growth rate of 7% next 9 years

2008: stock market collapsedToo dependent on oilIncome gap substantial

V. POLITICAL ENVIRONMENT AND ECONOMIC CHANGE

• 6th largest economy in the world (PPP)

• Growth of middle class in 2000’s• More billionaires than any other

country• Average person makes about

$250/month• 20-30% lives in poverty

V. POLITICAL ENVIRONMENT AND ECONOMIC CHANGE

• Russia is a RENTIER STATE

• Petroleum, petroleum products and natural gas top exports (80%) and 30% of government revenue

• Vunerable to fluctuations in global economy

V. POLITICAL ENVIRONMENT AND ECONOMIC CHANGE

VI. PUBLIC POLICY: CURRENT CHALLENGES

• Regional respect/leadership• Member of G8, G20, UN Security Council, BRIC• Underpopulated– ~life expectancy 62; 74 (disease, murder, suicide,

drug addiction, alcoholism)• Depleted workforce, security risk

• Corruption– Inefficiencies threatens sustainability – majority

believe that any gov. interaction involves bribes– Ranked 122nd democracy in world; 149/190 on

TICPI