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Development of Russian Political System in Regional Perspective - JTB336

Title:	Development of Russian Political System in Regional Perspective
Czech title:	Vývoj ruského politického systému v regionální perspektivě
Guaranteed by:	Department of Russian and East European Studies (23-KRVS)
Faculty:	Faculty of Social Sciences
Actual:	from 2022
Semester:	summer
E-Credits:	6
Examination process:	summer s.:
Hours per week, examination:	summer s.:1/1, Ex [HT]
Capacity:	20 / unknown (20)
Min. number of students:	unlimited
4EU+:	no
Virtual mobility / capacity:	no
State of the course:	taught
Language:	English
Teaching methods:	full-time
Teaching methods:	full-time
Note:	course can be enrolled in outside the study plan enabled for web enrollment priority enrollment if the course is part of the study plan

Guarantor:	Dr. Dmitry Dubrovskiy
Teacher(s):	Dr. Dmitry Dubrovskiy
Class:	Courses for incoming students

Examination dates SS schedule Noticeboard

Annotation

Last update: Dr. Dmitry Dubrovskiy (14.02.2024)

Russia's political development after the collapse of the Soviet Union is most often described through the political and socio-cultural development of the center, Moscow. Researchers and analysts often overlook Russia's great cultural, and social diversity, which undoubtedly affects political development. Russia continues to be a multinational federation under the control of an entrenched authoritarian regime that aspires to unitarity, and this trend undoubtedly affects the political development of Russia's regions. The course will provide students with an understanding of the political development of Russian regions as part of Russia's overall political development, with a special focus on the role of parties, municipal and local government, and civil society in this process.

Aim of the course

Last update: Dr. Dmitry Dubrovskiy (14.02.2024)

The course will provide students with an understanding of the political development of Russian regions as part of Russia's overall political development, with a special focus on the role of parties, municipal and local government, and civil society in this process. The question of regional development in its economic, social, political, and cultural angles will be discussed.

Course completion requirements

Last update: Dr. Dmitry Dubrovskiy (14.02.2024)

Basic criteria of evaluation:

All the parts of evaluation in a course must exceed 50%. So, if a student fails under 50% in one of the duties he/she cannot finish the course successfully = for example if he/she does not deliver a presentation, there's no chance to continue successfully.

1. In-class participation. 2 absences in the course is accepted unless agreed with the lecturer due to some serious reasons. Read all of the assigned readings in advance of seminar and more than once if possible. Come to class prepared for intensive discussion and debate. Exercise your right to speak! 20 %

2. Prepare a portfolio for presentation (political development of two selected Russian regions in a comparative perspective) 20 %

3. Make a presentation about one freedom or right in a comparative perspective (political development of two subjects of the Russian Federation in comparative perspective) 30 %

Presentation-givers are expected to prepare 3 topic-related questions for class and be ready to answer them if necessary. Failure to hand in a handout before the start of one’s presentation may lead to either disqualification of one’s presentation or a lower grade for it. Presentation topics are to be chosen by students until the 2nd week of the course at the latest. Otherwise, students will be given a free topic based on the agreement with the lecturer.

· Presentations are expected to have a duration of 15-20 min. Presentations significantly above (more than 25 min) or below (less than 10 min) the time limit can be accepted only in exceptional cases.

· Only those presentations given in class can be accepted. No written texts can substitute for missed presentations.

· Topics of already taken presentations cannot be changed unless previously approved (7 days in advance) by the lecturer.

· Dates of giving presentations cannot be changed unless previously approved – in exceptional cases.

· A student who has already taken a presentation topic but cannot give it in class due to any reasons is encouraged to inform the lecturer as soon as possible and, eventually, agree with a colleague of him/her to timely replace him/her on the day of presentation.

· Failure to deliver an already chosen presentation automatically leads to one’s disqualification in the course unless being timely replaced by a colleague (see point 9).

· Students are encouraged to inform the lecturer about their failure to give presentations well in advance, though doing so will not exempt them from the above rules.

· Students are strongly encouraged to start carrying out research on their respective topics of presentations well in advance.

Cumulative grade formula

class attendance and active participation – 20 %, portfolio (20 %), oral presentation (20 %) final essay (40%)

Information on the structure and evaluation of presentations

Successful presentations should follow the rules below:

Be as concise and clear as possible;
In the introduction, explain the main theses (what the text/topic is going to unveil) and underline the connection of the text/topic with other reading assignments for the particular class (how does your presentation extend the main readings).
Do not replicate either the text you read, just the main thesis, ideas, and conclusions of the text should be pointed out;
Explicate events rather than bring a purely chronological order of text/topic;
The handout should provide some key facts and findings of the text/topic, the presentation should extend the handout;
Draw up a clear conclusion emphasizing the most important points of your presentation;

4 Final essay. The topic could be the same as in the presentation, or different. All topics must be approved by the lecturer. Final essay should be typed, page-numbered, footnoted, double spaced, with no smaller than 12- font, one-inch margins, maximum length about 10 pages, 2500 words, excluding obligatory "List of Sources Cited." Footnotes should end with an electronic address if applicable. The use of Russian or other language sources is an achievement.

The achievement at least half the percentage from each part is essential to pass the course.

The final result will consist of a summation of above mentioned three parts according to the following criteria:

100-91% - A (excellent)

90-81% - B (very good)

80-71% - C (good)

70-61% - D (fair)

60-51% - E (sufficient)

50-0% - F (failed)

More in SMĚRNICE S_SO_002: Organizace zkouškových termínů, kontrol studia a užívání klasifikace A–F na FSV UK.

Literature

Last update: Dr. Dmitry Dubrovskiy (14.02.2024)

Brechenmacher, S., 2017. Civil society under assault: Repression and responses in Russia, Egypt, and Ethiopia (Vol. 18). Washington, DC: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Brubaker, Rogers. "Nationalizing states revisited: projects and processes of nationalization in post-Soviet states." In Nationalism, ethnicity and boundaries, pp. 177-203. Routledge, 2014.

Cashaback, David. "Collaborative or hegemonic? Tatarstan and conflicting visions of federalism in Putin’s Russia." In Politics in the Russian Regions, pp. 78-107. Palgrave Macmillan, London, 2007.

Dollbaum, Jan Matti, Andrey Semenov, and Elena Sirotkina. "A top-down movement with grass-roots effects? Alexei Navalny’s electoral campaign." Social Movement Studies 17, no. 5 (2018): 618-625.

Gel'man, Vladimir. "The rise and decline of electoral authoritarianism in Russia." Demokratizatsiya 22, no. 4 (2014).

Gel’man, Vladimir, and Anton Steen. "Elites and democratic development in Russia: An introduction." In Elites and democratic development in Russia, pp. 13-22. Routledge, 2003.

Gilev, Aleksei, and Dimke Daria "‘No Time for Quality’: Mechanisms of Local Governance in Russia." Europe-Asia Studies 73, no. 6 (2021): 1060-1079.

Gilev, Alexey. V., and I. K. Shevtsova. "Foundation of “Vertical”: Elections and Distribution of Inter-Governmental Transfers at Local Level cases of Novgorod Oblast and Perm Krai." Анализ· Хроника· Прогноз (2019): 163.

Golosov, Grigorii V. "The regional roots of electoral authoritarianism in Russia." Europe-Asia Studies 63, no. 4 (2011): 623-639.

Halbach, Uwe. "Chechnya's status within the Russian Federation: Ramzan Kadyrov's private state and Vladimir Putin's federal" Power Vertical"." (2018): 32.

Harzl, Benedikt, and Oleh Protsyk, eds. Managing ethnic diversity in Russia. Routledge, 2013.

Hirsch, Francine. "Empire of nations." In Empire of Nations. Cornell University Press, 2014

Hughes, James, “From Federalisation to Recentralisation,” in Stephen White, Alex Pravda, Zvi Gitelman, eds., Developments in Russian Politics 5, Palgrave, pp.128-46.

Javeline, Debra, and Sarah Lindemann-Komarova. "A balanced assessment of Russian civil society." Journal of International Affairs 63, no. 2 (2010): 171-188.

Kirkow, P. and Hanson, P., 1994. The potential for autonomous regional development in Russia: The case of Primorskiy Kray. Post-Soviet Geography, 35(2), pp.63-88.

Köllner, Tobias. "Patriotism, Orthodox religion and education: empirical findings from contemporary Russia." Religion, State & Society 44, no. 4 (2016): 366-386.

Köllner, Tobias. Religion and politics in contemporary Russia: Beyond the binary of power and authority. Routledge, 2020.

Kropp, S., 2019. The ambivalence of federalism and democracy: The challenging case of authoritarianism—With evidence from the Russian case. In Configurations, dynamics and mechanisms of multilevel governance (pp. 213-229). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.

Kusznir, Julia. "Economic actors in Russian regional politics: The example of the oil industry." In Politics in the Russian Regions, pp. 161-187. Palgrave Macmillan, London, 2007.

Kynev, Alexander,. "Party politics in the Russian regions: Competition of interest groups under the guise of parties." In The politics of sub-national authoritarianism in Russia, pp. 135-150. Routledge, 2016.

Kynev, Alexander. "Political parties and parliament." In Russia, pp. 87-96. Palgrave Macmillan, London, 2018

Lipman, Maria, and Nikolay Petrov, eds. Russia 2025: Scenarios for the Russian future. Springer, 2013.

Nicholson, Martin. "Characterising centre-periphery relations in the Yeltsin era." Russian Regions and Regionalism (2003): 3-18.

Osipov, Alexander. "Implementation unwanted? Symbolic vs. instrumental policies in the Russian management of ethnic diversity." Perspectives on European Politics and Society 13, no. 4 (2012): 425-442.

Panov, Petr. "In search of inter-ethnic balance: ethnic composition and informal power-sharing in Russian national republics." European Politics and Society 17, no. 3 (2016): 353-372.

Prina, Federica. National minorities in Putin's Russia: diversity and assimilation. Routledge, 2015.

Ross, Cameron. "Regional elections and electoral authoritarianism in Russia." In Russia's Authoritarian Elections, pp. 119-140. Routledge, 2014.

Saikkonen, Inga A-L. "Variation in subnational electoral authoritarianism: evidence from the Russian Federation." Democratization 23, no. 3 (2016): 437-458.

Semenov, Andrey, Olesya Lobanova, and Margarita Zavadskaya. "When do political parties join protests? A comparative analysis of party involvement in “for fair elections” movement." East European Politics 32, no. 1 (2016): 81-104.

Slider, Darrell, “Politics in the Regions,” in Stephen White, Alex Pravda, Zvi Gitelman, eds., Developments in Russian Politics 5, Palgrave, pp.147-68.

Smyth, Regina, and Rostislav Turovsky. "Legitimising victories: Electoral authoritarian control in Russia’s gubernatorial elections." Europe-Asia Studies 70, no. 2 (2018): 182-201.

Starodubtsev, Andrey. "Tertius gaudens: What is wrong with Russian federalism?." In Federalism and Regional Policy in Contemporary Russia, pp. 20-60. Routledge, 2018.

Sundstrom, Lisa McIntosh. Funding civil society: Foreign assistance and NGO development in Russia. Stanford University Press, 2006.

Teaching methods

Last update: Dr. Dmitry Dubrovskiy (14.02.2024)

The main teaching methods of this course will be lectures (and micro-lectures) and seminars (students presentations, group discussion). Main activity of the seminars - group discussion of the reading assigned.

Syllabus

Last update: Dr. Dmitry Dubrovskiy (14.02.2024)

Course outline

1. Introduction. Soviet Union as a “Empire of Nations». Russia after 1991. Russia as a «nationalizing state».

Literature:

Hirsch, Francine. "Empire of nations." In Empire of Nations. Cornell University Press, 2014

Brubaker, Rogers. "Nationalizing states revisited: projects and processes of nationalization in post-Soviet states." In Nationalism, ethnicity and boundaries, pp. 177-203. Routledge, 2014.

Starodubtsev, Andrey. "Tertius Gaudens: What is wrong with Russian federalism?." In Federalism and Regional Policy in Contemporary Russia, pp. 20-60. Routledge, 2018.

2 Russia center-periphery relations in 90^th. Russian constitution 1993. Chechnya, Yakutia and Tatarstan in struggle of a new federal agreement.

Literature:

Hirsch, Francine. "Empire of nations." In Empire of Nations. Cornell University Press, 2014.

Halbach, Uwe. "Chechnya's status within the Russian Federation: Ramzan Kadyrov's private state and Vladimir Putin's federal" Power Vertical"." (2018): 32.

Lipman, Maria, and Nikolay Petrov, eds. Russia 2025: Scenarios for the Russian future. Springer, 2013.

Nicholson, Martin. "Characterising centre-periphery relations in the Yeltsin era." Russian Regions and Regionalism (2003): 3-18.

3. Regional elites and regional development in Russia. Business and regional politics.

Gel’man, Vladimir, and Anton Steen. "Elites and democratic development in Russia: An introduction." In Elites and democratic development in Russia, pp. 13-22. Routledge, 2003.

Kusznir, Julia. "Economic actors in Russian regional politics: The example of the oil industry." In Politics in the Russian Regions, pp. 161-187. Palgrave Macmillan, London, 2007.

Kirkow, P. and Hanson, P., 1994. The potential for autonomous regional development in Russia: The case of Primorskiy Kray. Post-Soviet Geography, 35(2), pp.63-88.

4. Authoritarianism, federalism, and Russian regions in 2000^th. Rising of electoral authoritarianism and resistance of regional elites. Reconstruction of political system and elimination of regional peculiarities.

Literature

Gel'man, Vladimir. "The rise and decline of electoral authoritarianism in Russia." Demokratizatsiya 22, no. 4 (2014).

Saikkonen, Inga A-L. "Variation in subnational electoral authoritarianism: evidence from the Russian Federation." Democratization 23, no. 3 (2016): 437-458.

Golosov, Grigorii V. "The regional roots of electoral authoritarianism in Russia." Europe-Asia Studies 63, no. 4 (2011): 623-639.

Smyth, Regina, and Rostislav Turovsky. "Legitimising victories: Electoral authoritarian control in Russia’s gubernatorial elections." Europe-Asia Studies 70, no. 2 (2018): 182-201.

5. Political parties, regional elections, and regional elites

Literature

Ross, Cameron. "Regional elections and electoral authoritarianism in Russia." In Russia's Authoritarian Elections, pp. 119-140. Routledge, 2014.

Alexander, Kynev. "Party politics in the Russian regions: Competition of interest groups under the guise of parties." In The politics of sub-national authoritarianism in Russia, pp. 135-150. Routledge, 2016.

6. Dissents, protests and resistance in Russian regions.

Literature

Dollbaum, Jan Matti, Andrey Semenov, and Elena Sirotkina. "A top-down movement with grass-roots effects? Alexei Navalny’s electoral campaign." Social Movement Studies 17, no. 5 (2018): 618-625.

Kynev, Alexander. "Political parties and parliament." In Russia, pp. 87-96. Palgrave Macmillan, London, 2018

7. Local and municipal government in Russian regions (Guest lecture-TBC)

Literature

Gilev, Aleksei, and Daria Dimke. "‘No Time for Quality’: Mechanisms of Local Governance in Russia." Europe-Asia Studies 73, no. 6 (2021): 1060-1079.

Gilev, A. V., and I. K. Shevtsova. "Foundation of “Vertical”: Elections and Distribution of Inter-Governmental Transfers at Local Level cases of Novgorod Oblast and Perm Krai." Анализ· Хроника· Прогноз (2019): 163.

8. Civil society in Russian regions.

Literature:

Javeline, Debra, and Sarah Lindemann-Komarova. "A balanced assessment of Russian civil society." Journal of International Affairs 63, no. 2 (2010): 171-188.

Sundstrom, Lisa McIntosh. Funding civil society: Foreign assistance and NGO development in Russia. Stanford University Press, 2006.

Brechenmacher, S., 2017. Civil society under assault: Repression and responses in Russia, Egypt, and Ethiopia (Vol. 18). Washington, DC: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

9 Management of the ethnic diversity in Russian regions.

Literature:

Harzl, Benedikt, and Oleh Protsyk, eds. Managing ethnic diversity in Russia. Routledge, 2013.

Panov, Petr. "In search of inter-ethnic balance: ethnic composition and informal power-sharing in Russian national republics." European Politics and Society 17, no. 3 (2016): 353-372.

Prina, Federica. National minorities in Putin's Russia: diversity and assimilation. Routledge, 2015.

10. Religion and politics in Russian regions.

Literature

Köllner, Tobias. Religion and politics in contemporary Russia: Beyond the binary of power and authority. Routledge, 2020.

Köllner, Tobias. "Patriotism, Orthodox religion and education: empirical findings from contemporary Russia." Religion, State & Society 44, no. 4 (2016): 366-386.

11. Russian regions after 24.02.2022. War and Russian regions.

Literature:

James Hughes, “From Federalisation to Recentralisation,” in Stephen White, Alex Pravda, Zvi Gitelman, eds., Developments in Russian Politics 5, Palgrave, pp.128-46.

Darrell Slider, “Politics in the Regions,” in Stephen White, Alex Pravda, Zvi Gitelman, eds., Developments in Russian Politics 5, Palgrave, pp.147-68.