RUSSIA
Everett Doman
Taylor Warnke
Caleb Dick
MAP OF RUSSIA
OVERVIEW
Sovereignty, Authority and Power
Political and Economic Change
Citizens, Society and the State
Political Institutions
Public Policy
RUSSIA TIMELINE
POLITICAL CHANGE
 Tsars ruled in Russia until 1917.
 The Tsars were also the head of the Russian
Orthodox Church
 The first steps to Westernization were taken by Peter
and Catherine the Great
POLITICAL CHANGE (CONT.)
 Tsarist rule ended in 1917 with the Bolshevik
Revolution, led by Vladimir Lenin and his group of
supporters, and assassination of Tsar Nicholas II.
POLITICAL CHANGE(CONT.)
 Lenin set up his version of Communism in Russia,
which differed from the Communism in Maoist China,
and created the USSR.
 Lenin utilized the system of democratic centralism
called the Vanguard to run the country.
 After Lenin’s death in 1927, Joseph Stalin came to
power.
 He dismissed the Vanguard and put in power the
Communist Party.
 Stalin was an extremely cruel dictator and ruled with
an iron fist.
POLITICAL CHANGE(CONT.)
 After Stalin’s death Mikhail Gorbachev came to
power and attempted to “de-stalinize.”
 Gorbachev utilized the system known as “Glasnost”
to try to improve relations with the West.
POLITICAL CHANGE(CONT.)
 Further attempts to democratize
Russia came about when the
Russian Federation was formed in
1991 following the collapse of the
USSR.
 Boris Yeltsin was the first elected
president.
 He created a 3-branch government.
 In 2000, Vladimir Putin became
president.
 In recent years, it appears that
Putin is shifting Russia back into a
more authoritarian state.
POLITICAL CHANGE(CONT.)
 Comparisons:
 Like the U.K., Russia began under the rule of a royal
family.
 But unlike the U.K. Russia did not become as centered
around democratic principles after the fall of their
monarchs.
 China, similar to Russia, has instituted more aspects of
democracy into its government recently.
ECONOMIC CHANGE
 Under the Tsars the economy was similar to that of
the feudal system in medieval Europe.
 The economy was mostly centered around
agriculture.
 Under Lenin, a new economic policy was instituted
which allowed for private ownership under a
centralized leader.
 After Lenin’s death, Stalin instituted the five year
plans which called for more goals for
industrialization and agriculture.
ECONOMIC CHANGE(CONT.)
 After Stalin’s death, Nikita Khrushchev decentralized
the economy and restructured collective farming.
 Gorbachev tried to rapidly democratize the economy.
 Yeltsin attempted to privatize the economy and shift
towards a market economy through his “Shock
Therapy” which proved to be way too fast and led to
an economic downturn in Russia.
 Currently, Putin has re-centralized some of the
economy and uses the state-capitalist model.
 Comparison: Russia, like Mexico, utilized para statals in their economy.
RUSSIAN GDP IN RECENT YEARS
SOVEREIGNT Y, AUTHORIT Y AND POWER
 Throughout Russia’s history, the political culture has
always focused around a powerful central leader,
unlike other countries such as Great Britain.
 Before the Bolshevik Revolution, Russia was ruled by
monarchs known as Tsars.
GOVERNMENT LEGITIMACY
 Historically, legitimacy has been based on strong
government rule, unlike Mexico, where leaders are
selected based on charisma.
 The Tsars, and the dictators during the 20 th century, are
examples of this type of strong government rule.
 After the downfall of the Communist regime,
legitimacy was very low due to the recent regime
change.
 Since Putin was elected the governmental approval
has been on the rise.
CULTURAL INFLUENCE ON GOVERNMENT
 As a result of repeated invasions earlier in Russia’s
history, Russia has become home to people of wide
cultural diversity.
 This cultural heterogeneity has intensified ethnic
cleavages and conflict, similar to the issues faced by
Nigeria.
PUBLIC POLICY
 The Economy:
 Historically, Russia’s economy has had problems
balancing a centralized economy vs a free market
system.
 Russia has also had issues with too much dependence on
oil for their economy, similar to Nigeria and Iran.
 Russia’s economy has been suffering recently due to
dropping of oil prices.
 Foreign Policy: Russia is attempting to redefine its place
in the world.
 Recently, Russia has stirred up controversy over control
of the recently independent Crimean Peninsula.
PUBLIC POLICY(CONT.)
 Relations with the West:
 Russia was accepted into the W TO in 2012.
 Russia struggles with relations with the west but
maintains good relations with the other members of the
BRIC countries.
PUBLIC POLICY(CONT.)
 Terrorism:
 After multiple acts of terrorism in 2004, Putin has put in
place reform to try to boost funding for national security.
Similar issues are faced by the U.K. regarding terrorism.
 Population:
 Recently, Russia has suf fered from a huge drop in birth rate.
 Russia’s population is predicted to fall to 116 million in 2050.
PUBLIC POLICY(CONT.)
 Recentralization:
 Putin has tried to increase re-centralization of the
government and economy.
 He has controlled the government continuously since
he was first elected through alternating between
Prime Minister and President.
CITIZENS, SOCIET Y, AND STATE
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Population estimates- 148 million people
One of the most sparsely populated countries in the
world.
Russia is composed of 85 federal subjects. In these
federal subjects, many cleavages based on
ethnicity, religion, social class, and residence exist.
Russia is composed of 47 oblasts (provinces), 21
republics (states), 8 krais (territories), 6 okrugs
(autonomous districts), 2 federal cities (Moscow
and St. Petersburg), and an autonomous Jewish
oblast.
CLEAVAGES
 Like Nigeria, Russia has a number of ethnic -based
cleavages
 73% of Russians live in urban areas while 27% live in
rural areas.
 Russian 77.7%, Tatar 3.7%, Ukrainian 1.4%, Bashkir
1.1%, Chuvash 1%, Chechen 1%, other 10.2%,
unspecified 3.9%
 80% of Russians identify as following Russian
Orthodox, 2% Other Christian, 10% Islam, 8% Other
 While the Russian government has adopted a
tolerant view of minorities there is still prejudice
against groups such as Muslims and Jews.
SOCIET Y
 With the fall of the Soviet Union many countries broke
away from the union in 1991. However many nations
remained within the Russian Federation.
 Many of these nations have cultures very different from
Russia and would like to leave to form their own
countries. The Russian government extends trade
benefits to many of these groups in order to keep them
satisfied. Chechnya, a Muslim region in the Caucasus
Mountain Range, is the most independent-minded nation
and has fought against Russia in order to gain
independence. Nigeria has dealt with similar conflicts in
their Bafarian Civil War.
POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS
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Because of Russia’s past as a dictatorship there
remains few linkage institutions between the
government and the people.
Political parties are fluid and weak and often tend
to centralize around a charismatic leader like those
in Nigeria, rather than an idea as in the U.K. and
Mexico.
The most successful of the numerous parties is the
United Russia Party, headed (officially or
unofficially) by Vladimir Putin.
INSTITUTIONS OF GOVERNMENT
 Russia has a bicameral legislature: the Duma (lower house)
and the Federation Council (upper house). While the Duma is
the lower house, it is far stronger than the Federation Council
which mainly functions to represent the regions of the
federation. Both houses are unable to ef fectively counter the
presidency. The U.K. has a similar legislative system in their
House of Lords and House of Commons.
 The judiciary branch under the Soviet Union was completely
ruled by the Communist Party and little has changed today,
for the Constitutional Court does not check Putin. The courts
are not ef fective because they are riddled with corruption,
tightly controlled by the executive, and are still transitioning
from the Soviet legal system.
INSTITUTIONS OF GOVERNMENT(CONT.)
 After the fall of the U.S.S.R. the military was
weakened by the chaos that enveloped Russia after
1991. The military suffered defeat by the Chechen
rebels, and has struggled to maintain itself after
being denied resources by its government. Since
1999 the military has recovered thanks to President
Putin though he has kept tight control and has kept
it from being a political force.
 This is in contrast to Nigeria
where the military is the
main political stabilizer.
LINKAGE INSTITUTIONS- ELECTIONS
 Under President Putin most of the regional autonomy
that regions formerly enjoyed were electoral powers.
The removal of these powers has turned the country
away from a federation and into a union.
 Despite this, elections still continue and thrive on a
local, state, and national level.
 The political system contains three types of national
votes: the Referendum, the Duma elections, and the
Presidential Election.
LINKAGE INSTITUTIONSELECTIONS(CONT.)
 The Executive Branch is split between a President
and a Prime Minister. Both have strong powers. The
President is able to appoint the Prime Minister, issue
decrees with the force of law, and dissolve the
Duma. Although the prime Minister is actually the
head of government, he is actually the president’s
deputy, and is more likely to carry out the
President’s decrees than make any. This system is
similar to that of Iran, whose Supreme Leader is the
ultimate authority, while the President is more of his
subordinate.
POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS-OLIGARCHY, STATE
CORPORATISM
 With the introduction of capitalism to Russia, much of
the government’s industry became purchasable allowing
a few individuals to purchase industries at almost
nothing. With this vast economic power, they established
an unofficial oligarchy that funded first Boris Yeltsin, and
later Vladimir Putin.
 Since 2003 however the oligarchical control has waned
after severely clashing President Putin. Much of their
political power is gone and they are now losing their
sovereignty after going into debt with the Russian
government.
 State corporatism has expanded under President Putin.
Just as state corporatism has expanded in Iran
The
End