The Persistence of Authoritarian Culture in Russia
IS-337WX: Post-Soviet Politics
Reflective Essay
Daniel Bradford
5 May 2014
Help Received: Artifacts
In taking Post-Soviet Politics (IS-337WX), I have had the opportunity to learn much
about the culture of Russia. As a class, we began our semester long analysis of Russian political
affairs with the Soviet Union and the experiences of the Russian Republic while apart of the
Soviet ethnofederation. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, our study of Russian politics
progressed and we studied the process of post-Soviet state building in Russia. We concluded our
political analysis of Russia by reviewing the following two subjects and how they relate to
Russia, political institutions and behavior and politics of economic transition. Throughout our
study, I learned about the authoritarian political culture that has persisted in Russian society and
the implications that it has for Russian politics and the outside world. Some have argued that
Russia’s authoritative culture has been the result of Russian society being supportive of
authoritarian culture. From my experiences in the course and through completing the primary
course objectives, I have come to the conclusion that Russian society is supportive of
authoritarian rule and this culture has allowed authoritarianism to persist in Russia. In this essay,
I will reflect on my learning experiences in IS-337WX. Specifically, I focus on the course
assignments that brought me to realize Russia’s culture is supportive of authoritarian governance
and that this is a necessary means for authoritarianism to persist in the Russian regime. The
assignments that I discuss in this essay are viewable and listed as artifacts on my ePortfolio
website.
I begin my reflective analysis by reviewing the first substantial artifact that I completed
this semester, which I have labeled as Origins of Authoritarianism Essay. Next, I review my
experiences in completing the second major artifact of the semester, which I have labeled as
Movie Review. Following that, I then briefly review the last two significant artifacts that I
completed in IS-337WX and I have labeled them Comparative Paper I and Comparative Paper
II, respectively. My aim in reviewing these artifacts is to illustrate how I came to realize that an
authoritarian political culture exists in Russia and that this culture has provided the means by
which authoritarianism has persisted in Russia.
The first portion of Post-Soviet Politics was devoted to studying Russian and Soviet
development. I first learned about the existence of an authoritarian political culture in Russia
during this portion of the course. Specifically, I learned of Russia’s authoritarian culture from the
study and research that I conducted when I constructed the first artifact of my ePortfolio, Origins
of Authoritarianism Essay. In this artifact, I illustrate how Marshall Poe best explains the birth of
an authoritarian political culture in the Russia. I also illustrate in this artifact how path
dependency best accounts for the persistence of this political culture in Russia. The research and
knowledge that I gained from completing Origins of Authoritarianism Essay brought me to
realize that there was a historical authoritarian culture in Russia and that it has persisted because
of institutional variables and path dependency.
The second significant assignment that I completed during the semester in IS-337WX,
which subsequently is the next artifact of my ePortfolio, is Movie Review. In completing this
assignment, I watched and wrote a review about a popular Russian film. The Russian film that I
viewed and wrote about was 12. As I illustrate my artifact, Movie Review, this film highlights
and visually represents several key aspects and themes in Russian culture. One of those themes
being that Russian culture is supportive to authoritarian governance. This artifact allowed me to
further understand how Russia’s authoritarian culture has persisted and is relevant in modern
Russian society. From conducting the cinematic study of this artifact, I was able to visually
analyze Russian culture and its support of authoritarianism.
The final two artifacts of my ePortfolio were completed as parts of the comparative study
that I engaged in Post-Soviet Politics during the latter portion of the semester. I have listed the
two portions of my comparative study in my ePortfolio as Comparative Paper I and
Comparative Paper II. I analyzed the states of Russia and Kazakhstan during their experiences
as Soviet Republics and in their post-communist periods of existence. The comparative analysis
that I conducted in completing these two artifacts brought me to further realize the relevance of
the authoritarian political culture that exists in Russia. In completing the research for both of
these artifacts, I have come to realize that modern Russian culture is still highly supportive and
cooperative with authoritarian governance. As I illustrate in the artifacts, nationalism is very
important in modern Russian society and this fosters the support of authoritarianism in Russian
culture. The research that I conducted for these two artifacts brought me to realize that the
historical Russian authoritarian culture that I learned from completing my first artifact, Origins
of Authoritarianism Essay, has persisted and is relevant in Russia.
My learning experiences in Post-Soviet Politics (IS-337WX) broadened my perspective
on the different cultures that exists and have existed throughout the world. I was able to learn
about a significant aspect of historical Russian culture that has persisted and is still relevant in
modern Russian culture. My research and the work I put into completing the artifacts of my
ePortfolio, brought me to realize that Russia’s culture has and is supportive of authoritarian
governance and this helps explain the persistence of authoritarianism in Russian politics.