Characteristics of an Authoritarian Regime
1) state decisions made by small group of elites, who are not responsible to the
public
2) Citizens have little input into policy and selection of ruler
3) no free, fair and contested elections (NOT universal suffrage, fraud; no chice in
election)
4) no rule of law
5) No transparency
6) No guarantee of civil rights or civil liberties or tolerance for meaningful
opposition
7) Weak civil society
8) No independent judiciary
9) All economic decisions made by the state and state ownership of economic assets
10) Military involved in political matters
11) State controls political expression and participation
efficient
Democratization:
how do you build a democratic regime?
Political Liberalization . . . .
What needs to be done to free the political system
Economic Liberalization . . .
What needs to be done to free the economy
dual transition:
Simultaneous economic and political transformation . . .
Structure of the central committee of
the Communist Party of a Union
Dual Transition: economic liberalization
command economy (a form of socialism in which government decisions
("commands") rather than market mechanisms (such as supply and demand) are
the major influences in determining the nation's economic direction
Central planning:
• economic assets belong to state
• powerful state ministries oversaw various sectors of the economy
• Gosplan (the state planning committee): 5 year economic plans.
•
Prices centrally controlled
Not responsive to consumer demands
Political Liberalization. . . .
What needs to be done to make an authoritarian state a
democratic state?
Economic Liberalization . . .
What needs to be done to free the economy
In your group . . .
Divide paper in half.
Label one half Political Liberalization
The other half Economic Liberalization
For each, brainstorm as many possibilities as you can for what
you would do to accomplish liberalization in each sphere
De Tocqueville . . . The
most dangerous moment
for a bad gov’t is when it
starts to reform itself
WHY SU and Not China?
What did the reading say was diff about SU and China?
SU vs China . . . From the quiz/reading
the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe in the 1980s were certainly more modernized
than China, which contributed to a stronger _________ __________or potential for
political organization.
4. Leadership, too, differed; while Gorbachev pressed for political change, leaders
in China explicitly opposed p____________reforms in favor of
____________development.
The international conditions were also different with the Soviet Union promoting
change in order to end the_____ ______.
Perhaps culture, too, played a role, in linking communist Europe to the ideal of a
democratic west in a way not familiar to China.
And I added multi-ethnic SU vs 90 something percent Han
After the Breakup of the Soviet Union . . .
Russia must go through a dual transition:
Simultaneous economic and political transformation . . .
And it is tricky . . . .To “crack” the
old economic, political and social
institutions, they need to crack the
auth_________ state but still
create a state strong enough to do
that and to function
In the process of constructing a democratic
regime from what had been a communist
one, one tricky task was to narrow _______
capacity and autonomy without
incapacitating them at a time when
______power is needed (same word)
Another import aspect of reform is to
establish the _________ of _________.
TWO parts to Liberalization
Shock Therapy by
•Cutting govt spending
•Letting prices rise
•Raising taxes
Capitalism by decree
Done to create a market;
control inflation
Privatization done to “denationalize”
•Turned to insider privatization
throughout the 1990s you saw and emphasis on economic
freedoms over political freedoms
First Chechen war
Executive uses authority to
bypass/undercut
democratically elected
institution
Boris Yeltsin was
becoming an
increasingly remote
figure as presidential
elections approached
in 1996, spending long
periods away from the
Kremlin - on holiday or
recovering from illness
. But the election campaign brought a transformation, and
he toured the country meeting voters with his former
enthusiasm. The 65-year-old leader won the second round
comfortably thanks to an election pact with the charismatic
general, Alexander Lebed, though it later emerged that Yeltsin
had suffered a heart attack before the final vote - possibly as a
result of the exertions of the campaign
BTW. . . Electoral system?
See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_presidential_election
,_1996
The Oligarchs were scared . . . If Yeltsin is weak, than the _________
might take over
Mr. Yeltsin won reelection in 1996 despite
being too ill to show up
at his polling station.
The inauguration
ceremony marked his
first public appearance
in a month.
TWO parts to Liberalization
Shock Therapy by
•Cutting govt spending
•Letting prices rise
•Raising taxes
Done to create a market;
control inflation
Privatization done to “denationalize”
•Turned to insider privatization “Loans for shares”
•Not so important industries given to public with v________
(Brick factories in Siberia)
•Privatization more about wealth _______ than wealth_______
•Insider Privatization creates _________
Capitalism by decree
And then in August 1998 . . .
It got worse . . .the ruble
collapsed and more than 1/2
economy became barter
economy, banking system
collapse, inflation soars
media collapses, GDP
shrinks. Workers aren’t paid
for months
Moscow street kid:
Homelessness, juvenile
crime are commonplace
Results of econ liberalization (what were two parts?)
Shock therapy to control inflation and privitization
inflation down, privatization did release state
control, but it did not create a middle class-many people sold for the price of a few bottles
of vodka, turned into insider privatization,
prices did float, stock exchange created,
banking system, but massive tax evasion—
Oligarchs control ½ of economy (they claim)
Crack down on oligarchs
See bbc video on oligarchs
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe16276956
Dmitry Medvedev takes the
presidential oath with his hand
resting on the Constitution, May 7,
2008
Look at comparative charts
Presidential copy of the Constitution. Ratified
December 12, 1993
Since Yeltsin in a nutshell
What is
evidence that
Putin has made
state more
authoritarian?
The never-ending presidency
IT HAS always been a question of how, not if, Vladimir Putin would retain power in
Russia when his second, and (according to the constitution) final presidential
term runs out in March 2008. This week Mr Putin lifted the veil. At a congress of the
pro-Kremlin United Russia party, he graciously agreed to head its party list at the
general election in December. He added that he may become prime minister if the
party wins the election and the president is a man he can work with. United Russia is
sure to win and, since Mr Putin will hand-pick the president, he will presumably get
along with him. So this charade has only one meaning: Mr Putin is staying on,
probably for a very long time.
SO here’s the order:
Lot’s of talk about whether Putin will run for a third consec term but
C_________ clearly says no . . . Good news for democ . . . He
doesn’t so hooray for ________ of ________
Fall 2007, Putin says he won’t run for
pres, but he will “head the ticket”
for __________ ____________ party
Mr. Putin said that he would lead the ticket of
Russia’s dominant party in parliamentary
elections
Then there are Duma elections in
Dec: Guess which party gets a
majority?
Then .. . The campaign for presidency . . . .
Mr. Medvedev and Mr. Putin appear together on campaign posters over Manezh Square near the
Kremlin with the slogan, "Together we will win." The outcome of the month-long presidential campaign
on Sunday, when voters will cast ballots, is already known. Barring something extraordinary and
unforeseen, Mr. Medvedev will win by a landslide and become the Kremlin's new leader
Then Pres elections in March—________________wins and
guess who he appts PM?
Putin Protégé Secures Election
Victory
Dmitri A. Medvedev, right, attended a
post-election event in Moscow with
President Vladimir V. Putin on Sunday
Dmitry Medvedev takes the Presidential Oath whilst placing his right hand on the
Presidential copy of the Russian Constitution.
http://www.departments.bucknell.e
du/russian/const/ch4.html
How come I classify this as “elite recruitment?”
Political clans are entrenched in the Kremlin
A number of political clans, rather than political parties, act as
distinct and independent political forces in Russia. After the
president, Vladimir Putin, removed the last high-profile members of
the Yeltsin-era "Family" from power, the siloviki became by far the
most prominent political class. According to a study published in
2003, the siloviki—members of the security services, the military and
the police—at the time occupied almost 60% of all power positions in
Russia, compared with less than 5% during Mikhail Gorbachev's rule.
Although the siloviki do not constitute a coherent group, they share a
belief in the need for a strong state and a distaste for the wealth and
influence acquired by Russia's business oligarchs
But don’t
think
Duma is
worthless
Duma deputies applaud the passing of legislation that would lengthen
the presidential term in November 2008
Russia's Medvedev Inks Law Extending Presidency
Move Seen As Paving Way For Vladimir Putin's Return
Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev has
signed a law extending presidential
terms from four years to six, the Kremlin
said Tuesday, a move seen as paving the
way for Vladimir Putin's return to the
presidency.
Medvedev's final endorsement of the
legislation follows its quick approval by
the Kremlin-controlled parliament and
all of Russia's 83 provincial
legislatures. If enacted, the change would
not apply to Medvedev's current term,
due to end in 2012.
Putin, who remains very popular, was
barred constitutionally from seeking a
third straight term as president. He tapped
his longtime protege Medvedev as his
favored successor, ensuring Medvedev's
landslide election in March
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, left, and
President Dmitry Medvedev. (File
After Medvedev is in for 4 years . . . .
Putin’s Russia uploaded 2012
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZcUsdARY6o
One of most vexing questions is how has Putin welded
together popular support with the institutions of state to
create the domination of power
Really good video watched on Wednesday
And then . . .
Putin Announces Run For
President in 2012
Last updated on: September 23, 2011 8:00 PM
Russia's President and Prime Minister have unveiled a
plan to switch jobs next year.
Ending months of intense speculation, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin agreed
Saturday that he would run for a third term as President next March. Putin
previously served as Russian president from 2000 to 2008. Given Kremlin control
of the media and political parties, the 58-year-old leader is all but guaranteed to win
again this time.
Russia's Constitution has changed and now allows two six-year presidential terms,
so a victory could open the doors to a Putin quarter century. If he wins two
presidential terms he would be in office until 2024. In recent history, only Joseph
Stalin ruled Russia for a similar span.
But first . . . Parliamentary elections
Parties in 2011 parl elections:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-15939801
In pictures: Russia votes
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-16024311
The Duma has 450
seats. Parties not
making the Duma's 5%
threshold: Yabloko,
3.3%, Patriots of Russia
0.97%, Right Cause
0.59%
Source: Electoral
Commission. Results
are based on 96% of the
vote. Turnout was 60%.
See also: Results: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_legislative_election,_2011
4 December 2011 Last updated
at
Loss of face for Putin as support
Video of protests: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-16042797
for party falls
By the Way NGOs observing in US: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/05/osce-us-electiontexas_n_2079150.html
First . . . Parliamentary elections
2012 Russia votes http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/in-pictures17249554
Inauguration in pictures http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/worldeurope-17983003
What accounts for the trend you see for Russia
here?
https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedomworld/freedom-world-2015#.VQGn3Ld0xkg
Click on Russia to see evolution last 20 years . .
. Compare to Iran and China
The Citizen and
the State
See:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSB9U3Am1A
Observers:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/russia/912317
0/Russia-election-Putin-appoints-The-Magician-to-investigateelection-fraud-claims.html
See 13 sec video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSB9U3Am1AI
How does Putin crack down on civil society?
Tools to control ___________ _________include the______ code (used
to investigate sources of income), the process of ________with the
authorities, which can be made difficult; and police harassment and
arrest on various charges ranging from tax evasion to divulging state
secrets
Federalism in Russia: The “Vertical of Power”
Putin issued an executive decree that re-imposed Moscow’s authority over Russia’s 89 regions
and republic by breaking the country into 7 new administrative sections, each headed by its own
Kremlin representative “super governors” .
Laws gave the president the power to remove a governor if s/he refuses to harmonize local law
with national law or the constitution and to sack elected governors and dissolve local
legislatures.
September 2004: law replaces the election of governors, presidents and other regional leaders
with presidential appointments subject to approval by local legislatures
eliminates smd for Duma (which helped
regional parties and independents)
Crack down on civil society: Kremlin Puts Foreign NGO’s
on Notice
MOSCOW, Oct. 19 2006—
Scores of foreign private
organizations were forced to
cease their operations in Russia
on Thursday while the
government considered
whether to register them under
a new law that has received
sharp international criticism.
Among the suspended organizations are some of those most critical of
the Kremlin, including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International,
and others, like the National Democratic Institute and the International
Republican Institute, that have been accused by Russian officials of
instigating or assisting revolutions against other former Soviet republics.
It’s federal . . . . But it is “asymmetrical federalism
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dK-nnASP7OY
Support for Putin in
2007 . . . .
The Kremlin back youth
movement: Nashi
WATCH
http://www.youtube.com
/watch?v=CeA6y2vFXg
U
One of Nashi's most prominent rallies featured a trampling of
the portraits of Russian human rights activists and opposition
leaders.
Putin's youth movement provides a sinister backdrop to
Russia's protests
James Jones
Thurs, Dec 8 2011
Now the Kremlin's decision to co-opt provincial
Russian youth into a mass movement finally looks
like paying off. While opposition activists are
arrested, beaten and jailed for taking part in protests,
the thousands of Nashi members confronting them are
seemingly above the law
See: Vlad’s Army 2011
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4c-UN6vVjU
NASHI . . . today
Nashi (Russian: Молодежное демократическое
aнтифашистское движение «Наши», Molodezhnoye
demokraticheskoye antifashistskoye dvizhenye "Nashi" Youth
Democratic Anti-Fascist Movement "Ours!"') is a political youth
movement in Russia,[which declares itself to be a democratic,
anti-fascist, anti-'oligarchic-capitalist' movement. Its creation
was encouraged by senior figures in the Russian Presidential
administration, and by late 2007, it had grown in size to some
120,000 members aged between 17 and 25. On April 6, 2012, the
leader of Nashi announced that the movement would be
dissolving in the near future, possibly to be replaced by a
different organisation. He stated that the movement had been
"compromised" during the recent presidential election
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nashi_(youth_movement)
Pro-Kremlin youth movement Nashi to be revamped
March 7, 2013 Alexei Bausin, RBTH
Russia’s notorious pro-government youth movement Nashi is set
for a complete overhaul. It is reported to be replaced by a new
youth organization with a new name and different objectives
- http://rbth.com/politics/2013/03/07/prokremlin_youth_movement_nashi_to_be_revamped_23621.html)
Also see
http://imrussia.org/en/politics/420the-fate-of-the-nashi-movementwhere-will-the-kremlins-youth-go
With this new campaign, seemingly aimed at tying up the loose ends before a parliamentary
election in the fall that is being carefully stage-managed by the Kremlin, censorship rules in
Russia have reached their most restrictive since the breakup of the Soviet Union, media watchdog
groups say.
“This is not the U.S.S.R., when every print or broadcasting outlet was preliminarily censored,”
Masha Lipman, a researcher at the Carnegie Moscow Center, said in a telephone interview.
Instead, the tactic has been to impose state ownership on media companies and replace editors
with those who are supporters of Mr. Putin — or offer a generally more upbeat report on
developments in Russia these days.
The new censorship rules are often passed in vaguely worded measures and decrees that are
ostensibly intended to protect the public.
Late last year, for example, the prosecutor general and the interior minister appeared before
Parliament to ask deputies to draft legislation banning the distribution on the Web of “extremist”
content — a catch phrase, critics say, for information about opponents of Mr. Putin.
On Friday, the Federal Security Service, a successor agency to the K.G.B., questioned Garry
Kasparov, the former chess champion and opposition politician, for four hours regarding an
interview he had given on the Echo of Moscow radio station. Prosecutors have accused Mr.
Kasparov of expressing extremist views.
Kremlin Rules
Russia’s Liberals Lose Their Voice
Nikita Y. Belykh, right, accepted an appointment as one of the Kremlin's regional governors this
month. He said he had felt beaten down as a leading member of Russia's liberal opposition . . . SO
HE HAS BEEN __-________ BY THE STATE . . . RIGHT?
Russia’s Liberals Lose Their Voice
Maxim Shemetov/Itar-Tass
Nikita Y. Belykh, once a Kremlin critic, took a job
offered by Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin.
Chechnya's leader
pledges loyalty to
Putin amid
Nemtsov
controversy
Vladimir Isachenkov, The Associated Press
Published Tuesday, March 10, 2015 3:24PM EDT
MOSCOW -- Chechnya's strongman on Tuesday reaffirmed an unwavering loyalty to
President Vladimir Putin after receiving a medal seen by some as a move to assuage the feisty
Chechen leader after one of his officers was arrested as a suspect in the slaying of a Russian
opposition figure.
Ramzan Kadyrov thanked Putin for awarding him the Order of Honor, one of Russia's highest
decorations, saying that it would be "the lightest task" for him to sacrifice his life for the
Russian leader. "We are infantrymen of the president of Russia!" he added.
Some observers say the arrest of five suspects accused of involvement in the Feb. 27 slaying
of Putin's prominent critic, Boris Nemtsov, could strain the Kremlin's relations with Kadyrov,
who has run Chechnya like his own fiefdom while relying on federal subsidies
PetroKremlin” A vast state-run energy conglomerate has been
assembled over the past year, some experts say, to fuel Russia's bid
to revive Soviet-style great power status. To date, the Kremlin has
effectively renationalized almost a third of the formerly private oil-and-gas
sector. Other developments also point to growing state ambitions
Apartment buildings near Krasnaya Polyana are part of an elite ski
resort being built by Gazprom, the Russian state gas monopoly nYT
4/24/2006
As Gazprom Goes, So Goes Russia
a pipeline to bring natural gas from Siberia to market As the Kremlin tries
to regain influence, the energy giant Gazprom is ballooning. In February, a
worker in central Russia helped prepare
Especially important excerpts: . . .
Mr. Medvedev was sworn in as president on Wednesday, after winning the election in
early March, and his ascent confirms that in today’s Russia, the line separating big
business and the state is becoming so fine that it’s almost nonexistent.
Gazprom and the government have long had a close relationship, but the revolving
door between them is spinning especially fast this year: Mr. Medvedev, 42, replaces
Mr. Putin as president; Mr. Putin becomes prime minister, replacing Viktor A. Zubkov;
and Mr. Zubkov is expected to take Mr. Medvedev’s place as Gazprom’s chairman at a
general shareholders meeting in June.
...
It’s hard to overemphasize Gazprom’s role in the Russian economy. It’s a sprawling
company that raked in $91 billion last year; it employs 432,000 people, pays taxes equal
to 20 percent of the Russian budget and has subsidiaries in industries as disparate as
farming and aviation.
The company is a major supplier of natural gas to Europe, and it is becoming an
important source of gas to fast-growing Asian markets like China and South Korea. In
2005, at the urging of the Kremlin, it bought Russia’s fifth-largest oil company from the
tycoon Roman A. Abramovich. If crude oil and natural gas are considered together,
Gazprom’s combined daily production of energy is greater than that of Saudi Arabia
Gazprom says that many of the investments that critics once labeled
political, such as the purchase of television stations and newspapers,
have in fact turned out highly profitable.
Now Russian leaders consider Gazprom the template for a new
industrial policy. In a globalized world, their thinking goes, strategic
Russian companies should be controlled by the government, yet open
to the capital and skill of Western investors — just as Gazprom is. It’s
a throwback to the Soviet economic model, with an emphasis on
gigantism and economies of scale and faith in the pricing power of
monopolies.
Under Mr. Putin, oil companies were brought back under the
Kremlin’s control, and dozens of state-controlled but publicly
listed corporations sprung up in industries like energy, metals,
aviation and auto manufacturing.
The vote was shown Friday in the State Duma, which passed the first reading of a bill to
extend the Russian president’s term.
Bill to Extend Russian President’s
Term Advances
By ELLEN BARRY
Vladimir Kashin, left, and Gennadi A.
Zyuganov of the Russian Communist
Party during the debate on extending
the term.
Vladimir Kashin, left, and Gennadi A. Zyuganov of the
Russian Communist Party during the debate on extending
the term.
MOSCOW Nov 15 2008— As a bill extending Russia’s presidency to six years from
four barreled through the Russian legislature on Friday, it fell to the old-timers from
the Communist Party to put up a fight.
“Why do we have to do this today?”Viktor I. Ilyukhin, a Communist legislator, said
during discussions Friday in the State Duma, the lower house of Parliament. “Why are
we in such a hurry? A strict authoritarian regime has already been established in this
country. There is already an unprecedented concentration of power in one person’s
hands.”
Political opposition leaders have been harshly critical of the proposed change, which is
almost assured of becoming law, but opposition parties have little presence in the
Duma, and on Friday, the Communists were virtually the only dissenters.
In the end, the bill sailed through its first reading in the Duma, passing by a vote of 388
to 58. Fifty-seven of those votes were from Communists, who unanimously opposed the
change. The measure must pass two more readings in the lower house, and also be
approved by majorities in the upper house and Russia’s regional parliaments.
Welcome or Not, Orthodoxy Is
Back in Russia’s Public Schools
Father Vladimir Pakhachev says children
should “know their history and their roots,”
and that religion plays a part in that.
Freedom of Religion
Article 14.
• The Russian Federation shall be a secular
state. No religion may be instituted as statesponsored or mandatory religion.
• Religious associations shall be separated
from the state, and shall be equal before the
law.
Other groups are forced to meet in small private homes like this one, where a
congregation of Seventh-day Adventists now meets, after being evicted from
their meeting hall by the police.
The Russian constitution guarantees freedom of religion. In 2006 Mr. Putin said,
"In modern Russia, tolerance and tolerance for other beliefs are the foundation for
civil peace, and an important factor for social progress."
But as the Kremlin officially voices support for religious tolerance, Protestant congregations
are regularly referred to as "sects" and must obtain official permission before doing any
kind of religious outreach. A group known as the Evangelical Baptists is one of the few
Protestant groups with an official place of worship, but they were barred from renting a theater
for a Christian music festival and are not allowed to hand out toys at an orphanage.
Protestant congregations in Stary Oskol are required to register their churches with the government
in order to do anything more than conduct prayer in private homes.
Pastor Vladimir Pakhomov, the leader of the Methodist congregation, tried
to register his church with the local government. His registration was
rejected, and he lost his court appeal. He could now face arrest for any
religious behavior considered proselytizing. "They have made us into
lepers to scare people away," he said.
Sergei Matyukh, a Lutheran priest, led a prayer in another home service, this one
jointly held by a Lutheran group and a Methodist group. The service is held in support
of the Methodist group, which was recently shut down by local officials, after
several visits by the F.S.B., the successor to the K.G.B.
The Belgorod region, a Russian Orthodox stronghold, has been on the
forefront of a substantial anti-Protestant campaign. In 2001, during Mr. Putin's
first term, the region enacted its own law to restrict Protestant proselytizing. . .
. Oooh what a good example of the fact that _______________ism leads to a
diversity in public policy
A recently opened Orthodox Russian church on the outskirts
of Stary Oskol, another sign of the church's dominance in the
region
KOLOMNA, Russia — One of the most discordant debates in Russian society is
playing out in public schools like those in this city not far from Moscow, where the
other day a teacher named Irina Donshina set aside her textbooks, strode before her
second graders and, as if speaking from a pulpit, posed a simple question:
“Whom should we learn to do good from?”
“From God!” the children said.
“Right!” Ms. Donshina said. “Because people he created crucified him. But did he
accuse them or curse them or hate them? Of course not! He continued loving and
feeling pity for them, though he could have eliminated all of us and the whole world in a
fraction of a second.”
Nearly two decades after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the return of religion to
public life, localities in Russia are increasingly decreeing that to receive a proper public
school education, children should be steeped in the ways of the Russian Orthodox
Church, including its traditions, liturgy and historic figures.
The lessons are typically introduced at the urging of church leaders, who say the
enforced atheism of Communism left Russians out of touch with a faith that was once at
the core of their identity.
The new curriculum reflects the nation’s continuing struggle to define what it means to
be Russian in the post-Communist era and what role religion should play after being
brutally suppressed under Soviet rule. Yet the drive by a revitalized church to weave its
tenets into the education system has prompted a backlash, and not only from the
remains of the Communist Party.
Opponents assert that the Russian Orthodox leadership is weakening the
constitutional separation of church and state by proselytizing in public schools.
They say Russia is a multiethnic, pluralistic nation and risks alienating its large
Muslim minority if Russian Orthodoxy takes on the trappings of a state religion.
The church calls those accusations unfounded, maintaining that the courses are
cultural, not religious.
In Ms. Donshina’s class at least, the children seem to have their own
understanding of a primary theme of the course. “One has to love God,” said
Kristina Posobilova. “We should believe in God only.”
The dispute came to a head recently when 10 prominent Russian scientists,
including two Nobel laureates, sent a letter to President Vladimir V. Putin,
protesting what they termed the “growing clericalization” of Russian society. In
addition to criticizing religious teachings in public schools, the scientists
attacked church efforts to obtain recognition of degrees in theology, and the
presence of Russian Orthodox chaplains in the military.
Local officials carry out education policy under Moscow’s oversight, with some
latitude. Some regions require the courses in Russian Orthodoxy, while others
allow parents to remove their children from them, though they rarely, if ever, do.
Other areas have not adopted them.
Mr. Putin, though usually not reluctant to overrule local authorities, has skirted the
issue. He said in September that he preferred that children learn about religion in
general, especially four faiths with longstanding ties to Russia — Russian
Orthodoxy, Islam, Judaism and Buddhism. But the president, who has been
photographed wearing a cross and sometimes attends church services and other
church events, did not say current practices should be scaled back.
“We have to find a form acceptable for the entire society,” he said. “Let’s think
about it together.”
Polls show that roughly half to two-thirds of Russians consider themselves Russian
Orthodox, a sharp increase since the demise of the Soviet Union in 1991. Clergy
members frequently take part in government events, and people often wear crosses.
But Russia remains deeply secular, and most Russians say they never attend
church.
About 10 to 15 percent of Russians are Muslim, most of whom live in the south,
though Moscow and other major cities have large Muslim populations. With
emigration and assimilation, the Jewish population has dwindled to a few hundred
thousand people, of 140 million. Muslim and Jewish leaders have generally
opposed Russian Orthodoxy courses, though some say schools should be permitted
to offer them as extracurricular activities.
Khodorkovsky’s Rise and Fall
Mikhail Khodorkovsky arriving at his trial in Moscow with his
ever-present entourage of prison guards.
Great slide show:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/22/magazine/22khodorkovsk
y-t.html?_r=1
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video
/vladimir-putin-offers-solutionsuper-bowl-ring-scandal-19463019
http://www.washingtontimes.com/n
ews/2013/sep/4/sen-john-mccainpresident-putin-give-back-superbo/
Influx of Siloviki
As in the days of the
KGB, the secret service
has become powerful
Putin’s Russia
Call back yesterday
Twelve years after his first election,
Vladimir Putin is becoming president
of Russia again. The country is a lot
harder to control now
March 3, 2012
BBC 10 December 2011
Russian election: Biggest protests since fall of USSR . .
A political reawakening . . .
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/worldeurope-16122524
?????? Will it be?
Pussy Riot
Russian feminist punk-rock collective
based in Moscow. Founded in August
2011
• wear brightly colored balaclavas and use only nicknames
during interviews.
• stage unauthorized provocative guerrilla performances in
unusual public locations, which are edited into music videos
and posted on the Internet.
• Their lyrical themes include feminism, LGBT rights,
opposition to Russian President Vladimir Putin, whom they
regard as a dictator, and links between the leadership of the
Russian Orthodox Church and Putin
•
•
On February 21, 2012, five
members of the group staged a
performance on the steps of
Moscow's Cathedral of Christ
the Savior. Their actions were
stopped by church security
officials.
By evening, they had turned it
into a music video entitled
"Punk Prayer - Mother of God,
Chase Putin Away!".
• The women said their protest was directed at the Orthodox
Church leader's support for Putin during his election campaign.
• After time in custody, On August 17, 2012, three members were convicted of
hooliganism motivated by religious hatred, and each was sentenced to two years
imprisonment
• The trial and sentence attracted considerable criticism, particularly in the West.
The case was adopted by human rights groups including Amnesty International,
which designated the women prisoners of conscience, and by a wide range of
musicians including Madonna, Sting, and Yoko Ono. Public opinion in Russia
was generally less sympathetic towards the women
Interviewed http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WAZ5gO6e18
Watch the video in the church:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VtYw-d1CSxQ
Pussy Riot whipped at Sochi Games by Cossacks
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-26265230
Russia's Pussy Riot disowns freed pair
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-26067971
http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsb
eat/19096360
Pussy Riot Members
Attacked by Cossacks
Group of Cossacks Attacks
Group in Sochi as It Begins
Anti-Kremlin Protests
Wall Street Journal Feb 20
2014
Mikhail Khodorkovsky arriving at his trial in Moscow with his
ever-present entourage of prison guards.
Great slide show:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/22/magazine/22khodorkovsk
y-t.html?_r=1
Protests 2011
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJwTKVJEvzw
Putin’s Legal Crackdown on Civil Society
See frontline article:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/foreign-affairsdefense/putins-way/putins-legal-crackdown-on-civil-society/
Sergey
Ponomarev/Associated
Press
Population Policy
A woman in a Moscow park reflected a
worrying concern in Russia: just one child.
Small families are the norm and the
population is shrinking. NYT 5/11/2006
May 11, 2006
Putin Urges Plan to Reverse Slide in the Birth Rate
By C. J. CHIVERS
MOSCOW, May 10 — President Vladimir V. Putin directed
Parliament on Wednesday to adopt a 10-year program to stop the
sharp decline in Russia's population, principally by offering financial
incentives and subsidies to encourage women to have children.
Mr. Putin's instructions, issued to a compliant Parliament that
follows his orders almost without fail, formed the center of his
annual address and signaled a new Kremlin determination to
confront a problem that demographers have warned endangers the
future of the Russian state.
Russia's population, now about 143 million, has been falling since
the collapse of the Soviet Union, trimmed by emigration, rising
death rates and declining birthrates. Both the government and
demographers predict more downward pressure, including H.I.V.
infections, that could shrink the population below 100 million by
2050.
Russia awards 'order of
parental glory' to prolific
parents
Boosting birthrates is Mr Medvedev's pet cause
and has prompted scorn from some quarters
It was the gleaming silver gong every
idealistic Soviet matron desired: the "Hero
Mother" medal conferred on women who
bore at least 10 children to serve the
nation.
Russia: A
Day for
Making
Babies
Women posed with their
newborn babies in Ulyanovsk,
Russia, on Wednesday.
The governor of a central province told employers to contribute to a Kremlin
campaign to boost the birthrate by giving couples the day off to have sex. And if a
woman gives birth in exactly nine months — on Russia’s national day on June 12 —
she will qualify for a prize, perhaps even winning a new home. Russia wants to
reverse a trend in which the population is shrinking by about 700,000 people a year
as births fail to outpace a death rate fueled by AIDS, alcoholism and suicide. This is
the third year the Ulyanovsk region, famous as the birthplace of Lenin, has dedicated
a day to encouraging couples to produce more babies. Published: September 13,
2007By REUTERS
24 February 2014,
Putin signs into
law Duma mixed
electoral system
/
Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a bill returning a mixed electoral
system for the State Duma into law. The text of the bill passed by the State
Duma on February 14 and approved by Federation Council on February 19 has
been posted on the official Internet portal of legal information.
/
NASHI TODAY
.
http://putinskissmovie.com/
See also http://rbth.ru/politics/2013/03/07/prokremlin_youth_movement_nashi_to_be_revamped_23621.html
And http://imrussia.org/en/politics/420-the-fate-of-the-nashimovement-where-will-the-kremlins-youth-go
Crack down on oligarchs
See bbc video on oligarchs
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe16276956
Russian Racism
Late last year, polling firm
Levada Centre said 53 percent
of 1,600 respondents
supported the phrase “Russia
for the Russians”, while the
numbers supporting a limit on
immigration were markedly
higher than the year beforeA
demonstration organized by
the Movement Against Illegal
Immigration (DPNI) in
November saw around 5,000
marching under banners of
“Russia for the Russians” and
“Russia, forwards
Some political groups have flirted with racism, and the Rodina (Motherland)
party was barred from Moscow elections last year for a campaign
advertisement that said “let’s clean the city of rubbish” over pictures of
immigrants from the Caucasus.
Russain Racism: candidate
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/world_news_america/
8231647.stm
Russian racism 15 minutes ABC report
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FyC0YbWT2v4
Ultra nationalists 2011
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRYtzuEOZ8k
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/04/russiaultranationalists-march-moscow_n_2072359.html
Russian Racism
CSKA Moscow: Russian side punished again for racist
abuse http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/26243455
Russia’s anti-gay law
Mr Putin throws bones to his supporters
http://www.economist.com/blogs/easternapproaches/201
3/08/russia-s-anti-gay-law—video interview
Human rights in
Russia
Grim to be gay
The plight of gays
prompts calls for a
boycott of the Sochi
Olympics
Chechnya: an oil rich Islamic break away Republic in the Caucuses
Region
August and September 1999. A series of apartment-block
bombs brought terror to Russian cities, killing nearly 300
people in The attacks came as Russian troops drove Islamic
insurgents from Chechnya out of the neighbouring North
Caucasian republic of Dagestan. Soon afterwards Russia sent
thousands of troops into Chechnya itself to smash the
guerrillas. This time the war proved popular with the Russian
public who voted in large numbers for the pro-Kremlin Unity
party, backed by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, in
December's parliamentary election.
Special forces and Interior Ministry troops taking
up positions around the theater, which was seized
Wednesday by a group of armed men during a
performance of "Nord-Ost."
2 doctors remove body
of female hostage taker
Fall 2002 Chechen rebels seize theatre—rescue is a fiasco; over 100
people died from the effects of toxic knockout gas sprayed by
security forces into a central Moscow theater, where Chechen
fighters - including 19 female shakhidy, or "martyrs" - were holding
800 hostages
The bloodiest rebel atrocity took place at a school in Beslan, North
Ossetia, in 2004. Rebels seized the school on the first day of the autumn
term, with more than 1,000 pupils, parents and teachers inside.
The siege ended in a bloodbath, in which more than 330 people died
This video image shows insurgent leader Doku Umarov as he
claims responsibility for last month's deadly suicide bombing
at Russia's largest airport. It was not clear when or where the
video was recorded
Wathc: http://www.france24.com/en/20110208-russiachechen-militant-doku-umarov-moscow-domodedovoairport-bombing-terrorist
A controversial referendum in March 2003 approved a new
constitution, giving Chechnya more autonomy but stipulating that
it remained firmly part of Russia. Akmad Kadryov elected
president; then killed by a bomb attack in a stadium.
Former rebel sworn in as new president of
Chechnya April 5, 2007
A 30-year-old amateur boxer who is accused by human rights groups of
murdering and kidnapping civilians was this morning inaugurated as the new
president of the war-torn republic of Chechnya.
Ramzan Kadyrov, a former rebel turned Moscow loyalist who has his own
militia army, was installed as president in a lavish ceremony in Gudermes,
Chechnya's second-largest city, 20 miles east of the capital, Grozny. Human
rights groups allege that security forces under Mr Kadyrov's control abduct
and torture civilians suspected of ties to Chechnya's separatist rebels.
Some observers also suggest he was behind last year's murder of Anna
Politkovskaya, the investigative journalist who had documented Chechnya's
.
plight. Mr Kadyrov denies involvement. Her killers have not been caught.
This morning hundreds of high-profile guests gathered to see Mr Kadyrov
presented with the Chechen flag and coat of arms.
The new Chechen president, Ramzan
Kadyrov, takes the oath in the Chechen
town of Gudermes
Moscow has poured huge funds into rebuilding Grozny and Chechnya, and insists that the region has now
returned to normal. Mr Kadyrov has taken much of the credit for this.
With help from Mr Kadyrov's militias, Russian forces have wiped out most insurgent leaders and driven the
rebels into mountain hideouts from where they launch occasional attacks
Cult of Putin
http://edition.cnn.com/2012/03/02/europe/gallery/cult-ofvladimir-putin/index.html?iid=article_sidebar