Russia
Wood Chapter 4
Geography – Climate
Geography – Population
• 70-75% live in Urban settings
• Moscow 18 M of 145 M pop
• 77% of country in Europe
(only 25% of land)
Geography – Ethnic Groups
• 81% Russian
• 4% Tatar
• 15% other (none >
2%)
Geography – Resources
Geography – Oil & Natural Gas
Geography – Political
Geography – Economy
• GDP $1.3 T $8,600 ($26,000 PPP)
• 10% Agriculture
• 27% Industrial
• 63% Service
• Gini coefficient is .40
• 13% under government poverty line
• Wealthiest 10% own 43%
History – Beginning to 1917
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13th century until 1917 Russia is ruled by autocratic tsars
Tsars were head of Russian Orthodox Church
Peter the Great attempted to modernize Russia; Catherine expanded borders
Crimean War was crippling defeat that lead to changes; emancipation of serfs
Loss to Japanese and failure to succeed in WWI led to 1917 Russian
Revolution
History 1917-1924
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V. I. Lenin leads the Marxist inspired Bolsheviks in a revolution
Fought the Allied funded White Army with his communist Red Army
Wins Russian Civil War and creates Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
Institutes New Economic Policy
Ruled with democratic centralism to be the vanguard of the revolution
With Lenin’s health deteriorating, Joseph Stalin positions himself to be
successor
History 1924 - 1932
• Stalin changes Lenin’s democratic centralism to a one party state controlled by
the party
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Nomenklatura elevated young party members to positions of prominence
Central Committee elects Politburo who is headed by General Secretary
Collectivization and industrialization are primary goal (Stalinism)
Collectives replace private farms, and kulaks (large land owners) were sent to labor
camps, gulags, or just killed
• Stalin’s first Five Year Plan sets ambitious goals for country, managed by Gosplan
History 1932 – 1953
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Stalin continues to increase industrial production via Five Year Plans
Stalin, obsessed with disloyalty, orders purges; as many as 3 Million executed
Signs non-aggression pact with Hitler to avoid war
Fights WWII when Hitler invades
After WWII begins Cold War with USA over ideology
Creates Iron Curtain with satellite states subservient to USSR
History 1953 - 1991
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Khrushchev begins period of deStalinization with “secret speech”
Failure of economic policies and Cuban Missile Crisis leads to removal
Brezhnev takes over in 1964 and rolls back many Khrushchev reforms
Gorbachev takes over in 1985 and attempts to modernize USSR
• Glasnost – openness in media
• Perestroika – economic reforms to privatize and encourage foreign investment
• Democratization – Congress of People’s Deputies and President
History 1991 – 2000
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Late 1991 Gorbachev is kidnapped by Generals in an attempted coup d'état
Protests break out in major cities, including Moscow led by Boris Yeltsin
Army refused to fire on protestors, resulting in Revolution ending USSR
Yeltsin becomes president of newly formed Russia
Constitution of 1993 creates modern government structure
Shock therapy was attempt to bring markets to Russia
Putin elected president in 2000
Government Institutions – Executive
• Constitution of 1993 created a three branch, semi-presidential system
• Dual executives as president is head of state and PM is head of govt
• President is directly elected to six-year term with limit to two terms
• Appoints Prime Minister and Cabinet
• Issues decrees that have force of law
• Dissolve the Duma
Government Institutions – Bureaucracy
• Bicameral Legislature – Federal Assembly of Russia
• Duma – Lower house with 450 member
• 225 seats allocated by national Proportional Representation
• 225 FPTP SMD
• Passes bills, confirms PM, approves budget (most legislation comes from Pres or PM)
• Federation Council – Upper house with 2 members from 89 federal units
• One selected by governor and one by state legislative assembly
• Can delay bills not completely veto; Duma has 2/3 override if bill veto
• Presidents ability to issue decrees and dissolve Duma makes Federal Assembly not that powerful
Government Institutions – Legislative
• Bicameral Legislature – Federal Assembly of Russia
• Duma – Lower house with 450 member
• 225 seats allocated by national Proportional Representation
• 225 FPTP SMD
• Passes bills, confirms PM, approves budget (most legislation comes from Pres or PM)
• Federation Council – Upper house with 2 members from 89 federal units
• One selected by governor and one by state legislative assembly
• Can delay bills not completely veto; Duma has 2/3 override if bill veto
• Presidents ability to issue decrees and dissolve Duma makes Federal Assembly not that
powerful
Government Institutions – Judicial
• No tradition of an independent Judiciary, however Constitution of 1993
created a Constitutional Court with power of judicial review (not used)
• Constitutional Court members (19) are appointed by president, confirmed by
Federation Council
• Separate Supreme Court is used for appeals in criminal and civil cases
• Courts tend to be used to jail dissidents rather than protect citizens
• Rule of Law isn’t apparent, and bribes are common
Government Institutions – Military
• Under USSR, the military was quite influential
• Since 1991, no real threat of political actions by military has been seen
• Putin has used military in Chechnya, Georgia, and Ukraine
Political Institutions – Political Parties
• United Russia
• Party of Putin, created to give him more support in government (two parties merged)
• Has won presidential elections of 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012
• Putin’s decision to run for third term in 2012 caused support of party to fall a bit
• De facto one party state as no other party is a legitimate challenger 343/450 seats
• No real ideology except Pro-Putin
Political Institutions – Political Parties
• Communist Party
• Only possible threat to United Russia, but lacks support (42/450)
• Led by Gennady Zyuganov, not hard line USSR, but still communist
• Most support is among the elderly and rural poor
• Liberal Democrats, A Just Russia, Patriots of Russia
• None are actual opposition to Putin’s leadership
• Racist Lib Dems 39/450; A Just Russia 23/450; Patriots 0/450
Political Institutions – Elections
• President is elected to a six year term (changed from 4 years in 2012 election)
• President must win majority of vote, so second round is possible, but hasn’t been
necessary (2000 52%; 2004 71%; 2008 70%; 2012 64%)
• Constitution limits president to two consecutive terms, but no maximum allowable
• Duma seats are allocated 50% SMD; 50% PR with 5% threshold (changed from
2011 election that was 100% PR with 7% threshold)
• Term is 5 years and no term limits
Political Institutions – Interest Groups
• State Corporatism was only influence under USSR with no groups allowed outside the
communist party
• The Oligarchy – accumulated power during the 1990’s amassed great wealth and influence in
Russia
• Berezovsky (oil and media) supported Putin in 2000 election
• Gusinsky (TV) criticized Putin; was arrested and exiled, company given to state-control
• Khodorkovsky (oil) was arrested, company bankrupted, pardoned then exiled
• State Corporatism
• Gazprom – Medvedev was CEO, Putin makes him Pres, Putin becomes PM, makes PM CEO of Gaz
• Russian Mafia
• Gained power during chaos of the 1990’s; protection money, drug trade, murder, connection to KGB
Political Institutions – Media
• 148 out of 180 on Freedom Press rankings
• Pravda – USSR’s main agent for propaganda; today basically tabloid
• Although many media outlets are private, they are influenced by government
(State corporatism)
• Russia TV and Channel One are owned by govt; NTV is owned by Gazprom
• Reporters tend to have “accidents” when they are overly critical of the govt
Civil Society – Cleavages
• Nationality – 80% of citizens are Russian, rest are small minority that are
given limited autonomy to accommodate regional differences; Chechnya
terrorist attacks have prompted harsh treatment of this minority
• Religion – Decades of Communist atheism has diluted the religious
convictions of most Russians; Putin trying to increase power of Russian
Orthodox Church that he influences; 20 Million Muslims has created issues
in Moscow, and border areas
Civil Society – Cleavages
• Social Class – Oligarchs initially had immense power in post-communist
Russia, however the government seems to have eliminated many who didn’t
support Putin.
• Rural vs. Urban – Most Russians (73%) live in cities and tend to be better
educated and more willing to accept Western ideas than their rural
counterparts
Civil Society – Beliefs and Attitudes
• Inefficiency of USSR and terror of Stalin, led to a general distrust of the
government by the Russian people. Brides are seen as a way of life.
• Statism – although seemingly to contradict itself, Russians expect the government
to play a large role in their lives. Centuries of Tsarist rule followed by USSR gave a
tradition of government control
• Economically speaking, most Russians favor the free-market policies instituted
after the collapse of the USSR, but some long for the stability in communism
• Westernization vs. traditional Slavic beliefs has been an argument since the days
of Peter the Great. Should Russia become self-sufficient or engage in the world
Civil Society – Protests
• There is evidence that Russia actually allows a fair amount of protest
• 2009 protests advocating for central planning were approved and executed
without any violence
• 2011 protests were aimed at Putin for running for a third term, no violence
• Protests have not happened much since 2012
• Pussy Riot is an example of illegal protestors that were arrested
Civil Society – Youth Groups
• Nashi, Youth Guard and Locals
• Nashi is most active among youth groups designed to support the government
• Organized Pro-Putin rallies in 2008
• Nashi laid siege to Estonian embassy after minor incident
• Marched against anti-Putin protestors in 2011
• Aligned with United Russia and Putin
Policies and Issues - Federalism
• Technically Russia is a federal system with an imbalance of power at the
national level, and regions that have greater devolved powers than others
(asymmetric federalism)
• Creation of Super-Districts – 7 districts to manage federal areas
• Removal of governors – President may remove governors
• Appointment of governors – President nominates governors, approval by regional leg
• Federation Council appointment – Governor and regional legislatures appoint FC
member, instead of serving themselves
Policies and Issues – The Economy
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Transition from centrally planned to market based via “shock therapy”
Chaos of 1991-1997 was replaced by steady growth 97-07
Russia was not immune from the global recession of 2008
GDP grew (oil), but the stock market had lost 70% of its value
Unemployment grew to over 8% for the first time since 2001
Government responded with $200 Billion rescues plan and tax cuts
Policies and Issues – The Economy
• Medvedev begins privatization of economy in 2010, selling off as much as
$100 billion in state assets to offset spending due to financial crisis
• Putin reverses this trend and consolidates more to gain monopoly power
with Rosneft (oil), Gasprom (natural gas), and United Aircraft Corporation
• 2014 sees gas prices significantly drop, so does Russia’s GDP
• International capital flows out of Russia, further hurting economy
Policies and Issues – Population
• Population Issues
• Low birth rate and poor health habits
• Abortion was quite common in USR
– 2010 has highest number of
abortions per woman in the world
• 2013 population drop finally stopped
and went up .2%
• Has encouraged Russians to come
home from abroad
Policies and Issues – Terrorism
• Chechen rebels have attempted independence since
1995
• 2002 seized Moscow Theater – 173 killed
• 2004 suicide bombing near subway station in Moscow
• 2004 two Russian planes blown up almost
simultaneously
• 2004 siege on Beslan school – 331 killed
• Putin argues that only a tighter grip by central
government will foil the terrorists
Policies and Issues – Foreign Policy
• After the break up of the USSR, Russia’s influence in the world was severely
diminished
• Commonwealth of Independent States initially kept the former soviet
republics together, but eventually they each went their own way
• Also lost were the satellite states that make up the Iron Curtain
• These puppet states allowed Moscow to project influence into central Europe
Politics and Issues – Foreign Policy
• 2008 Russia supports independence
movements in South Ossetia
• Sends in military support
• EU and France step in to broker
peace deal
• Russia declares Ossetia and Abkhazia
independent nations and protects
them with military
Politics and Issues – Foreign Policy
• 2014 removal of Yanukovych as
president of Ukraine angered Putin
• “Rebels” staged a revolution in
Crimea
• 97% of “Crimea” voted to join
Russia