Local Scholarship, Public Policy, and Power
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Local Scholarship, Public Policy, and Power Public Policy Research and Local Reforms in Russia : The Case Study of Nizhny Novgorod ANDREY S. MAKARYCHEV T his article is designed to analyze the role of the intellectual community in relation to conducting democratic refomis in the Nizhny Novgorod region (oblast). The author's aim is to show different patterns of interaction between scholars and their partners in politics and business, and to trace some channels of practical implementation of the experts' advice for decisionmakers. In so doing, several questions appropriate to newly democratizing, federalist governments will be asked. Is professional analysis workable within regional bureaucratic structures? What are the roots of institutional contradictions and rivalries between regional decisionmakers and experts? Might some kind of organizational unity between them be achieved in a foreseeable future? Nizhny Novgorod oblast is widely known both in the Russian Federation and in the West for three basic reasons. First, for several decades it was a closed area with restricted possibilities for foreign visitors. Second, since the deniise of the USSR the Nizhny Novgorod oblast administration, led by Boris E. Nemtsov, is commonly regarded as one of the regional pioneers in promoting post-Communist economic realignment. Third, Nizhny Novgorod is third in Russia in tercos of population and industrial potential, and is understandably the subject of scrutiny as one of the "testing grounds" of wide-scale liberal reforms. Nizhny Novgorod administration has indeed advanced in the realm of robust economic initiatives. However, the extent of the intellectual resources of the region being engaged in the current transformation and the role of the local intellectual community in fostering reforms remain to be studied. General Theoretical Considerations The importance of the aboye stems from our basic assumption that public policy advice and political expertise are an organic part of the decisionmaking process in a democratic society. Without adequate expertise all subsequent stages of the policy making process are prone to failure. We consider the network of policy analysis organizations and independent research groups as a cornerstone of social feedback. The Western experience shows quite clearly that even a politician with an academic degree cannot judge all of his own decisions. To improve the quality of decisionmaking, grass-roots public activity should be considered along with the initiatives of elected authorities, inspiring wide discussions of the most sensitive issues of public interest. Taking into account growing decentralization within the Russian Federation, one can assume that alternative expertise is necessary in order to foster regional reforms. Andrey S. Makarychev is assistant professor at the department of political science at Nizhny Novgorod University, director of international programs at the Center for Russian Philosophy, and Fulbright visiting research fellow at George Mason University. 178 DEMOKRATIZATSIYA Classification of Public Policy Research Centers in Nizhny Novgorod In the last four years we have witnessed a considerable increase in the number of different institutions designed as viable sources of advice and expertise. We begin our analysis by grouping them. in five major categories: research centers establishedl by regional "Taking roto account grow- authorities; those established by the business ing decentralization within community; self-made independent research the Russian Federation, one centers; acadeiic research iinstitutes; and can assume that alternative international ad.visers. expertise is necessary in order The first group comprises research tofoster regional reforms " centers establüshed directly by regional authorities in order to stimulate investigation of current problems and needs. With com- puter equipment and office space provided by the oblast authorities, the Center for Economic Analysis and Marketing was one of the first analytical bodies incorporated into official power structures. Organized around such pivots as economic restructuring, privatization, banking, etc., the Center never had pretensions of theoretical analysis. The Institute for Economic Development (IED) was created with the assistance of the Regional Legislature in 1993. The Institute basically concentrates on promoting economic cooperation with the North Rein-Westphalian land in Germany and benefits from the direct relationship between the two regions. The focus is on developing training and educational programs rather than on purely academic research. The Council on Regional Studies was formed in the summer of 1993 as a public organization seeking to organize a variety of activities (including serninars, round table discussions, and conferences) in order to combine both the efforts aid the resources of scholars and regional authorities. The Council derives its fmancial mearas almost completely from regional government or pro-govemmental sources. Thus, the year-long series of seminars on regionalism were funded by the Vybor Foundation created on the eve of elections to assist the liberal and pro-market candidates.' Deprived of solid fmancial resources in the aftermath of the spring 1993 election campaign, the Council underwent a number of transformations; it merged with the Nizhny Novgorod Research Foundation and was then reorganized as the Institute of Comprehensive Research on Federalism and Regionalism on a cooperative basis with the IED. The Nizhny Novgorod Research Foundation was initially designed to be a pro- government analytical body and was established by the Department of Economics and Forecasting. The history of this foundation reflects the problems of most semi-official expert units: lack of contact with outside scholars and insufticient space for conducting theoretical research. In the spring of 1994, alter merging with the bulk of the Council on Regional Studies, the NNRF was revitalized. This operation was supposed to bring more academic freedom and to widen the scope of activities. The Nizhny Novgorod Branch of the Moscow-based Epicenter was set up in the aftermath of the summer 1992 by the Task Force Working Group, chaired by Grigory Yavlinsky, that tempora-ily resided in Nizhny Novgorod at the invitation of Govemor Local Scholarship, Public Policy, and Power 179 Nemtsov. It was the first example of close interaction between one of the leading Moscow "think tanks" and regional authorities in the Russian "provinces." The working group's final report, known as "The Nizhny Novgorod Prologue," was widely debated by the local public and the media alike. Some experts bewailed the fact that the Nemstov-Yavlinsky initiative resulted in a "landing operation" executed by experts unfamiliar with Nizhny Novgorod and its peculiarities. This criticism was justified, since there was little participation by local scholars and even by the regional Council of People's Deputies. However, one of the practical arrangements that followed Yavlinsky's Task Force re- "7t is hoped that p the lanned port was the creation of the local branch of Center will be a repository of the Epicenter. In terms of conducting eco- information on world mar- nomic reforms (price regulation in the kets, international contacts, regional cornmodity market, investments, and relevant legislation, and financial stabilization, control of commer- that it will develop links with cial risks, compensatory measures, regional similar institutions world- insurance system, and taxation, etc), its wide. " research profile is tailored for the needs of the Nizhny Novgorod regional administra- tion. "Epicenter-Nizhny Novgorod" was partly sponsored by the Vybor Foundation. The Nizhny Novgorod Center for Reconversion will be directly involved with the regional administration in the foreseeable future. It is the offspring of the Department for Reconversion. The Center was primarily inspired by a 1993 Report of the Ad-Hoc Task Force Working Group on Reconversion. Some details of this undertaking were discussed during two conferences held in 1994-"Nizhny Novgorod: a Russian Success Story?" sponsored by the Harriman Institute of Columbia University with fmancial support from the Eurasia Foundation; and "Defense Conversion in Nizhny Novgorod: Problems, Perspectives, and Solutions" sponsored by the Soros Foundation in the suburbs of Nizhny Novgorod. The need to establish such a Center is due to the lack of adequate understanding of the consequences of this problem on the part of most regional decisionmakers. According to James Lecky of National Defense University, members of the Russian delegation who recently visited the United States to study the American conversion experience were amazed at the number and extent of the programs to sudy it, even though the magnitude of the problem is far less than in Russia. It is hoped that the planned Center will be a repository of information on world markets, international contacts, and relevant legislation, and that it will develop links with similar institutions worldwide. Besides the aboye mentioned institutions (as well as others of minor scale), one has to refer to another channel of essential analytical support for regional authorities, which is the ad-hoc working groups aimed at rendering occasional expert services coping with current practical (rarely political) needs of regional officials. Several examples illustrate this support channel. The Ad-hoc Working Group on Reconversion was formed in 1992 through the efforts of