<p> Comparative Politics Chapter 4: Russia</p><p>Section 1: The Making of the Modern Russian State (pgs. 150-162) 1. Examine Table 4.1 and answer the following questions: a. Is Russia a federal or unitary system? What does this mean?</p><p> b. What type of executive does Russia have? How does this work?</p><p> c. What is the name of the lower house of Russia legislature?</p><p> i. How are members elected to this chamber?</p><p>1. How is this different from the past?</p><p> ii. What are the powers of the legislature?</p><p> d. How is the Russian judiciary similar to the US judiciary?</p><p> e. What is the dominant political party in Russia?</p><p>Politics in Action 2. What did Vladimir Putin do just before the end of his final term as president of Russia in 2008?</p><p> a. Who became president after Putin? What job did Putin take?</p><p> b. Why did critics call these act “democratic backsliding” or “authoritarian”?</p><p>The Bolshevik Revolution and the Establishment of Soviet Power (1917-1929) 3. Who led the Bolshevik Revolution?</p><p>4. Explain why the author says the Bolshevik’s political party was based on a unique understanding of Marxism. (BE SURE TO INCLUDE DEFINITIONS AND DESCRIPTIONS OF DEMOCRATIC CENTRALISM AND VANGUARD PARTY).</p><p>1 5. What country did the Bolsheviks form?</p><p>The Stalin Revolution (1929-1953) 6. Define collectivization:</p><p> a. Who advocated collectivization?</p><p> b. Describe the causes and effects of collectivization: Causes Effects</p><p>7. What was Gosplan? What did it do?</p><p>8. How did Stalin prevent political opposition to the Communist Party and control the Soviet population?</p><p>9. What effect did isolation have on the Soviet Union and its citizens?</p><p>10. What were the effects of World War II on the Soviet Union?</p><p>Attempts at De-Stalinization (1953-1985) 11. Describe Nikita Khrushchev (party leader 1955-1964) and his policy of de-Stalinization:</p><p>12. Who succeeded Khrushchev as party leader?</p><p> a. What problems did Soviet citizens face from the late 1970s onwards? Why was this?</p><p>Perestroika and Glasnost (1985-1991) 13. What were the goals of Mikhail Gorbachev’s reform program?</p><p>2 14. Describe each of the following reforms instituted by Gorbachev: a. Perestroika:</p><p> b. Glasnost:</p><p> c. Demokratizatsiia:</p><p> d. “New thinking”:</p><p>15. Explain the “fundamental changes” brought about by Gorbachev’s reforms:</p><p>Collapse of the USSR and Establishment of the Russian Federation (1991 to the present) 16. Who is Boris Yeltsin?</p><p> a. What role did he play in the attempted coup d’état of Gorbachev?</p><p>17. How did the Soviet Union collapse?</p><p>18. Who became president of the Russian Federation after Yeltsin?</p><p>After September 11, 2001 19. What helped the Russian economy to experience real economic growth in the decade following 1999?</p><p>20. Describe US-Russia relations after 9/11/01:</p><p>3 21. What is Chechnya? What do Chechens want? How have they tried to achieve this goal?</p><p> a. What have terrorist incidents allowed Putin to do?</p><p>22. Explain how Putin has radically recentralized political power over the last decade:</p><p>Theme and Implications—Historical Juncture and Political Themes 23. What has served as an important basis for Russia’s renewed international influence?</p><p>Implications for Comparative Politics 24. What four transition processes were initiated simultaneously in the early 1990s?</p><p> a. Why was this problematic? What has been the effect of these problems?</p><p>Section 2—Political Economy and Development (pgs. 163-174) 25. Why were productivity and efficiency low in the Soviet Union?</p><p>26. Why did environmental quality deteriorate under Soviet rule?</p><p>27. What “remarkable achievements” did the Soviet economic model register?</p><p>State and Economy in the Russian Federation 28. What was shock therapy?</p><p>29. What were the four main pillars of market reform through shock therapy?</p><p> a. What were the effects of these reforms?</p><p>4 30. Explain the process for privatizing state owned enterprises:</p><p>31. Describe the “loans-for-shares” program and its effects:</p><p>32. Was privatization successful in Russia? Why or why not?</p><p>33. What was the state of the Russian economy in the late 1990s?</p><p>34. Why has corruption increased in Russia?</p><p>35. Who are the oligarchs in Russia?</p><p>36. What happened to the Russian economy in 1998?</p><p> a. How has the Russian economy fared since 1998? Improved or worsened?</p><p>37. How did Putin treat the oligarchs?</p><p> a. Who is Mikhail Khodorkovsky?</p><p> i. What happened to him? Why did this happen?</p><p>Society and Economy 38. What is going on in the picture on page 170?</p><p>39. Describe the message of the political cartoon on page 171:</p><p>5 40. What is the “impending demographic crisis” in Russia (pgs. 171-172)? What are the causes of this crisis?</p><p>Russian Political Culture and Economic Change 41. Describe the aspects of Russian culture that have inhibited adaptation to a market economy:</p><p>Section 3—Governance and Policy-Making (pgs. 174-185) Organization of the State 42. What year was the Russian constitution ratified?</p><p> a. What branch of government has the most power in this constitution?</p><p>43. Describe the “hierarchical organization” of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU):</p><p> a. What was the Politburo? Why was it so important?</p><p> b. What was the nomenklatura system?</p><p> c. What role did the legislative branch play in the Soviet Union? What does this mean?</p><p> d. How has the past experience with the “hierarchical organization” of the CPSU influenced the current Russian government?</p><p>The Executive 44. Who is the head of state in Russia?</p><p> a. How is he chosen?</p><p> b. How long is his term?</p><p>45. Who is the head of government in Russia?</p><p>6 a. How is he chosen?</p><p> b. How can he be removed? How many times has this been done?</p><p>46. How is Russia’s executive different from the United States’ executive?</p><p>47. What is the power of decree?</p><p> a. What is this similar to in American government?</p><p> b. Why has Putin used the power of decree less than Yeltsin did?</p><p>48. Identify all of the powers of the Russian president:</p><p>49. What are clientelistic networks? What role do they play in the Russian bureaucracy?</p><p>50. What economic sectors are more likely to involve public or semipublic ownership?</p><p> a. What does public or semipublic ownership mean?</p><p> b. What is Gazprom? </p><p>Other State Institutions 51. How has the political power and prestige of the military changed since the collapse of the Soviet Union?</p><p>52. What are the various security organizations that exist in Russia alongside the military?</p><p> a. What are the siloviki? You can find the definition on page 474 in the glossary.</p><p>53. Who is Alexander Litvinenko? What happened to him? Why is this significant?</p><p>54. Why have many of Putin’s appointments been people with security backgrounds?</p><p>7 55. What power does the Russian Constitutional Court have, according to the 1993 constitution?</p><p> a. How is this similar to the US Supreme Court?</p><p> b. How do judges get on the Russian Constitutional Court?</p><p> i. How is this similar to the US process for appointment of Supreme Court justices?</p><p> c. What other courts exist in Russia?</p><p>56. How many “units” are there in the Russian Federation?</p><p> a. What have the republics been most assertive in?</p><p> b. Why has the Russian government opposed Chechen independence so fiercely?</p><p> c. What rights have been given to the republics?</p><p> i. How is the system of federalism in Russia similar to the system of federalism in the United States?</p><p> d. What is asymmetrical federalism?</p><p>57. What is the “power vertical”?</p><p> a. In December 2004, how did Putin and the Duma change the selection process for regional governors?</p><p> b. What effect has this had on federalism and democracy in Russia?</p><p>The Policy-Making Process</p><p>8 58. Describe how a bill becomes a law in Russia:</p><p> a. How is this similar to how a bill becomes a law in the US?</p><p>59. What is corporatism?</p><p> a. What is a problem with corporatism?</p><p>Section 4—Representation and Participation (pgs. 185-198) 60. Define civil society:</p><p>The Legislature 61. What is the name of the upper house of the Russian legislature?</p><p> a. What does it represent?</p><p>62. What is the name of the lower house of the Russian legislature?</p><p> a. How many members are there? How are they chosen?</p><p> i. How long are their terms?</p><p> b. What chamber of the US legislature is this similar to? How is it similar?</p><p> c. What political party dominates this chamber?</p><p> d. To what degree are women and workers represented in this chamber?</p><p>63. How are members of the Federation Council currently chosen?</p><p> a. How many members does each republic send to the Federation Council?</p><p> b. What power does the Federation Council have?</p><p> c. What chamber of the US legislature is this similar to? How is it similar?</p><p>64. How can members of the Federal Assembly override a presidential veto?</p><p>9 65. Why has the Duma cooperated more with the president since 2003?</p><p>Political Parties and the Party System 66. Why were there fewer political parties in Russia after July 2001?</p><p>67. What allowed United Russia to succeed so rapidly, beginning in 1999?</p><p> a. Why is United Russia considered a “cadre party”?</p><p> b. What do many observers feel A Just Russia was formed to do? Why?</p><p>68. What does CPRF stand for?</p><p> a. What has happened to this party’s power since 1993?</p><p> b. What demographics tend to support the CPRF?</p><p>69. Who heads the Liberal Democratic Party?</p><p> a. What does this party stand for? How can it be characterized?</p><p>70. What role do the Union of Rightist Forces (URF) and Yabloko play in Russia?</p><p> a. Who tends to support these parties?</p><p>Elections 71. Describe the electoral system for the Duma before 2007:</p><p> a. How did this change in 2007? Describe the current electoral process.</p><p> i. What effect is this likely to have on the number of political parties able to win elections?</p><p>10 72. What important “first step in consolidating democratic governance” has not been achieved in Russia?</p><p>Political Culture, Citizenship, and Identity 73. What attitudes toward government have persisted since the tsarist period?</p><p>74. What is the problem with the media in Russia?</p><p> a. Read the “Journalism and Politics” section on page 195. Who was Anna Politkovskaia? What happened to her?</p><p> i. Why is this significant?</p><p>Interests, Social Movements, and Protest 75. How and why are civil society organizations, such as interest groups and social organizations, limited in Russia?</p><p>Section 5—Russian Politics in Transition There are no questions from this section, but reading it will provide you with a deeper understanding of Russia today.</p><p>11 Possibly use this as separate handout and do in class: 1. Examine Figure 4.6 on page 182. How can you generalize the types of institutions that Russians trust? Distrust?</p><p>12 13 14</p>