The Politics and Culture of Russia

 

(Political Science 4053) 

Fall 2009: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 8:00 a.m.-9:15 a.m., Chapman 255

Professor Robert H. Donaldson

Chapman Hall 209, Office hours TTh 11:00 a.m.-Noon,  or by appointment, x. 2409, robert-donaldson@utulsa.edu

http://www.personal.utulsa.edu/~robert-donaldson

This course seeks to provide an understanding of the government and politics of the Russian Federation, not as isolated phenomena, but in the comparative perspective of authoritarian systems undergoing transformation. Particular attention will be given to the role of political leadership in system transformation. Emphasis will be placed on distinctive features of the Russian culture that influence economic and social practices. Our analysis of Russian politics will also illustrate the methods by which political scientists describe and explain the operation of political systems.

Requirements of the course are as follows:

1) Participation in class discussion;

2) One mid-term examination, to be given on October 13 (counts 25% of the final grade);

3) A research paper, about 15-20 pages in length, on a topic chosen in consultation with the instructor, due on December 3 (counting 35% of the final grade);

4) A comprehensive final examination, to be given December 17 at 9 a.m. (counting 40% of the final grade).

Texts:

The books listed below are basic texts. Other short assignments will be made from various sources. The outline below suggests the relation of the assigned readings to broad topics covered in class sessions. Students who wish to follow the current changes in Russia should be regular readers of a good daily or weekly newspaper, such as The New York Times or The Economist. Students may also follow developments in Russia on a daily basis via a free e-mail newsletter, Johnson's Russia List, obtainable by means of a "subscribe JRL" message sent to davidjohnson@erols.com.

  1. Richard Sakwa, Russian Politics and Society, Fourth edition, Routledge, 20038.
  2. Lilia Shevtsova, Russia--Lost in Transition: The Yeltsin and Putin Legacies, Carnegie Endowment, 2007.
  3. Clifford Gaddy and Barry Ickes, Russia's Virtual Economy, Brookings, 2002.
  4. Rasma Karklins, The System Made Me Do It: Corruption in Post-Communist Societies, M.E. Sharpe, 2005.

August 25-September 3: Soviet Communism, Its Dissolution, and the End of the USSR

Sakwa, chs. 1-2

September 8-10: How Yeltsin and Putin Came to Power in Russia

Films on Yeltsin and Putin

September 15: "The First Russian Republic"

Sakwa, ch. 3

September 17: Yeltsin's Russia and his Legacy

Shevtsova, chs. 1-2

September 22-24: Political Power in Putin's Russia

Shevtsova, chs. 4-5, 7-10

September 29-October 8: The Constitution and Government Institutions of the Russian Federation

Sakwa, chs. 4, 6, 9. 17

Text of Constitution, at Sakwa, pp. 478-513; also at http://www.constitution.ru/en/10003000-01.htm

OCTOBER 13: MIDTERM EXAMINATION

October 15-20: Parties and Elections

Sakwa, chs. 7-8

October 22-29: Nationalism, Federalism, Regionalism

Sakwa, chs. 10-12

November 3-12: Obstacles to the Transformation to a Market Economy

Gaddy and Ickes, entire

Shevtsova, chs. 11-13

Sakwa, chs. 13-15

November 17-19: Corruption and Crime

Sakwa, ch. 5

Karklins, entire

December 1-3: Transitional Politics and the Dilemmas of Democratization

Shevtsova, chs. 6, 22-27

Sakwa, chs. 19-20

DECEMBER 3: COURSE PAPER DUE

DECEMBER 17:  FINAL EXAMINATION

 

 

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