Prof

Syllabus

Topics in Russian and Eurasian Studies:
Political Economy of the Russian Transformation

ERE1161H-S; Tuesday, 12-2; Frank Josef Scheybal Seminar Room (14352 Robarts)

Prof. L. Kosals
Office: Centre for Criminology and Sociolegal Studies,

14 Queens Park Crescent West, room 207

Hours: Wednesday, 2-4 (or appointment)

Course examines Russia’s transformation as a systemic change in three dimensions: social, economic and political. In the focus is Russia’s path from fragile democracy to unstable authoritarian system. The impact of the transformation of Russia on its neighbors including energy issues will also be studied. Among the key topics are privatization and property rights, shadow economy and corruption, peculiarities of political system and plexus of political actors with business, welfare regime and social inequalities as well as development of civil society. The first part of the course deals with the soviet system and perestroika as the starting point of transformation. The second devotes to the course of transformation in the various sectors of the Russian society. And the third part is about model of capitalism emerged in Russia as a result of transformation.

Students will be expected to prepare essay of near 5000 thousand words with analysis of one of the topics and present it at the end of March (see options below).

Each week will be discussions of the reading assignment and students will be expected to actively take part in group discussions, in particular to make presentation based on one mini-essay. Mini essay includes analysis of any required publication. It is the author responsibility to disseminate text of mini-essay among members of the seminar one day before presentation.

Grading:

Course grade will be based on both essay and class participation:

Mini-essay 25%

Essay 60% (Late penalty of 2% per day)

Class participation 15%

Course outline

First Part: The soviet system and perestroika

1. Introduction, goals of course, readings

2. Soviet system: central planning, one party political system and daily life under communism

3. Perestroika, demolition of the USSR, social anomie

Second part: The post-soviet transformation

4. Privatization and property rights

5. Gas, oil, global market and ideology of “energy superpower”

6. Shadow economy, corruption and criminal justice system

7. Democratization, elections and attempt to establish multi-party system

8. Welfare regime, social inequality and delayed social reforms

9. Distrust, conflicts and wars

Third port: Model of Russian capitalism

10. Russian model of capitalism and its crisis

Student presentations

Organization of the class.

Each class will have the following organization:

1. Presentation based on mini-essay (approximately 15-20 minutes including presentation no longer than 10 minutes);

2. Discussion on the rest of required reading

3. Free discussion on puzzles of the Russian transformation (approximately 15 minutes at the end of the class).

I plan to discuss some puzzles of the Russian transformation at the end of each class since 15^th January. Puzzles to discuss are the disputable topics of the Russian transformation with the lack of generally accepted answers or paradoxes which emerged during transformation period. The aim of this discussion is to apply knowledge which was accumulated during each class to the analysis of the complex and specific issues of the Russian transformation. There will be free discussion and there is no need to special preparation to it in advance.

Course Schedule

First Part: The soviet system and perestroika

Jan 8: Introduction, goals of course, readings

Jan 15: Soviet system: central planning, one party political system and daily life under communism

Required reading:

A.Ausland. What Communism Actually Was. In: Building Capitalism. Cambridge University Press, 2001, pp. 20-38

Clifford Gaddy, Fiona Hill. The Great Errors. In: Siberian Curse: How Communist Planners Left Russia Out in the Cold. : Brookings Institution Press, pp. 1-6

Aron Katseneunboigen and Herbert S. Levine. The Soviet Case. American Economic Review, February 1, 1977, pp. 61-65

Alena Ledeneva. Blat and Guanxi: Informal Practices in Russia and China. Comparative Studies in Society and History 2008; 50 (1), pp.118 –131

Alexei Yurchak. Soviet Hegemony of Form: Everything Was Forever, Until It Was No More. Comparative Studies in Society and History, Vol 45, Issue 3, July 2003, pp. 480-510

Supplementary reading:

Paul R. Gregory. The Principles of Governance. In: The Political Economy of Stalinism. Evidence from the Soviet Secret Archives, Cambridge University Press, 2003, pp. 49-75

V.Belkin and V.Perevedensov. The Food Problem and the Lessons of Akchi. Problems of Economics, April 1988, pp. 18-42

A.Ausland. The demise of the Soviet economic system. International Politics Vol. 48, 4/5, pp. 545-553

Puzzle to discuss: Why nostalgia for the Soviet system among Russian people, in particular among youngsters, is so widespread?

Jan 22: Perestroika, demolition of the USSR, social anomie

Required reading:

Gaidar, Yegor. The Fall. In: Collapse of an Empire: Lessons for Modern Russia. Brookings Institution Press, 2004, pp. 220-249

A.Ausland. The demise of the Soviet economic system. International Politics Vol. 48, 4/5, pp. 554-561

William Alex Pridemore and Sang-Weon Kim. Democratization and Political Change as Threats to Collective Sentiments: Testing Durkheim in Russia. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Vol. 605, Democracy, Crime, and Justice (May, 2006), pp. 82-103

Martha de Melo, Cevdet Denizer, Alan Gelb, Stoyan Tenev. Circumstance and Choice: The Role of Initial Conditions and Policies in Transition Economies. World Bank Econ Review (2001), Vol. 15, No 1, pp. 1-31.

Supplementary reading:

Paul R. Gregory. The Destruction of the Soviet Administrative-Command Economy. In: The Political Economy of Stalinism. Evidence from the Soviet Secret Archives, Cambridge University Press, 2003, pp. 243-267

Wil Arts, Hermkens, Piet; Wijck, Peter Van. Anomie, Distributive Injustice and Dissatisfaction with Material Well-Being in Eastern Europe: A Comparative Study. International Journal of Comparative Sociology, Vol. 36, No. 1-2, pp. 1-16

Bunce, Valerie. Domestic reform and international change: The Gorbachev reforms in historical perspective. International Organization, Winter 1993. Vol. 47, Iss. 1; pp. 107-138

Theodore P. Gerber and Michael Hout. More Shock than Therapy: Market Transition, Employment, and Income in Russia, 1991‐1995. American Journal of Sociology, Vol. 104, No. 1 (July 1998), pp. 1-50

Puzzle to discuss: "Chinese path" for the Russian transformation in the late 1980s: was it realistic option?

Second part: The post-soviet transformation

Jan 29: Privatization and property rights

Required reading:

Maxim Boycko, Andrei Shleifer, Robert W. Vishny. Vaucher Privatization. Journal of Financial Economics 35 (1994) pp. 249-266

Shlapentokh, Vladimir. Privatization debates in Russia: 1989-1992. Comparative Economic Studies; Summer 1993; 35, 2; pp. 19-32

J. David Brown, John S. Earle and Almos Telegdy. Employment and Wage Effects of Privatisation: Evidence From Hungary, Romania, Russia And Ukraine. The Economic Journal, 120 (June), 2009, pp. 683–708

Ira W. Lieberman, "Chapter 7. The Rise and Fall of Russian Privatization", Ira W. Lieberman, Daniel J. Kopf, in (ed.) Privatization in Transition Economies: The Ongoing Story (Contemporary Studies in Economic and Financial Analysis, Volume 90), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, pp. 261 - 266

Hare, Paul and Muravyev, Alexander (2003). Chapter 17. Privatization in Russia, in Saal, David and Parker David (eds.) International Handbook of Privatization, Edward Elgar, pp. 347-374

Supplementary reading:

Frye T. (2003). Slapping the Grabbing Hand: Credible Commitment and Property Rights in Russia. Working paper WP1/2003/02, Moscow: State University— Higher School of Economics, 28 p.

Iwasaki, I. Enterprise reform and corporate governance in Russia: a quantitative survey. Journal of Economic Surveys (2007) Vol. 21, No. 5, pp. 849–902

Izyumov, Alexei, Leonid Kosals & Rosalina Ryvkina. Privatisation of the Russian Defence Industry: Ownership and Control Issues Post-Communist Economies, Vol. 12, No. 4, 2000

Sutela, Pekka. Insider privatization in Russia: Speculations on systemic change. Europe-Asia Studies, vol. 46, no. 3, 1994, 417-435

Joan Debardeleben. Attitudes towards Privatisation in Russia. Europe-Asia Studies, Vol. 51, No. 3 (May, 1999), pp. 447-465

Kathryn Hendley. The role of in-house counsel in post-Soviet Russia in the wake of privatization. International journal of the Legal Profession, vol. 17, no. 1, March 2010, pp. 5-34

I.Denisova, M.Eller, T.Frye, E.Zhuravskaya. Everyone hates privatization, but why? Survey evidence from 28 post-communist countries. Journal of Comparative Economics. Volume 40, Issue 1, February 2012, Pages 44–61

Puzzle to discuss: Why institution of private property doesn’t work properly in Russia?

Feb 5: Gas, oil, global market and ideology of “energy superpower”

Required reading:

Gawdat Bahgat. Russia. In: Energy Security: An Interdisciplinary Approach. Wiley, 2011, pp. 157-174

Vladimir Milov. The Role of Oil and Gas in the Russian Economy. In: Peter Lang. Interdisciplinary Studies on Central and Eastern Europe, Volume 8: Russian Challenges : Between Freedom and Energy. 2011, pp. 33-52

Paula Dittrick. Baker Institute: US shale gas might weaken Russia, Iran. Oil & Gas Journal; Aug 1, 2011; 109, 15; pp. 35-36

Goldman, Marshall. Natural Gas: Russia’s New Secret Weapon. In: Petrostate : Putin, Power, and the New Russia. : Oxford University Press, 2008, pp. 136-169

Supplementary reading:

Simon Pirani. Power and Money: From Oil Boom to Bust. Change in Putin's Russia : Power, Money and People. Pluto Press, 2010, pp. 87-110

Fyodor Lukyanov. Russia-EU Relations: The Impact of the Energy Boom. In: Peter Lang. Interdisciplinary Studies on Central and Eastern Europe, Volume 8: Russian Challenges: Between Freedom and Energy. 2011, pp. 93-102

Vladimir Milov, Leonard L. Coburn, and Igor Danchenko. Russia’s Energy Policy, 1992–2005. Eurasian Geography and Economics, 2006, 47, No. 3, pp. 285-313.

Anders Åslund. Russia’s Energy Policy: A Framing Comment. Eurasian Geography and Economics, 2006, 47, No.3, pp. 321-328

Matthew J. Sagers. Russia’s Energy Policy: A Divergent View. Eurasian Geography and Economics, 2006, 47, No. 3, pp. 314-320

Indra Øverland. Russia’s Arctic energy policy. International Journal, Autumn 2010, pp. 865-878

Kenneth Medlock et al. Shale Gas and US National Security. James Baker III Institute for Public Policy, Rice University, pp. 1-60

Puzzle to discuss: Natural resources' abundance: curse or blessing?

Feb 12: Rule of law, shadow economy and corruption

Required reading:

Kahn, Jeffrey. The Search for The Rule of Law in Russia. Georgetown Journal of International Law; Winter 2006; 37, 2; pp. 394-407

Andrew Barnes. Comparative Theft: Context and Choice in the Hungarian, Czech, and Russian Transformations, 1989-2000. East European Politics and Societies, Vol. 17, No. 3, pages 533-545 & 553–557

Solomon, Peter H, Jr. Threats of Judicial Counterreform in Putin's Russia. Demokratizatsiya; Summer 2005; 13, 3; pp. 325-345

Kosals, L. and Ryvkina, R. (2001). The Institutionalization of Shadow Economy: Rules and Roles, in: K.Segbers (ed.), Explaining Post-Soviet Patchworks, Vol. II: ‘Pathways from the Past to the Global’, Ashgate Publishing, pp. 227-250

Supplementary reading:

Keith Darden. The Integrity of Corrupt States: Graft as an Informal State Institution. Politics & Society, Vol. 36 No. 1, March 2008 35-60

A Buehn and F. Schneider, F. Shadow economies around the world: novel insights, accepted knowledge, and new estimates. International Tax and Public Finance, Volume 19, Number 1, pp. 139-171

Vadim Volkov. Violent Entrepreneurship in Post-Communist Russia. Europe-Asia Studies, Vol. 51, No. 5 (Jul., 1999), pp. 741-754

Elena Vinogradova. Working around the state: contract enforcement in the Russian context. Socio-Economic Review (2006) March 1, 4, pp. 447–482

Deborah G. Wilson, Olga Kolennikova, Leonid Kosals, Rozalina Ryvkina and Yu Simagin. The ‘economic activities’ of Russian police. International Journal of Police Science and Management, Vol. 10 No. 1, 2008, pp. 65–75.

Kosals, Leonid. 1999. The Shadow Economy as a Specific Feature of Russian Capitalism. Problems of Economic Transition, vol. 41, No. 12, April 1999, pp. 6-33.

Puzzle to discuss: Why does shadow economy still so big in Russia and who its main beneficiary?

Feb 19: Reading week, no classes

Feb 26: Democratization, elections and attempt to establish multi-party system

Required reading:

Hough, Jerry F. The Response of Political System. In: Logic of Economic Reform in Russia. Brookings Institution Press, 2001, pp. 163-201

Cameron Ross. Federalism and Inter-governmental Relations in Russia. Journal of Communist Studies and Transition Politics (June 2010), 26 (2), pg. 165-187

Hale, Henry. The Market Model and Theories of Parties, National Integration, and Transitions from Authoritarian Rule. In: Why Not Parties in Russia? Democracy, Federalism, and the State. Cambridge University Press, 2005, pp. 235-248

Ruben Enikolopov, Vasily Korovkin, Maria Petrova, Konstantin Sonin, and Alexei Zakharov . Field experiment estimate of electoral fraud in Russian parliamentary elections. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. November 26, 2012, pp. 1-8

Supplementary reading:

Dmitry Kobak, Sergey Shpilkin, Maxim S. Pshenichnikov. Statistical anomalies in 2011–2012 Russian elections revealed by 2D correlation analysis. Physics > Physics and Society, May 17, 2012

Hale, Henry E . Regime Cycles: Democracy, Autocracy, and Revolution in Post-Soviet Eurasia. World Politics; Oct 2005; 58, pp. 133-165

Akhmedov, A., and Ekaterina Zhurvskaya (2004) . Opportunistic Political Cycles: A Test in a Young Democracy Setting. Quarterly Journal of Economics 119(4): 1301-1338

Pyle, William (2007) . Organized business, political regimes and property rights across the Russian Federation. BOFIT Discussion Papers 18/2007, 27.8.2007

Puzzle to discuss: Why democracy was failed in Russia: historical legacies or errors in politics?

March 5: Welfare regime, social inequality and delayed social reforms

Required reading:

Tatyana Teplova. Welfare State Transformation, Childcare, and Women’s Work in Russia. Social Politics, Fall 2007 pp. 284–322

Cook, Linda J. Welfare Reform in Putin Russia. Negotiating Liberalization within the Elite. Postcommunist Welfare States: Reform Politics in Russia and Eastern Europe. Cornell University Press, 2007, pp. 146-158

Russian Federation Social Expenditure and Fiscal Federalism in Russia, January 25, 2011, World Bank, Report No. 54392-RU, pp. 16-26

National Human Development Report in the Russian Federation 2010. Chapter 2. Poverty, Economic Growth and the Crisis in Russia in the First Decade of the 21st Century. United Nations Development Programme, Moscow, 2010, pp. 25-38

Supplementary reading:

Fenger, H.J.M. Welfare regimes in Central and Eastern Europe: Incorporating post-communist countries in a welfare regime typology. Contemporary Issues and Ideas in Social Sciences, August 2007, pp. 1-30

National Human Development Report in the Russian Federation 2010. United Nations Development Programme, Moscow, 2010, p. 144

Dagmar Radin. Too Ill to Find the Cure? Corruption, Institutions, and Health Care Sector Performance in the New Democracies of Central and Eastern Europe and Former Soviet Union. East European Politics and Societies Volume 23 Number 1, February 2009 105-125

Xuanping Zhang and Sean-Shong Hwang. The Micro Consequences of Macro-level Social transition: How Did Russians Survive in the 1990s? Social Indicators Research, Vol. 82, No. 2 (June 2007), pp. 337-360

Puzzle to discuss: What is the main drawback of social policy in Russia: low social spending or bad social institutions?

March 12: Distrust, conflicts and wars

Required reading:

Baev, Pavel K.(2007). Defining Civil War by Examining Post-Soviet Conflicts. Terrorism and Political Violence,19:2, pp. 247 — 268

Irina Denisova, Markus Eller, Ekaterina Zhuravskaya. What Russians Think about Transition: Evidence from RLMS Survey.Working Paper No 114, CEFIR / NES Working Paper series, Dec 2007, p. 23

The International Crisis Group. The Chechen conflict. In: The North Caucasus: The Challenges of Integration (I). Ethnicity And Conflict. Europe Report N 220 – 19 October 2012, pp. 9-15

The International Crisis Group. III. The Insurgency & IV. Counter-Insurgency: Law Enforcement. The North Caucasus: The Challenges of Integration (II). Islam, The Insurgency And Counter-Insurgency. Europe Report N 221 – 19 October 2012, pp. 13-29

Carolina Vendil Pallin and Fredrik Westerlund. Russia’s war in Georgia: lessons and consequences. Small Wars & Insurgencies, Vol. 20, No. 2, June 2009, pp. 400–424

Supplementary reading:

Sergei Guriev, Ekaterina Zhuravskaya. (Un)Happiness in Transition. Journal of Economic Perspectives—Volume 23, Number 2—Spring 2009—Pages 143–168

Peter Sanfey and Utku Teksoz. Does transition make you happy? Economics of Transition (October 2007), 15 (4), pg. 707-731

Shale Horowitz. Structural Sources of Post-Communist Market Reform: Economic Structure, Political Culture and War. International Studies Quarterly, Vol. 48, No. 4 (Dec., 2004), pp. 755-778

The International Crisis Group. The North Caucasus: The Challenges of Integration (I). Ethnicity And Conflict. Europe Report N 220 – 19 October 2012

The International Crisis Group. The North Caucasus: The Challenges of Integration (II). Islam, The Insurgency And Counter-Insurgency. Europe Report N°221 – 19 October 2012

Puzzle to discuss: What was the principal cause of contemporary Chechen wars: separatism and Islamic extremism or general Russian political tensions?

Third part: Model of Russian capitalism

March 19: Model of the Russian capitalism and its crisis

Required reading:

Andrei Shleifer and Daniel Treisman. A Normal Country: Russia after Communism. The Journal of Economic Perspectives, Vol. 19, No. 1 (Winter, 2005), pp. 151-174

David Lane. From Chaotic to State-led Capitalism. New Political Economy (June 2008), 13 (2), pp. 177-184

Sheila M. Puffer, Daniel J. McCarthy. Can Russia’s state-managed, network capitalism be competitive? Institutional pull versus institutional push. Journal of World Business 42 (2007), pp. 1–13

Sergei Guriev and Andrei Rachinsky. The Role of Oligarchs in Russian capitalism. The Journal of Economic Perspectives, Vol. 19, No. 1 (Winter, 2005), pp. 131-150

Neil Robinson. Russian Patrimonial Capitalism and the International Financial Crisis. Journal of Communist Studies and Transition Politics, Vol.27, Nos.3–4, September–December 2011, pp.434–455

Charap, Samuel. No Obituaries Yet for Capitalism in Russia. Current History; Oct 2009; 108, 720; pp. (Oct 2009), pp. 333-338

Supplementary reading:

Kosals, L.2007. Essay on Clan Capitalism in Russia. Acta Oeconomica, Vol. 57 (1) pp. 67–85

Venelin I. Ganev. Postcommunist Political Capitalism: A Weberian Interpretation. Comparative Studies in Society and History 2009;51(3), pp. 648 –674

Aleksandr Shkolnikov. From State Capture to State Capitalism: A Political Economy of Russia’s Transition (1991-2007). A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at George Mason University. 2008, p. 186

Wedel, J. R. (2005): Flex Organization and the Clan-State: Perspectives on Crime and Corruption in the New Russia. In: Pridemore, W. A. (ed.): Ruling Russia. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Bremmer, Ian. State Capitalism Comes of Age. The End of Free Market? Foreign Affairs 88. 3 (May/Jun 2009), pp. 40-55

Paul Dragos Aligica, Vlad Tarko. State capitalism and the rent-seeking conjecture. Constitutional Political Economy (December 2012), 23 (4), pg. 357-379

Philip Hanson. Russia: Crisis, Exit and ... Reform? Journal of Communist Studies and Transition Politics, Vol.27, Nos.3–4, September–December 2011, pp.456–475

Elizabeth Teague. How Did the Russian Population Respond to the Global Financial Crisis? Journal of Communist Studies and Transition Politics, Vol.27, Nos.3– 4, September–December 2011, pp.420–433

Institute of Contemporary Development. The Economic Crisis in Russia. An Expert View. Problems of Economic Transition, vol. 52, no. 6, October 2009, pp. 14–41

Petro, Nicolai N.; Kovriga, Oleksandr V. Russia's Solution to the Global Financial Crisis. The Whitehead Journal of Diplomacy and International Relations; Summer 2011; 12, 2; pp. 27-42

Puzzle to discuss: Was any way for Russia to establish capitalism of Central European-style?

March 26 and April 2: Students presentations

There are three options for essay.

Option 1: Essay based on analysis of the required and supplementary reading

Option 2: Essay including analysis of any empirical dataset(s) on selected topic

Option 3: Analysis of the political movie devoted to the important issues of the Russian transformation

For each type of essay every student should prepare proposal (1-2 pages) including short scope: theme and plan. Deadline for the proposal is Jan 25. After instructor’s approval (Feb 1) you will have 50 days to prepare essay. Deadline for essay is March 22.

It is recommended to cover not more than two topics for the option 1. The extension of the current list of publications is welcome.

For the option 2 instructor can provide access to the list of the empirical sociological datasets including but not limited by RLMS (Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey) - internationally recognized panel data of nationally representative surveys during 1994-2011 devoted personal well-being, health, labor etc.; several datasets of surveys of managers and manual workers of the industrial enterprises (defense and civilian in manufacturing industries); police corruption comparative survey (Russia, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan and Latvia); European Social Survey, World Values Survey and some others. Instruction of data analysis (SPSS) will be provided upon request. Preparing essay you should put your research question (your own or provided by instructor), formulate some hypotheses and make data analysis.

There are several movies suggested to option 3. First of all, BBC documentary Russian Godfathers, including three various episodes: the Fugitive (Boris Berezovsky); the Prisoner (Michael Khodorkovsky); and the Politician (Yuri Luzhkov). The other suggestion is Bitter taste of freedom, documentary about assassinated Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya actively reported about war in Chechnya. The next is movie Putin’s Kiss which “portrays contemporary life in Russia through the story of Masha, a 19 year-old girl who is a member of Nashi, a political youth organization with direct ties to the Kremlin”. You can write essay using other movie about Michael Khdorkovsky (directed by Cyril Tuschi). To a good job on this essay you have to do more than take notes on it but to put a socio-political/economic problem, find academic literature about it and analyze the roots of this problem.

To prepare mini-essay you have to choose any required publication and write text including 500-800 words. It is not enough to read article and to paraphrase it, you must think about its importance and to articulate questions author asked and what arguments he/she used. You also should analyze strong and weak points of this article and maybe to put some questions to discussion.