Harvard University
Department of Government
Government 1243: Russian politics in transition
Fall Term, 2014
Timothy J. Colton, Professor of Government
CGIS North (Knafel), #156
Telephone (617) 495-4345
Assistant Lori Reck – email
Office hours Wednesdays 10:30 a.mto 12:00 p.m., or by appointment
Teaching Fellow: Morena Skalamera, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School
1 Brattle Street, #518-B
Telephone (617) 495-8448
Lectures: Tuesday and Thursday, 11:30 a.m. to 1p.m.
During the Cold War, the prime motivations for Americans to study the “Russia” of the day, the Soviet Union, were that they distrusted it as the seedbed of communism, the 20th century’s radical alternative to liberal democracy, and feared it as a military and geopolitical rival. The end of Cold-War bipolarity and of the USSR reshaped the scene. Russia, downsized and shorn of its Marxist ideology, has reclaimed great-power status and retains its strategic location and a massive nuclear arsenal capable, not to overstate the point, of annihilating American civilization as we know it. The recent confrontation over Crimea and Ukraine showsRussia’s ability to be a disruptive force in its neighborhood and in the world, one that is not easily managed using the tried and true tools. In 2014 there is talk of a “New Cold War.” American and European public opinion about Russia and especially its government has become resoundingly negative. Its leaders and representatives (from spies to computer hackers) are again arch-villains in the popular culture.
And yet, intellectual interest in Russia today draws significantly on different sources than in the past.Scholars continue to debate the collapse of the archetypal communist dictatorship and the multinational state or quasi-empire that hosted it, and why changes in Russia and Eurasia took the arc they did. They further ask why post-Soviet Russia at first, on Boris Yeltsin’s watch, seemed to have bright prospects for a smooth transition to democratic rule, but then backtracked from initial gains. The shift to Vladimir Putin and his “power vertical” raises thorny puzzles of its own: What drove the de-democratizing transition within the transition? With the current rise of nationalism and anti-globalism, are we witnessing another mini-transition? How does the presentpolitical system, and others like it, actually function and what is its basis of support? Is it a personal dictatorship or something else? How susceptible is the system to reform or destabilization?
Gov 1243 poses these questions comparatively and addresses issues relevant to other contexts and to the challenge of building comparative theories of the political process and of political change. The course opens with a preliminary attempt to situate Russia’s regime in comparative perspective. After a brief review of the inheritance from the past, it examines turning points in, and causal influences on, the attempted reform and breakdown of the Soviet order, the push to construct a democratic replacement for it, and the subsequent recentralization of power. We then explore the evolution and workings of political institutions, including constitutional and rule-of-law questions, parliament, the executive branch and hegemonic presidency, and federalism. After a consideration of the international and transnational context of domestic politics, the class then goes in depth into a series of topics at the intersection between state and society – identity dilemmas, political economy, parties and elections, and civil society.Gov 1243 concludes with a prognosis for the future and reflections on what Russia’s troubled transition teaches us all.
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Course requirements
In addition to the two lecture slots per week, there will be a weekly undergraduate sectionled by Dr. Skalamera and a graduate section led by Professor Colton.
The hour test on Thursday, October 23,will count for 20 percent of the overall grade. Attendance and participation in sections will count for 10 percent for all.
In addition, Harvard College undergraduates in Gov 1243 will write an essay of roughly 15 pages, with minimal extra reading required apart from the syllabus (40 percent of the grade). It is due at the end of the reading period, which we will consider to be 12 noon on Wednesday, December 10. Undergraduates will also sit a final exam in the December examination period (30 percent).
Graduate students may either follow the undergraduate model, submitting an essay of 15 pages and taking the final exam, or opt for a research paper of 25 to 30 pages and be exempted from the final examination. The research paper will count for 70 percent of the grade.
Essay and research paper topics are to be cleared with Dr. Skalamera, for undergraduates, and with Professor Colton, for graduate students. If time and numbers allow, outlines or drafts of papers will be discussed in sections.
Students should be aware that in Gov 1243 collaboration of any sort on work submitted for formal evaluation is not permitted. This means that you may not work on your paper assignments or exams with other students. All work must be entirely your own and use appropriate citation practices to acknowledge the use of books, articles, websites, lectures, discussions, etc., that you have consulted to complete your assignments.
Bookstore and materials
Twovolumes will be in stock for purchase at the Coop, bothin paperback.
(1) Marshall T. Poe, The Russian Moment in World History (Princeton University Press, 2006).
(2) Stephen White, Richard Sakwa, and Henry E. Hale, eds., Developments in Russian Politics 8(Duke University Press, 2014).Be sure to buy this edition of the reader only.
In addition, you are asked to purchase and readone of these the following four books for Topic 10, on identity politics:
(3) Katherine E. Graney, Of Khans and Kremlins: Tatarstan and the Future of Ethno-Federalism in Russia (Lexington Books, 2009).
(4) Elise Giuliano, Constructing Grievance: Ethnic Nationalism in Russia’s Republics (Cornell University Press, 2011).
(5) James Hughes, Chechnya: From Nationalism to Jihad (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2008).
(6) Robert Bruce Ware and Enver Kisriev, Dagestan: Russian Hegemony and Islamic Resistance in the North Caucasus (M. E. Sharpe, 2010).
The Coop will have copies of a seventh book as recommended reading (several chapters of this book are required reading and will be in the course pack):
(7) Timothy J. Colton, Yeltsin: A Life (Basic Books, 2008), paperback edition 2012.
The journal articles assigned will be available electronically through the Gov 1243 website. A number of items will be downloaded from the Internet using the link indicated below. A selection of materials will be collected in a small course pack available for purchase from University Readers, Inc. Arrangements for purchase will be explained in class.
The location of specific readings is indicated by these symbols:
▲Book available for purchase
■Harvard electronic reserve (Gov 1243 website)
ΩAccess directly from Internet
∞Course pack from University Readers
Lecture schedule and readings by topic
1. Introduction (Sept. 2)
Ω Alessandra Stanley, “The Cold War Brews Anew in Prime Time: On ‘The Americans’ and Other Shows, Russian Spies Invade,” New York Times, June 22, 2014; find at
Ω Nicole Perlroth, “Energy Sector Faces Attacks From Hackers in Russia,” New York Times, June 30, 2014; find at
ΩPew Research, “Russia’s Global Image Negative amid Crisis in Ukraine: Americans’ and Europeans’ Views Sour Dramatically”; find at
2. Russia’s political regime in comparative perspective (Sept. 4)
■Valerie Bunce, “Comparing East and South,” Journal of Democracy 7 (July 1995), 87–100.
■Thomas Carothers, “The End of the Transition Paradigm,” Journal of Democracy 13 (January 2002), 5–21.
■Andrei Shleifer and Daniel Treisman, “A Normal Country,” Foreign Affairs 83 (March-April 2004), 20–38.
3. Russia in space and time (Sept. 9)
▲Poe, Russian Moment in World History.
4. The crisis and collapse of Soviet communism, and the consequences (Sept. 11, 16)
∞ Archie Brown, The Rise and Fall of Communism (HarperCollins, 2009), chap. 6 (“What Do We Mean by a Communist System?”).
■Ivan Szelenyi and Balazs Szelenyi, “Why Socialism Failed: Towards a Theory of System Breakdown,” Theory and Society 23 (April 1994), 211–32.
∞ Colton, Yeltsin, chap. 8 (“Birth of a Nation”).
■Valerie Bunce, “Subversive Institutions: The End of the Soviet State in Comparative Perspective,” Post-Soviet Affairs 14 (October–December 1998), 323–54.
ΩGraham Allison, “What Happened to the Soviet Superpower’s Nuclear Arsenal?” Discussion Paper 2012-04, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School (March 2012); find at
5. Leadership and the main political narrative from Yeltsin to Putin . . . to Putin (Sept. 18, 23)
▲Richard Sakwa, “Politics in Russia,” chap. 1 in White, Sakwa, and Hale, Developments.
∞Colton, Yeltsin, chaps. 17 (“Aftermath”) and Coda (“Legacies of an Event-Shaping Man”).
ΩVladimir Putin, “Russia at the Turn of the Millennium” (December 1999); findat
■Olga Kryshtanovskaya and Stephen White, “The Sovietization of Russian Politics,” Post-Soviet Affairs25 (October–December 2009), 283–309.
■Henry E. Hale, “Eurasian Polities as Hybrid Regimes: The Case of Putin’s Russia,” Journal of Eurasian Studies 1 (January 2010), 33–41.
ΩAlexander J. Motyl, “Fascistoid Russia: Whither Putin’s Brittle Realm?”; find at
6. Stateness, constitution, and rule of law (Sept. 25, 30)
▲Kathryn Hendley,“Assessing the Rule of Law in Russia,” chap. 9 in White, Sakwa, and Hale, Developments.
■Vadim Volkov, “Violent Entrepreneurship in Post-Communist Russia,” Europe-Asia Studies 51, (July 1999), 741–54.
■Stephen Holmes, “What Russia Teaches Us Now: How Weak States Threaten Freedom,” The American Prospect 33 (July–August 1997), 30–39.
∞Gerald M. Easter, “Revenue Imperatives: State over Market in Postcommunist Russia,” chap. 3 in Neil Robinson,The Political Economy of Russia (Rowman & Littlefield, 2013).
■André Schultz, Vladimir Kozlov, and Alexander Libman, “Judicial Alignment and Criminal Justice: Evidence from Russian Courts,” Post-Soviet Affairs39 (March–May 2014), 137–70.
7.How the Sausage is made: Parliament, executive branch, and hegemonic presidency (Oct. 2, 7)
■Gerald M. Easter, “Preference for Presidentialism: Postcommunist Regime Change and the NIS,” World Politics 49 (January 1997), 184–211.
■Sarah Whitmore, “‘Parliamentary Oversight in Putin’s Neo-Patrimonial State: Watchdogs or Show-Dogs?” Europe-Asia Studies 62 (August 2010), 999–1025.
▲Thomas P. Remington, “Parliamentary Politics in Russia,” chap. 3 in White, Sakwa, and Hale, Developments; John P. Willerton, “The Hegemonic Executive,” chap. 2 in the same.
∞ Ben Judah, Fragile Empire: How Russia Fell in and out of Love with Vladimir Putin (Yale University Press, 2013), chap. 5 (“Putin’s Court”).
8. Federation or unitary state? (Oct. 9, 14)
■Alfred Stepan, “Russian Federalism in Comparative Perspective,” Post-Soviet Affairs 16 (April–June 2000), 133–76.
▲Darrell Slider, “A Federal State?” chap. 10 in White, Sakwa, and Hale, Developments.
■Elena Chebankova, “Adaptive Federalism and Federation in Putin’s Russia,” Europe-Asia Studies 60 (August 2008), 989–1009.
∞ Nikolay Petrov, “From a Federation of Corporations to a Federation of Regions,” chap. 9 in Maria Lipman and Nikolay Petrov, eds., Russia 2025: Scenarios for the Russian Future (Palgrave Macmillan, 2013).
■Allison D. Evans, “Local Democracy in a Hybrid State: Pluralism and Protest in Volzhskiy, Russia,” Post-Soviet Affairs 30 (July 2014), 298–323.
9. Foreign policy and international context (Oct. 16, 21)
Ω Robert H. Donaldson, “Boris Yeltsin’s Foreign Policy Legacy”; find at
▲Margot Light, “Foreign Policy,” chap. 13 in White, Sakwa, and Hale, Developments; Jennifer Mathers, “The Military, Security, and Politics,” chap. 14 in the same.
Ω “Address by President of the Russian Federation” (on the annexation of Crimea), March 18, 2014; find at
ΩOrganized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project,“The Russian Laundromat,” at
Ω Cathy Young, “The Sci-Fi Writers’ War,” at
Ω Julia Ioffe, “The Russian Public Has a Totally Different Understanding of What Happened to Malaysia Airlines Flight 17,” New Republic, July 22, 2014; find at
Hour Test (Oct. 23)
10. Identity politics: Ethnicity, religion, and national unity (Oct. 28, 30, Nov. 4)
■Henry E. Hale, “Making and Breaking Ethnofederal States: Why Russia Survives Where the USSR Fell,” Perspectives on Politics 3 (March 2005), 55–70.
Ω “Nationalists Seek to Change Russian Flag to Tsarist Imperial Standard”; find at
▲Graney, Of Khans and Kremlins; OR Giuliano, Constructing Grievance;OR Hughes, Chechnya; OR Ware and Kisriev, Dagestan.
■Charles King and Rajan Menon, “Prisoners of the Caucasus: Russia’s Invisible Civil War,” Foreign Affairs 89 (July–August 2010), 20–34.
∞ Linda J. Cook, “The Political Economy of Russia’s Demographic Crisis: States and Markets, Migrants and Mothers,” chap. 5 in Robinson,Political Economy of Russia.
ΩMurat Sadykov, “Uzbek Minorities Taking Advantage of New Russian Citizenship Rules,” Moscow Times, July 13, 2014; find at
11. The politics of the economy (Nov. 6, 11)
∞ David Hoffmann, The Dead Hand: The Untold Story of the Cold War Arms Race and its Dangerous Legacy (Anchor, 2009), chap. 18 (“The Scientists”).
Ω Clifford G. Gaddy and Barry W. Ickes, Prosperity in Depth: Russia Caught in the Bear Trap (Legatum Institute Report, 2013); find at
▲Philip Hanson, “Managing the Economy,” chap. 11 in White, Sakwa, and Hale, Developments.
■Joel S. Hellman, “Winners Take All: The Politics of Partial Reform in Postcommunist Transitions,” World Politics 50 (January 1998), 203–34.
■Daniel Treisman, “Putin’s Silovarchs,” Orbis 51 (January 2007), 141–53.
■Stanislav Markus, “Capitalists of All Russia, Unite! Business Mobilization under Debilitated Dirigisme,” Polity 39 (July 2007), 277–304.
■Andrei Yakovlev, Anton Sobolev, and Anton Kazun, “Means of Production versus Means of Coercion: Can Russian Business Limit the Violence of a Predatory State?” Post-Soviet Affairs 30 (March–May 2014), 171–94.
ΩPatrick Reevell, “Geopolitical Football Engulfs Top Teams in Russiaamid Ukraine Crisis,” New York Times, August 12, 2014; find at
12. Political parties and elections (Nov. 13, 18)
▲Stephen White, “The Electoral Process,” chap. 4 in White, Sakwa, and Hale, Developments;Henry E. Hale, “Russia’s Political Parties and their Substitutes,” chap. 5 in same; and Ian McAllister, “Voting Behavior,” chap. 6 in same.
∞“Fighting Fraud in the 2011 Russian Election with Internet and Social Media,” chap. 6 in Olesya Tkacheva et al., Internet Freedom & Political Space (RAND Corporation, 2013).
■Timothy J. Colton and Henry E. Hale, “The Putin Vote: Presidential Electorates in a Hybrid Regime,” Slavic Review 68 (Fall 2009), 473–503.
■Regina Smyth, Anna Lowry, and Brandon Wilkenin, “Engineering Victory: Institutional Reform, Informal Institutions, and the Formation of a Hegemonic Party Regime in the Russian Federation,” Post-Soviet Affairs 23 (April–June 2007), 118–37.
13. Civil society (Nov. 20, 25)
■Marc Morjé Howard, “The Weakness of Postcommunist Civil Society,” Journal of Democracy 13 (January 2002), 57–69.
■Debra Javeline and Sarah Lindemann-Komarova, “A Balanced Assessment of Russian Civil Society,” Journal of International Affairs 63 (Spring–Summer 2010), 171–88.
▲Graeme B. Robertson, “Civil Society and Contentious Politics in Russia,” chap. 7 in White, Sakwa, and Hale, Developments; Sarah Oates, “Russia’s Media and Political Communication in the Digital Age,” chap. 8 in the same; Svetlana Stephenson, “Society and Social Divisions in Russia,” chap. 12 in the same.
∞ Melissa L. Caldwell, Dacha Idylls: Living Organically in Russia’s Countryside (University of California Press, 2011), chap. 6 (“Dacha Democracy: Building Civil Society in Out-of-the-Way Places”).
■Julie Hemment, “Nashi, Youth Voluntarism, and Potemkin NGOs: Making Sense of Civil Society in Post-Soviet Russia,” Slavic Review 71 (Summer 2012), 234–60.
Ω Ellen Barry, “Rally Defying Putin’s Party Draws Tens of Thousands,” New York Times, December 10, 2011; at
14. Wrapup: looking backward, forward, and sideways (Dec. 2)
▲Vladimir Gel’man, “Trajectories of Russian Politics,” chap. 15 in White, Sakwa, and Hale, Developments.
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