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REVISED VERSION: JANUARY 30, 2009
YORKUNIVERSITY
Faculty of Arts
Department of Political Science
POLS 3401.03A
POST-COMMUNIST TRANSFORMATIONS: CAN EAST BECOME WEST?
Winter 2008-2009
Monday, 11:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.
Instructor: Sergei Plekhanov
Office: 383 York Lanes, phone: 736-5156, email: ,
website:
Office hours: Thursdays, 12:30-2:30 p.m., and by appointment
This course examines political, economic and social aspects of the ongoing transformation of former communist countries of Russia, Eurasia and Eastern Europe. In the twentieth century, these countries, starting with Russia, were involved in the attempts to create a new civilization, which would supersede capitalism. In the middle of the century, communism looked like the wave of the future. However, by the century’s end, the historical experiment in Russia and Eastern Europe unravelled in an unexpected sequence of dramatic events, when Mikhail Gorbachev’s reforms of the Soviet system unleashed the forces of radical change, which proved lethal to the communist regimes.
The fall of communism in Russia and Eastern Europe in 1989-1991 was hailed by many observers as a triumph of freedom. Building new politico-economic systems, however, remains a daunting challenge. The experiments with transplanting Western models of market economics and liberal democracy into East European societies have so far produced only limited successes and in only a few countries. The vast majority of people living in post-communist societies have been victimized by economic and social deprivation, civil wars, corruption and crime, while the main benefits of change are enjoyed by narrow elites. This course’s main focus is the transformation of Russia, with the special emphasis on the problem of development of democratic institutions after communism.
All readings for this course are available online. This syllabus also contains a select bibliography on post-communism. Don’t be scared by its size: you are not expected to read all these books, but the list will help you find additional sources for your written and oral assignments. The additional readings listed in the class schedule are chosen from that list, each reading identified by one of the 4 bibliography section numbers.
Course Requirements
Short essay or class presentation - 20%
Research paper - 40%
Take-home exam – 30%
Participation – 10%
# The short essay should not be longer than 6 pages, font size 12, double-spaced.
# The length limit for the research paper is 12 pages, font size 12, double-spaced.
# Topics for written assignments should be approved by instructor.
# Due dates for written assignments: first essay (for those not presenting class reports) – October 20, research paper – February 18.
S C H E D U L E O F C L A S S E S
September 8
INTRODUCTION
PART ONE. COMMUNISM AND POST-COMMUNISM
September 15
EAST EUROPEAN COMMUNISM AND ITS COLLAPSE. Soviet and East European communist regimes: why they emerged, what kept them going, and why they fell.
Required readings:
- “Communism”. The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th edition, 2001-07.
- Kramer, Mark.The Collapse of East European Communism and the Repercussions within the Soviet Union (Part 3). Journal of Cold War Studies - Volume 7, Number 1, Winter 2005 (eResources, Scott Library)
Additional readings:
- (1)White, Communism and Its Collapse, Chs.1-5.
- (1)Holmes, Post-Communism, Chs.1 and 2
Topic for class presentation:
Book report: Lane, David, The Rise and Fall of State Socialism. Industrial Society and the SocialistState. Polity Press, 1996
September 22
THE LOGIC OF TRANSITION
Required readings:
- Naim, Moses. Fads and Fashion in Economic Reforms: Washington Consensus or Washington Confusion?Foreign Policy, October 26, 1999. -
- Lane, David. From State Socialism to Capitalism: The Role of Class and the World System. Communist and Post-Communist Studies 39 (2006).(eResources, Scott Library)
Additional readings:
(1)Gowan, The Global Gamble, Ch.9
(1)Harvey, A Brief History of Neoliberalism
(1)Pickles and Smith, Theorising Transition
Topic for class presentation:
Book report: Stiglitz, Joseph. Globalization and Its Discontents, W.W. Norton, 2002, with special attention to Ch.5
September 29
TRANSITION RESULTS
Required readings:
Berend, Ivan. Social Shock in Transforming Central and Eastern Europe. Communist and Post-Communist Studies 40 (2007).(eResources, Scott Library)
Reich, Robert. How Capitalism Is Killing Democracy. Foreign Policy, September/October 2007 -
Sanfy, Peter and Utku Teksoz. Does Transition Make You Happy? EBRD Working paper No.91, April 2005 – Economics of Transition, Vol.15, Issue 4, 2007 (eResources, Scott Library)
Additional readings:
(1)Andor and Summers. Market Failure. Eastern Europe’s ‘Economic Miracle’.
Topic for class presentation:
Book report: Burgess, Adam. Divided Europe: The New Domination of the East. Chicago: Pluto Press, 1997
PART TWO. RUSSIA’S TRANSFORMATION
October 6
RUSSIA’S HISTORICAL LEGACY. How Russia’s specific historical experience has shaped its political culture and institutions. The fall of communism: how and why it happened.
Required Readings:
“17 Moments in Soviet History” - - register for free
“Russia and Democracy”. By What Is To Be Done? -
Additional:
(1) Billington, James. Russia in Search of Itself. Washington: WoodrowWilsonCenter Press, 2004
Topic for class presentation:
Book report: Hedlund, Stefan. Russian Path Dependence: A People with a Troubled History. Routledge, 2005
October 20 and 27
THE TRANSITION CRISIS. Socioeconomic costs of transition from communism to capitalism.Russia’s democrats: from victory to defeat. Yeltsin’s chaotic authoritarianism.
Required Readings:
- Rutland, Peter, What Comes After Socialism? Introduction to Restructuring Post-Communist Russia, ed. By Yitzhak Brudny et al., CambridgeUniversity Press, 2004 –
- Pleines, Heiko (ed.) How to Explain Russia’s Post-Soviet Political and Economic System. Bremen: ResearchCenter on Eastern Europe, University of Bremen, 2005 –
- Mau, Vladimir. The Logic of Russia’s Transition. Russia in Global Affairs, 10-08-2004
- Plekhanov, Sergei. Russian Society after Communism: From Chaotic Liberty to Illiberal Order (on the course website)
- Ivanenko, Vlad. Markets and Democracy in Russia. BOFIT Discussion Papers (16) 2005.
AdditionalReadings:
- “Civil War in Moscow, October 1993” -
- “The Constitution of the Russian Federation” -
- “Russia’s Health and Demographic Situation.” Russian Analytical Digest, ResearchCenter for East European Studies, Bremen, 19 February 2008 -
- Guriev, Sergei, and Andrei Rachinsky, Oligarchs: The Past or the Future of Russian Capitalism?Social Science Research Network, July 2004 -
- Plekhanov, Sergei. Organized Crime, Business and the State in Russia (on the course website)
- Morales, Javier, The Yeltsin Presidency in Retrospect. UNISCI Discussion Papers No.14, Mayo/May 2007 -
Topics for class presentations:
3. Privatization of public property in Russia: methods and results.
4. The new Russian middle class: how strong, how independent?
5. Organized crime in post-communist Russia.
6. The threat of terrorism in Russia: perceptions, reality and manipulation.
REVISIONS, JAN.30, 2009:
February 2
PUTIN’S RUSSIA: THE POLITICS OF ORDER. The Russian “war on terror” and restoration of state power over society. The Enforcers and the Oligarchs. The economic boom and a freeze on political freedoms.
Topics for class presentations:
Back to Tsarism? Centralization of state authority under President Putin.
The impact of Putinism on media freedom.
Expansion and transformation of Russian bureaucracy after communism.
The crisis of the Russian military and its implications for Russian politics.
Readings:
- Nichol, Jim. Democracy in Russia: Trends and Implications for US Interests. Washington: Congressional Research Service, 2006 –
- Prosperity Tops Political Reform: Russia’s Weakened Democratic Embrace.2005 Pew Global Attitudes Survey -
- Rasizade, Alec, Putin’s Mission in the Russian Thermidor. Communist and Post-Communist Studies, 41 (2008), pp.1-25 – Access through UCeLinks
- “The Putin Legacy”.Russian Analytical Digest, ResearchCenter for East European Studies, Bremen, 4 March 2008 -
- McFaul, Michael, Nikolai Petrov and Andrei Ryabov, Between Dictatorship and Democracy: Russian Post-Communist Political Reform. Washington: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 2004. Introduction. -
Additional:
- Yasin, Yevgeny. A Battle between Business and Bureaucracy. Global Affairs, August 10, 2004 -
- “Federalism”. Russian Analytical Digest, ResearchCenter for East European Studies, Bremen, 17 June 2008 -
IMPORTANT DATE: Research paper hand-in – Feb.18
February 9 and 18
PROSPECTS FOR CHANGE. What are the sources and drivers of political change in Russia? What are the prospects for a revival of Russian democracy? The impact of the international environment on Russia’s political evolution.
Topics for class presentations:
Non-government organizations and the Russian state.
The revival of religion in Russia.
Are Russian citizens tired of democracy? An examination of Russian public opinion.
Ethnic relations in the Russian Federation.
Russian democracy and the impact of the West.
Required Readings:
- Zhuplev, Anatoly. Economic Internationalization of Russia: Roots, Trends, and Scenarios. International Political Science Review, (2008) Vol.29, No.1 -
- “Political Opposition in Russia”. Russian Analytical Digest, ResearchCenter for East European Studies, Bremen, 2 October 2007 -
AdditionalReadings:
- “Political Parties”. Russian Analytical Digest, ResearchCenter for East European Studies, Bremen, 17 April 2007 –
- Fidrmuc, Jan, and Klarita Gerxhani, Formation of Social Capital in Central and Eastern Europe, Beyond Transition, Volume 16, No. 3, July-September 2005 -
- Shevtsova, Lilia. Russia’s Ersatz Democracy. Current History, October 2006 –
- Anderson, Perry. Russia’s Managed Democracy. London Review of Books, January 25, 2007 -
- English-language website of an independent Russian newspaper -
TAKE-HOME EXAM:
To be handed out on Feb.18
To be returned on Feb.25
Suggested topics for short essays
1. The Russian Constitution of 1993: how did its adoption affect the prospects for democracy?
2. Tatarstan-Moscow: the terms of a center-regional deal.
3. The issue of religious freedom in post-communist Russia.
4. Putin’s policy on non-governmental organizations.
5. Why is Stalin becoming popular again?
6. Russia’s liberals: why do they call themselves Right Wing?
7. The Putin-Medvedev succession as an example of “managed democracy”
8. The role of the Russian Communist Party in post-Communist Russia.
9. The role of security services in Russia since the fall of communism.
10. The political meaning of the Khodorkovsky case.
Suggested topics for research papers
1. The role of elites and publics in the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
2. Russian mass media under Yeltsin and Putin: from freedom to control?
3. Why is Russia concerned about NATO’s eastward expansion?
4. Russia’s wars in Chechnya: causes and consequences.
5. Post-communist economic reforms in the former USSR and Eastern Europe: a country study or general analysis.
6. The factor of civil society in post-communist transformations.
7. Nationalism as a factor in post-communist politics.
8. Privatization of public property in Russia: how did it affect the distribution of social power?
9. Winners and losers in post-communist society: select a country or make a general case.
10. Economic and social roots of the new Russian oligarchy.
11. Gender issues in post-communist society.
12. Public health under post-communism.
13. Environmental problems in post-communist society.
14. Post-communist education reforms.
15. Post-communist Russia as a neo-feudal society.
16. Corruption and organized crime as post-communist social phenomena.
17. New class and ethnic divisions in post-communist countries.
18. What is the role of democracy in transition from communism?
19. Problems of integration of post-communist countries into the world economy.
20. Sources of new authoritarianism in post-communist Eastern Europe.
21. Russian nationalism as a factor in Russian post-communist politics.
22. Did the West help or hurt democratic development in Russia?
23. Moscow vs. the regions: the problems of Russian federalism.
24. Mass political attitudes in Russia: is there a social base for democratization?
25. The threat of fascism in post-communist Russia.
Some Useful Websites
- Omnibus sites:
- University of Pittsburgh
- a private site run by Prof. Benjamin Sher
- Research centres:
- Transitions Online, Prague
- information and analysis on Eurasia, based in New York
- International organizations:
- International Monetary Fund
- The World Bank
Bank of Finland
- The Soros Foundation
- International Socialist Website
- Current affairs:
Moscow Times newspaper, Moscow
- St.Petersburg Times newspaper, St.Petersburg, Russia
Johnson’s Russia List, Washington, DC
- Radio Free Europe – Radio Liberty
Select Bibliography on Post-Communism
Section 1. GENERAL
Agh, Attila. The Politics of Central Europe. L.: Sage Publications, 1998
Andor, Laszlo and Martin Summers. Market Failure. Eastern Europe’s ‘Economic Miracle’. L.: Pluto Press, 1998
Boone, Peter, Stanislaw Gomulka, and Richard Layard (ed.). Emerging from Communism: Lessons from Russia, China, and Eastern Europe. MIT Press, 1998
Braginsky, Serguey and Grigory Yavlinsky. Incentives and Institutions. PrincetonUniversity Press, 2000
Burawoy, Michael, and Katherine Verdery (Editors). Uncertain Transition.
London: Rowman and Littlefield, 1999
Burgess, Adam. Divided Europe: The New Domination of the East. Pluto Press, 1997
Cohen, Stephen. Failed Crusade: America and the Tragedy of Post-Communist Russia. W.W.Norton, 2000
Crawford, Beverly (ed.). Markets, States, and Democracy: The Political Economy of Post-Communist Transformation. Boulder: Westview, 1995
Dahrendorf, Ralf. Reflections on the Revolution in Europe. Times Books, 1990
Dallago, Bruno, Horst Brezinski and Wladimir Andreef. Convergence and System Change. The Convergence Hypothesis in the Light of Transition in Eastern Europe. Dartmouth Publishing, 1992
Derleth, J.William. The Transition in Central and Eastern Europe. Prentice Hall, 2000
Eyal, Gil, Eleanor Townsley and Ivan Szelenyi. Making Capitalism Without Capitalists: The New Ruling Elites in Eastern Europe. London: Verso, 2001
Gaidar, Yegor and Michael McFaul. Days of Defeat and Victory. University of Washington Press, 2000
Gowan, Peter. The Global Gamble: Washington’s Faustian Bid for World Dominance. Verso, 1999
Harvey, David. A Brief History of Neoliberalism. OxfordUniversity Press, 2005
Holmes, Leslie. Post-Communism: An Introduction. Durham: Duke University Press, 1997
Isham, Heyward and Natan Shklyar (ed.). Russia’s Fate Through Russian Eyes: Perspectives of a New Generation. Westview Press, 2000
Kagarlitsky, Boris. Restoration in Russia: Why Capitalism Failed. Verso, 1995
Katsiaficas, George (ed.). After the Fall. 1989 and the Future of Freedom. Routledge, 2001
Kingston-Mann, Esther. In Search of the True West: Culture, Economics, and Problems of Russian Development. PrincetonUniversity Press, 1999
Klein, Lawrence and Marshall Pomer (ed.) The New Russia: Transition Gone Awry. StanfordUniversity Press, 2001
Kraus, Michael and Ronald Liebowitz (ed.). Russia and Eastern Europe After Communism: The Search for New Political, Economic, and Security Systems. Westview Press, 1996
Lane, David. The Rise and Fall of State Socialism. Industrial Society and the SocialistState. Polity Press, 1996
Lindblom, Charles. The Market System. What It Is, How It Works, and What To Make Of It. New Haven: YaleUniversity Press, 2001
Marquand, David. The New Reckoning. Capitalism, States and Citizens. Cambridge: Polity Press, 1997
McBride, William L. Philosophical Reflections on the Changes in Eastern Europe. Lanham: Rowman and Littlefield, 1999
McFaul, Michael. Russia’s Unfinished Revolution. Political Change from Gorbachev to Putin. CornellUniversity Press, 2001
Nolan, Peter. China’s Rise, Russia’s Fall: Politics, Economics and Planning in the Transition from Stalinism. New York: St.Martin’s Press, 1995
Offe, Claus. Varieties of Transition: The East European and East German Experience. Cambridge: the MIT Press, 1997
Pickles, John and Adrian Smith (ed.). Theorising Transition. The Political Economy of Post-Communist Transformations. L.: Routledge, 1998
Reddaway, Peter, and Dmitry Glinsky. The Tragedy of Russia's Reforms : Market Bolshevism Against Democracy. Washington: US Institute of Peace, 2001
Rose, Richard, William Mishler and Christian Haerpfer. Democracy and Its Alternatives: Understanding Post-Communist Societies. Baltimore: JohnsHopkinsUniversity Press, 1998
Rubin, Barnett, Nancy Lubin and Keith Martin. Calming the FerghanaValley: Development and Dialogue in the Heart of Central Asia. New York: The Twentieth Century Fund, 2000
Russia, the EurasianRepublics, and Central/Eastern Europe. Eighth Edition. Dushkin/McGraw Hill, 2001
Skidelsky, Robert. The Road from Serfdom: The Economic and Political Consequences of the End of Communism. New York, Penguin Press, 1996
Smith, Graham. The Post-Soviet States: Mapping the Politics of Transition. L.: Arnold, 1999
Staniszkis, Jadwiga. Post-Communism: The Emerging Enigma. Warsaw: Institute of Political Studies, 1999
Stiglitz, Joseph. Globalization and Its Discontents. W.W.Norton, 2002
Szacki, Jerzy. Liberalism After Communism. CentralEuropeanUniversity Press, 1995
Teeple, Gary. Globalization and the Decline of Social Reform: Into the Twenty-First Century. Aurora: Garamond Press, 2000
Van Brabant, Jozef M.. The Political Economy of Transition. Coming to Grips with History and Methodology. L.: Routledge, 1998
Verdery, Katherine. What Was Socialism, and What Comes Next? PrincetonUniversity Press, 1996
Von Beyme, Klaus. Transition to Democracy in Eastern Europe. L.: Macmillan, 1996
White, Stephen. Communism and Its Collapse. Routledge, 2001
Webber, Mark. The International Politics of Russia and the SuccessorStates. ManchesterUniversity Press, 1996
Wedel, Janine. Collision and Collusion: The Strange Case of Western Aid to Eastern Europe. New York: St.Martin’s Press, 2000
Section 2. POLITICS, THE STATE, PROBLEMS OF DEMOCRACY
Alexeev, Mikhail A. Center-Periphery Conflict in Post-Soviet Russia: A Federation Imperiled. Longman-Macmillan, 1999.
Allensworth, Wayne. The Russian Question: Nationalism, Modernization, and Post-Communist Russia. Rowman and Littlefield, 1998
Baker, Peter and Susan Glasser, Kremlin Rising: Vladimir Putin’s Russia and the End of Revolution. Scribner’s: 2005
Barany, Zoltan and Robert Moser (ed.). Russian Politics: Challenges of Democratization. CambridgeUniversity Press, 2001
Barry, Donald. Russian Politics in the New Millennium. Peter Lang Publishing, 2000
Berdahl, Daphne, Matti Bunzl and Martha Lampland (ed.). Altering States: Ethnographies of Transition in Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union. University of Michigan Press, 2000
Bonnell, Victoria and George Breslauer (ed.). Russia in the New Century: Stability or Disorder? Westview Press, 2001
Chulos, Chris and Timo Piirainen, eds. The Fall of an Empire, the Birth of a Nation: National Identities in Russia. Burlington: Ashgate, 2000.
Colton, Timothy. Transitional Citizens: Voters and What Influences Them in Russia. HarvardUniversity Press, 2000
Cook, Linda, Mitchell Orenstein and Marilyn Reuschemeyer (ed.) Left Parties and Social Policy in Postcommunist Europe. Westview Press, 1999