University of
California, Berkeley Prof. M. Steven Fish
Department of
Political Science 744 Barrows
Hall
Political Science
129B tel.
643-1943
Spring 2002
RUSSIA AFTER COMMUNISM
This course
presents a broad introduction to contemporary politics and society in Russia.
Other countries of the former Soviet Union and East Europe will receive
secondary attention. What was Soviet-type socialism, and how is its legacy
shaping post-Soviet Russia? Where is Russia headed—toward democracy as it is known
in the West, a new form of authoritarianism, reversion to the old system, or
something else? The social movements and political transformations of the late
Soviet period will be explored. Most of the course is devoted to the
postcommunist period and current issues. Topics include political institutions
and leadership, social change, nationalism, and the movement from a command
economy to capitalism. The course is recommended only for seniors and juniors
but is open to all students.
Requirements
consist of three written exams. Each of the first two exams counts for 25% of
the course grade; the final counts for 30%; and attendance at lectures and
discussion sections and participation in discussions and debates, for 20%.
Discussion sections
will focus mainly on the course readings. Students are expected to have
completed the readings for each week in advance of the meeting of discussion
sections.
All readings are
found in the books and the journal assigned for the course. There is no reader
for the course. The following books are recommended for purchase. They will
also be available on library reserve.
Richard D. Anderson, M. Steven Fish, Stephen
E. Hanson, and Philip G. Roeder, Postcommunism
and the Theory of Democracy. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2001.
Zoltan Barany and Robert G. Moser, eds., Russian Politics: Challenges of
Democratization. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2001.
Victoria E. Bonnell and George W. Breslauer,
eds., Russia in the New Century:
Stability or Disorder? Boulder: Westview, 2001.
Archie Brown and Lilia Shevtsova, eds., Gorbachev, Yeltsin, and Putin: Political
Leadership in Russia’s Transition. Washington: Carnegie Endowment for
International Peace, 2001.
M. Steven Fish, Democracy from Scratch: Opposition and Regime in the New Russian
Revolution. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1995.
Chrystia Freeland, Sale of the Century: Russia’s Wild Ride from Communism to Capitalism.
New York: Crown, 2000.
Journal
of Democracy Vol. 12, No. 4
(October 2001).
Mary McAuley, Soviet Politics, 1917-1991. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992.
Nancy Ries, Russian Talk: Culture and Conversation during Perestroika. Ithaca,
NY: Cornell University Press, 1997.
Week 1 (Jan. 22
& 24): A Very Short Course in the History of the Soviet Union
McAuley, Soviet
Politics, pp. 1-88.
Week 2 (Jan. 29 & 31): The Nature of
Soviet Socialism and the Roots of Perestroika
Fish, Democracy
from Scratch, ch. 1
Week 3 (Feb. 5 & 7): The Beginning of
Transformation, the Stirring of Society
Fish, Democracy
from Scratch, chs. 2-3
Ries, Russian
Talk, introduction and ch. 1
Week 4 (Feb. 12 & 14): The Paradoxes of
Reform and the Rising from Below
Fish, Democracy
from Scratch, chs. 4-5
Week 5 (Feb. 19 & 21): The End of the
Soviet Era: Political Polarization, Social Conflict, and Economic Collapse
McAuley, Soviet
Politics, pp. 89-106.
Ries, Russian
Talk, ch. 2
FIRST
EXAM—Thursday, February 21
Week 6 (Feb. 26 & 28): The Coup Attempt
and Its Aftermath
McAuley, Soviet
Politics, pp. 107-23.
Fish, Democracy
from Scratch, ch. 6
Kathryn Stoner-Weiss, “The Russian Central
State in Crisis: Center and Periphery in the Post-Soviet Era,” ch. 3 in Russian Politics
Eugene Huskey, “Political Leadership and the
Center-Periphery Struggle: Putin’s Administrative Reforms,” ch. 5 in Gorbachev, Yeltsin, and Putin
Zoltan Barany, “Politics and the Russian
Armed Forces,” ch. 5 in Russian Politics
M. Steven Fish, “When More is Less:
Superexecutive Power and Political Underdevelopment in Russia,” ch. 2 in Russia in the New Century
Lilia Shevtsova, “From Yeltsin to Putin: The
Evolution of Presidential Power,” ch. 4 in Gorbachev,
Yeltsin, and Putin
George W. Breslauer, “Personalism Versus
Proceduralism: Boris Yeltsin and the Institutional Fragility of the Russian
System,” ch. 3 in Russia in the New
Century
Week 8 (March 12 & 14): Elections,
Political Parties, and Political Competition
Michael McFaul, “Russian Electoral Trends,”
ch. 1 in Russian Politics
Robert G. Moser, “Executive-Legislative
Relations in Russia, 1991-99,” ch. 2 in Russian
Politics
Archie Brown, “Transformational Leaders
Compared: Mikhail Gorbachev and Boris Yeltsin,” ch. 2 in Gorbachev, Yeltsin, and Putin
George W. Breslauer, “Evaluating Gorbachev
and Yeltsin as Leaders,” ch. 3 in Gorbachev,
Yeltsin, and Putin
Richard D. Anderson, “The Discursive Origins
of Russian Democratic Politics,” ch. 4 in Postcommunism
and the Theory of Democracy
SECOND
EXAM—Thursday, March 21
Week 10 (April 2 & 4): The New Russian
Capitalism I
Clifford G. Gaddy and Barry W. Ickes,
“Stability and Disorder: An Evolutionary Analysis of Russia’s Virtual Economy,”
ch. 6 in Russia in the New Century
Anders Aslund, “The Advantages of Radical
Reform,” in Journal of Democracy
Yoshiko M. Herrera, “Russian Economic
Reform, 1991-99,” ch. 4 in Russian
Politics
Freeland, Sale of the Century, chs. 1-4
Freeland, Sale of the Century, chs. 5-13, conclusion and epilogue
Week 12 (April 16 & 18): Nationalism and
Ethnic Conflict
Veljko Vujacic, “Serving Mother Russia: The
Communist Left and Nationalist Right in the Struggle for Power, 1991-98,” ch.
13 in Russia in the New Century
Edward W. Walker, “Dagestan and the
Stability of Instability in the North Caucasus,” ch. 14 in Russia in the New Century
Ghia Nodia, “The Impact of Nationalism,” in Journal of Democracy
Week 13 (April 23 & 25): Social Change:
Turmoil, Alienation, and Adjustment
Ries, Russian
Talk, chs. 3-4 & conclusion
Victor Zaslavsky, “The Russian Working Class
in Times of Transition,” ch. 10 in Russia
in the New Century
Michael Burawoy, Pavel Krotov, and Tatyana
Lytkina, “Domestic Involution: How Women Organize Survival in a North Russian
City,” ch. 11 in Russia in the New
Century
Week 14 (April 30 & May 2): Russia in
Comparative Perspective
Nadia Diuk,
“Sovereignty and Uncertainty in Ukraine,” in Journal of Democracy
Lilia Shevtsova, “Russia’s Hybrid Regime,”
in Journal of Democracy
Philip G. Roeder, “The Rejection of
Authoritarianism,” ch. 2 in Postcommunism
and the Theory of Democracy
M. Steven Fish, “The Dynamics of Democratic
Erosion,” ch. 3 in Postcommunism and the
Theory of Democracy
Week 15 (May 7 & 9): Reflections and
Prospects
Ries, Russian
Talk, epilogue
M. Steven Fish, “Conclusion: Democracy and
Russian Politics,” conclusion in Russian
Politics
Stephen E. Hanson, “Defining Democratic
Consolidation,” ch. 5 in Postcommunism
and the Theory of Democracy
Richard D. Anderson, M. Steven Fish, Stephen
E. Hanson, and Philip G. Roeder, “Conclusion: Postcommunism and the Theory of
Democracy,” ch. 6 in Postcommunism and
the Theory of Democracy
Zbigniew Brzezinski, “The Primacy of History
and Culture,” in Journal of Democracy
Archie Brown, “From Democratization to
‘Guided Democracy’,” in Journal of
Democracy
M. Steven Fish, “Putin’s Path,” in Journal of Democracy
Grigory Yavlinsky, “Going Backwards,” in Journal of Democracy
Michael McFaul, “A Mixed Record, an
Uncertain Future,” in Journal of
Democracy
Week 16 (May 14)