156A: The Politics of Russia
Professor Daniel Treisman
Fall 2000
Department of Political
Science
M, W 10-11:50 am
3244 Bunche Hall
Bunche 3175
825-3274
Office Hours: Thurs 1-3 pm
I.
ABOUT
THE COURSE
The
course provides an introduction to the government and politics of Russia since
the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Following a brief review of the
country’s history under imperial and then Soviet rule, it focuses on the
dramatic changes of the last nine years. How has Russia attempted simultaneously
to democratize its political system and create an economy based on free
markets? It provides background into the major political and economic events of
recent years—the Soviet collapse, attempts at economic reform, parliamentary
and presidential elections, political crises. It also analyses the problems of
Russia’s transition, using concepts and techniques from comparative politics
and political economy.
II.
READINGS
One
book should be purchased:
Richard Sakwa, Russian Politics and Society, 2nd Edition, Routledge, 1996.
This has been ordered at the ASUCLA store.
Besides these, a source book will be available for sale, also at ASUCLA, containing all other required readings.
III. REQUIREMENTS
Attendance
at lectures is mandatory. Lectures will present new material and place the
readings in context. There will be a midterm, consisting of a takehome essay
question. The final will also be a takehome. Both will require students to
integrate material from the lectures with that in the readings. The midterm
will account for 40% and the final for 60% of the grade. Students also have the
option of writing a substantial research paper (20-25 pages) instead of the
final. Since this requires considerable outside reading, it is not recommended
for those who are not committed to putting in the additional work. Topics must
be discussed with and approved by the professor.
IV. COURSE MEETINGS
1. Introduction (Oct 2)
-Ivan Turgenev, “Khor and Kalinich,” from A
Sportsman’s Notebook.
-Richard
Layard and John Parker, The Coming
Russian Boom, ch.2, “Is Russia Different?”
2. Russia—geography,
history, culture (Oct 4)
-Richard Sakwa, Soviet Politics, ch.1, “The
Russian Legacy,”
-Geoffrey Hosking, Russia: People and Empire, pp.3-9,
39-41.
3. Russia Under Soviet Rule
(Oct 9)
-Robert
Conquest, Stalin: Breaker of Nations,
ch.15, “Stalin Today”
-Lionel
Kochan, The Making of Modern Russia,
ch.15-20.
4. The Soviet System (Oct
11)
-Geoffrey Ponton, The Soviet Era: Soviet Politics
From Lenin to Yeltsin, pp.35-75.
-Richard
E. Ericson, “The Classical Soviet-Type Economy: Nature of the System and
Implications for Reform,” Journal of
Economic Perspectives, 5, 4, Fall 1991, pp.11-27.
-David
Remnick, Lenin’s Tomb, ch.12.
5. The Gorbachev Era (Oct
16)
-Geoffrey Hosking, The Awakening of the Soviet
Union, ch.7, “The Paradox of Gorbachev’s Reforms.”
-Abraham Brumberg, “Moscow: The Struggle for Reform,” New York Review of Books, March 30, 1989.
6. August Coup and Collapse
of the USSR (Oct 18)
-Richard Sakwa, Russian Politics and Society,
ch.1.
-Jamey
Gambrell, “Seven Days That Shook the World,” New York Review of Books, September 26, 1991.
-Boris
Yeltsin, The Struggle for Russia, on
the coup and Soviet collapse, 26-7, 36-9, 105-116.
-Roman
Laba, “How Yeltsin’s Exploitation of Ethnic Nationalism Brought Down an
Empire,” Transition 12 January 1996.
[Optional:
Boris Yeltsin, The Struggle for Russia,
on the coup and Soviet collapse, 41-94.]
7. Yeltsin and the Yeltsin
Order (Oct 23)
-Boris
Yeltsin, Against The Grain, New York:
Summit Books, 1990, pp.21-38, 43-56, 61-82, 87-101, 107-130, 177-210.
-Timothy
Colton, “Boris Yeltsin, Russia’s All-Thumbs Democrat,” in Timothy Colton and
Robert C. Tucker, eds., Patterns in
Post-Soviet Leadership, Westview: 1995.
8-9. Economic Reform (Oct
25, Oct 30)
-Anders Aslund, How Russia Became a Market
Economy, ch.2, 3.
Shleifer
and Treisman, Without A Map, ch.1, 5,
6, 9
Brady,
Kapitalizm, ch.7
10. Midterm (Nov 1)—takehome essay, due beginning of class, Nov 6.
11. Building Democracy in Russia? (Nov 6)
-Richard Sakwa, Russian Politics and Society,
ch.2, ch.18.
-Boris
Yeltsin, The Struggle for Russia,
pp.10-14. [pp.241-283 optional]
-Steven
Fish, “Democratization’s Requisites: The Postcommunist Experience,” Post-Soviet Affairs, 1998, 14.
12. Public Opinion (Nov 8)
-Ken Jowitt, “The Leninist Legacy,” in Ivo Banac, ed., Eastern Europe in Revolution.
-Robert Shiller, Maxim Boycko and Vladimir Korobov, “ Popular Attitudes Toward Free
Markets: The Soviet Unin and the United States Compared,” American Economic Review, June 1991.
-Stephen
Whitefield and Geoffrey Evans, “Support for Democracy and Political Opposition
in Russian, 1993-5,” Post-Soviet Affairs,
1996, 12, 3, 218-42.
13. Russia’s Transitional
Elections (Nov 13)
-Boris
Yeltsin, The Struggle for Russia, pp.33-36.
-Stephen
White et al., How Russia Votes,
pp.35-40, 107-129
-Jack
Matlock, “The Struggle for the Kremlin,” New
York Review of Books, August 8, 1996.
-Tatyana Tolstaya, “The Making of Mr Putin,” New
York Review of Books, May 25, 2000
14. Explaining the Election
Results (Nov 15)
-Richard Sakwa, Russian Politics and Society, ch.5.
-Michael McFaul, “The Vanishing Center,” Journal
of Democracy, April 1996.
-Daniel
Treisman, “Why Yeltsin Won,” Foreign
Affairs, Sept-Oct 1996.
15. Multinational State and
Federalism (Nov 27)
-Sakwa,
Russian Politics and Society, ch.9,
and pp.204-9
-Daniel
Treisman, After the Deluge, ch.4.
-Allen
Lynch and Reneo Lukic, “The Russian Federation Will Remain United,” Transition, 12 Jan, 1996.
16. Society, Mafia and
Corruption (Nov 29)
-Richard
Rose, “Getting By Without Government: Everyday Life in Russia,” Daedalus, 1995, pp.46-58 ONLY
Richard
Sakwa, Russian Politics and Society,
ch.13.
17. Russia in World Politics
(Dec 4)
-Stephen
White, Russia’s New Politics, ch.7
-Richard Sakwa, Russian Politics and Society,
ch.14.
18. Conclusion:
Understanding Russia in transition (Dec 6).
-Peter
Rutland, “Has Democracy Failed Russia?” The
National Interest, Winter 1994-5, pp.3-12.
-Daniel Treisman, “After Yeltsin Comes… Yeltsin” Foreign
Policy