The Russian Constitutional Court: The First Term

An American political scientist and constitutional scholar recounts the development, and analyzes the procedures and backstage activities, of Russia's highest judicial body. The study, based in part on personal interviews, traces the constitutional court's political influence up through the pivotal conflict between the Parliament's Speaker Khasbulatov and President Yel'tsin during the last week of March 1993. In addition to major decisions, notably that which followed 52 sessions from May 26 to December 16, 1992 devoted to the trial of the CPSU, the narrative focuses on the role of Chief Justice Zor'kin. Also discussed are the court's legislative mandate, its expanding caseload and legal shortcomings. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: H11, K10, K41, P20.     

俄罗斯权威主义的复兴

八十年代末苏联掀起民主主义热潮,叶利钦借助于这个热潮走向权力顶峰。然而,叶利钦时代开始后,严酷的社会、经济形势促使人们加强对俄罗斯变革的反思,重新寻找出路。社会舆论的新取向和宪法确定的国家体制为新时代的俄罗斯权威主义开辟了道路。俄罗斯的权威主义复兴及其民众政治心态的转化引起国际社会普遍关注。本文回顾这一转化过程,分析其内在原因和俄罗斯权威主义的一些特点。     

Playing with Information: The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict in the Russian Press

This article examines how the modern Russian press covers the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, both historically and currently. Since print media are some of the most popular sources of information in Russia, such analysis helps us understand the media's priorities in presenting the conflict to Russian society. The article focuses on the inherently manipulative, albeit hidden, essence and layout of this material, which increases the likelihood of information bias. While the quality of the reporting on this conflict demonstrates the proximity of contemporary Russian media to the interests of the country's ruling powers, it also provides opportunities for the government to influence its audience's comprehension of Middle East politics.     

The land question,land grabbing and agriculture in Africa

Abstract

Land grabbing has emerged as a form of production and export of food and biofuels in the Third World by enterprises owned by foreign governments and business entities. Large tracts of land are either leased or sold to these enterprises cheaply by the state, usually with the argument that such land is empty and needs to be put to good use. But land grabbing dates back to colonial times, thus substantially shaping the political economy of such countries as South Africa, Kenya and Zimbabwe. It is therefore fitting at this conjuncture to discuss land grabbing in its holistic and historical context, noting that smallholding agriculture juxtaposed against large scale commercial farming will for a long time define agrarian class struggles, the character of the state and the project of nation building.

Over the last decade or so land distribution in Zimbabwe by the Mugabe government was assumed to be heading for disaster. Recent information, however, reveals that productivity has improved, tobacco exports are improving and smallholders accessing affordable farm input and markets while getting a fair reward for their labour behave no differently from large scale commercial farmers. In the final analysis the issue of equity and poverty elimination needs to be central in addressing the land and agriculture question in Africa.     

The 2002 Russian Census: Institutional Reform at Goskomstar

A specialist on Russian political institutions evaluates the performance of Russia's State Statistical Committee (Goskomstat) in preparing and conducting the national census of 2002. Standards drawn from practices in other countries are employed in the evaluation, including the responsiveness of the census to the data priorities of government and society, the reliability and level of non-politicization of data, and the accessibility of collected data. Conclusions are based largely on a systematic analysis of the journal Voprosy statistiki from 1985 to 2003 and on interviews conducted by the author during 2003-2004 with managers of the Census in Goskomstat offices in 11 regions of Russia.     

社会转型时期俄罗斯民族主义产生的根源

俄罗斯在社会转型过程中爆发的民族主义浪潮有其深刻的民族思想、社会背景、民族性格和社会基础。“莫斯科即第三罗马”观念、“斯拉夫主义”和“欧亚主义”是其产生的思想渊源;解体造成的国力衰退和来自西方的压力是引爆的直接导火线;俄罗斯民族性格中的两重性、矛盾性和非理性的特征是它的民族性格根源;“新俄罗斯人”、知识分子、军人和军工集团是它的社会基础。     

The Unification of Law in the Russian Federation

How have fluctuating approaches to federalism in post-Soviet Russia affected its legal system? This article examines the core legal subjects, processes, and institutions composing the Russian legal system. The source of legal changes, as Russian federalism has shifted from decentralized beginnings under Yel'tsin to the current centralized system under Medvedev and Putin, is evaluated. Seeds for centralization in the original 1993 Constitution and the roles of "top down," "bottom up," and "outside in" pressures to centralize the federal system are examined. The degree of unification and centralization of Russian law and the de facto nature of the legal system are analyzed.     

The Russian State in the Time of Putin

As Putin's second term ends, the tone of Western opinion toward the president has turned increasingly rancorous. Those who feel embittered by the emergence of semi-authoritarianism and crony capitalism out of the communist collapse might consider blaming the theory as well as the man. This article characterizes the post-communist Russian state and Putin's legacy as state builder. Drawing on the Russian studies literature, the article looks at the underlying mechanisms that have long shaped state—society relations in Russia. Using the concept of power resources as an analytical tool, the article attempts to illuminate these mechanisms and, in so doing, examines what is new and what is familiar in the post-communist Russian state.     

The Russian Economy in 2008: Testing the "Market Economy"

In Russia, the market system that arose out of the financial crisis of a decade earlier faced its first major challenge in the second half of 2008. The Russian response to this crisis provides a defining event for the Russian market economy. Drawing on macroeconomic statistics and newspaper coverage, the article uses the crisis as a lens for focusing on the nature of the Russian economy in 2008, and on the defining characteristics behind its response to the crisis. The beginnings of a systematic response that tells us much about the state of the Russian economy in 2008 is already evident.     

Crime That Pays: The Global Spread of the Russian Mafia

Books reviewed in this article:
Robert I. Friedman, Red Mafia: How the Russian Mob Has Invaded America
Paul Klebnikov, Godfather of the Kremlin: Boris Berezovsky and the Looting of Russia
James O. Finckenauer and Elin J. Waring, Russian Mafia in America: Immigration, Culture, and Crime
Chrystia Freeland, Sale of the Century: Russia's Wild Ride from Communism to Capitalism
Jeffrey Robinson, The Merger: The Conglomeration of International Organized Crime     

Russian Efforts to Control Kazakhstan's Oil: The Kumkol Case

A political scientist examines Russia's attempts to control Kazakhstan's oil, investigating both the authorities' definitions of Russia's state interests and individual profit motives. Kazakhstan's domestic politics and pipeline infrastructure are highlighted. A case-study of the strategically located Kumkol oilfield is presented, focusing on relations between the PetroKazakhstan company, LUKoil, and Chinese and Kazakhstani state-owned oil firms. The article is based on interviews conducted by the author in Kazakhstan and the United States, but interviewees were granted anonymity because of the story's sensitivity; hence only published sources are cited.     

Belarus', Ukraine and The Russian Question: A Comment

Before the names of Just and Unjust can have place there must be some coercive force to compel men equally to abide by their covenants by the terrour of a punishment greater than the benefit they expect by the breach of their covenant… So that the nature of Justice consisteth not in keeping of valid covenants: but the Validity of Covenants begins not but with the Constitution of a Civill power sufficient to compel men to keep them.

Thomas Hobbes, 1651     

The loyal editor effect: Russian online journalism after independence

This article investigates what effect pressure from owners – via loyal editors – had on journalistic output at the popular Russian online newspapers Lenta and Gazeta. Using novel methods to analyze a data-set of nearly 1 million articles from the period 2010–2015, this article separates the effect of a changing news agenda from new editorial priorities. Statistical tests show that changes in output coincide temporally with editorial change, and that the direction of change sees new editors move away from publication patterns associated with other independent outlets. In both Gazeta and Lenta, editorial changes were accompanied by a move away from core news areas such as domestic and international politics, toward lifestyle and human interest subjects. The loyal editor effect resulted in a 50% reduction in coverage of controversial legal proceedings, together with the business dealings of Russian elites.