Performance Evaluation of Regional Governors: The Case of the Russian Federation

ABSTRACT

This study examines recent changes in performance-based appraisals of Russian regional governors, key criteria used in the decision-making process regarding the reappointment or dismissal of top regional executives, the role of non-governmental organizations in their performance evaluations, and existing problems in this area. Moreover, the study explores the extent to which values such as equity, social justice, and quality of life are embodied in the performance evaluations of these officials.     

‘Dear Mr President’. The blogosphere as arena for communication between people and power

Internet use in Russia is increasing rapidly. The former president of the Russian Federation, Dmitry Medvedev, has actively utilized the Internet for political purposes, and promoted its use among state officials and politicians in Russia. This article examines the online communication between Medvedev and the Russian people, as seen through his official kremlin.ru weblog. The article combines two research fields – the Internet and demography – mapping the publicly generated discourse of demography as articulated on Medvedev's blog. Furthermore, the author assesses the communication between the authorities and the people, showing how it can be mismatched as individuals ‘talk past each other’.     

新时代下我国各地区对劳动力的吸引力问题研究

新时代下我国劳动力转移环境发生了显著变化,人们对劳动力的认识、劳动力供需状况及不同地区对劳动力的态度等都与之前有很大不同。在这种情况下,本文认为影响劳动力迁移的因素主要包括地区经济发展实力、公共资源聚集能力和未来发展潜力等三个。在此基础上,本文建立了一个二级指标体系,以此为基准,对各个省级区域对劳动力的吸引力问题进行了研究。结果发现,整体而言,北京、上海、天津等直辖市和浙江、江苏等主要经济发达省份依然位列吸引力最强省份的行列,而大多数中西部地区吸引力依然不足。     

Norfolk Island as Region: A Pacific Puzzle

Commonwealth‐enforced changes to the constitutional status of Norfolk Island through 2014–2016 have removed the island's autonomous identity as a self‐governing Australian territory. Its conversion to what is effectively a part of New South Wales, with the main instrument of governance titled ‘regional council’, is said to be based on a NSW local government model. However, it is difficult to view Norfolk Island as a region, and difficult also to trace the thinking that bestowed the form of the regional council on its governance. This article briefly summarizes the Norfolk changes. It then considers how the concept of the regional council has been used in NSW, and moves on to Queensland where the concept is better defined. It notes particularly how it has been applied in the case of the Torres Strait Islands, and asks whether that application might have relevance for Norfolk. It concludes with speculation about what might be a better approach in designing a system of governance suitable for Norfolk conditions.     

Public opinion polarisation and protest behaviour

Does an increasing divide in normative notions within a population influence citizens’ political protest behaviour? This article explores whether public opinion polarisation stimulates individuals to attend lawful demonstrations. In line with relative deprivation theory, it is argued that in an environment of polarisation, individuals’ normative notions are threatened, increasing the probability that they will actively participate in the political decision‐making process. Using the European Social Survey from the period 2002–2014 and focusing on subnational regions, multilevel analyses are conducted. Thereby a new index to measure public opinion polarisation is introduced. Depending on the issue, empirical results confirm the effect of polarisation. While average citizens are not motivated to demonstrate over the issue of whether people from other countries are a cultural threat, they are motivated by the issues of reducing inequality and of homosexuality. The article goes on to examine in a second step whether ideological extremism makes individuals more susceptible to environmental opinion polarisation. Findings show that members of the far left are more likely to protest when their social environment is divided over the issue of income inequality. In contrast, members of the far right are motivated by rising polarisation regarding homosexuality. In sum, citizens become mobilised as their beliefs and values are threatened by public opinion polarisation.     

Means of production versus means of coercion: can Russian business limit the violence of a predatory state?

In their most recent works, North and his coauthors (North, D. C., J. J. Wallis, S. Webb, and B. R. Weingast. 2012. In the Shadow of Violence: Politics, Economics, and the Problems of Development. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press; North, D.C., J. J. Wallis, and B. R. Weingast. 2009. Violence and Social Orders: A Conceptual Framework for Interpreting Recorded Human History. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press) name the formation of organizations capable of effectively restricting violence in society as a necessary condition for transition from developing societies to societies with sustainable economic growth. However, the mechanisms of emergence and conditions for the operation of such organizations in contemporary developing countries remain unclear. We follow the logic of formation of such organizations using the case study of collective actions of the Russian business community aimed at restricting “state violence” against business. We seek to identify the conditions leading to a shift in the choice of strategies from attempts at informal agreements with extortionists controlling means of coercion to cooperation of businessmen and trace the further evolution of organized forms of collective action. Finally, we assess to what extent the created organizations can be efficient and self-supporting in the long term.     

Police reform in Russia: the policy process in a hybrid regime

Do hybrid regimes have policy processes distinct from other regime types? This article explores this issue through a case study of police reform in Russia, focusing specifically on the adoption of a new Law on the Police from 2009 to 2011. Drawing on concepts from the comparative policymaking literature, the study traces the policy enactment process and shows how the public parts of the process were largely (but not entirely) a façade behind which the real policy process took place.     

西部民族地区中观经济信息化间接绩效测评

当今时代,信息技术、信息资源在经济社会各个领域的高度渗透性,使得信息化成为推进经济社会快速发展的核心动力。信息化绩效的测评理应科学、完整地反映信息化在经济社会的宏观、中观、微观不同层次以及各层次中的直接、间接功能发挥的状况,做到宏观、中观、微观绩效评估,直接、间接绩效评估的有机结合。在此,我们着重就我国西部民族地区中观经济信息化间接绩效水平进行测评与比较研究。     

俄罗斯经济快速增长的因素分析及2008年预测

2006年俄罗斯经济保持稳定增长态势。2007年俄罗斯的经济形势总体上可以概括为:经济继续稳定增长,增速进一步提高。由于宏观经济环境整体性得到改善,经济增长的内需导向型发展进一步加强,国内经济的基本因素在经济增长中起主导作用,这是俄多年来改革和调整措施逐步生效的结果。为转变增长方式,政府在经济生活中的作用继续增强。受能源供给增长乏力的限制,2007年俄罗斯出口增幅趋缓的趋势不会改变,进口增速远远高于出口增速成为2007年的显著特征。但国际高油价的利益驱动仍会使俄罗斯不断增加石油生产和出口,同时"黑色金子"也是推进俄内需作用扩张的重要基础。值得关注的是金融对经济增长的拉动作用开始显现。我们乐观地认为,2008年俄罗斯继续保持稳定的增长势头。     

Russia’s Neorevisionist Challenge to the Liberal International Order

Abstract

A conventional opinion is that Russia is trying to destroy the liberal international order. Russia indeed defies it, but also justifies its foreign policy with the liberal order’s normative frameworks and reproaches the West for not standing up to these norms. Moreover, Moscow does not present any alternative vision. Russia complains about the internal contradictions of the liberal order: sovereignty vs. intervention, pluralism vs. universality, US hegemony vs. equality and democracy, although it also exploits these contradictions. In fact Russia demands an adjustment of the liberal order rather than its eradication and should, therefore, be classified as a neorevisionist power. Two elements underlie Russia’s at times aggressive foreign policy conduct. The first one, its feeling of being ill-accommodated in the present order, predefines the direction of the policy. The second, the prioritisation of foreign policy over domestic reforms, explains the intensity of Russian discontent and its occasional aggressive manifestations. Russia’s domestic consensus regarding its foreign policy, including views on the liberal international order, facilitates this aggressiveness. Three policy conclusions can be drawn: acknowledging that Russia uses the inherent contradictions of the liberal international order opens up possibilities for dialogue and an eventual overcoming of the crisis; the survival and strengthening of the liberal order depends on its embrace of all major players, including Russia, and hence, the need for some adjustments to the order itself; and finally such adjustments presuppose Russia’s readiness to shoulder responsibility for the (reformed) liberal international order.