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.     

Russia’s local government in the process of authoritarian regime transformation: incentives for the survival of local democracy

In 2003, the authorities of Russia launched a comprehensive reform of local government. One of the elements of this reform was the replacement of the previously predominant form of local government, characterised by the presence of directly elected mayors, with the council-manager model. While originally motivated largely by the desire to enhance the efficacy of local government, the reform was implemented concurrently with Russia’s transition to electoral authoritarianism, with the council-manager model emerging as a major tool of authoritarian transformation. This study uses the data from 79 capitals of Russia’s regions in order to identify those factors that facilitated the survival of directly elected mayors in these cities. The analysis reveals that the past trajectories of regime transitions at the regional level in the form of elite settlement, economic resourcefulness, and the lack of politically motivated deference to the federal authorities contributed to the survival of local democracy in Russia.     

‘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’.     

西南佛教的典型意义

西南地区的佛教有汉传佛教、藏传佛教和南传上座部佛教三种,另外云南还曾流行过阿阇梨教.西南因其濒临佛教发祥地,是佛教传入中国的首经之地,其向西南渗入并拓展的过程,即是佛教中国化、民族化的过程.佛教对中国的影响,以西南为最典型.     

少数民族地区基层政权的环境分析

少数民族地区基层政权是我国政权体系的重要组成部分。从系统论及其政治生态学的观点看 ,少数民族地区基层政权系统之外必然存在着特有的政治、经济、文化等环境要素。这些环境要素对少数民族基层政权系统的活动内容及方式产生着直接或间接的制约和影响。少数民族基层政权系统的活动必须充分估计与认识这种制约和影响 ,才能更有效地改造环境要素 ,从而加快少数民族地区的发展步伐     

俄罗斯经济形势分析与预测

2007年俄罗斯经济强劲增长，各项主要经济指标完成情况好于预期。各部门、各产业发展呈活跃态势。但喜中也有忧，通货膨胀迅速攀升，经济增长仍主要依赖能源、原材料出口。2008年，俄经济仍将保持继续稳定增长趋势，受通胀等因素影响，增速有可能放缓。     

俄罗斯联邦军事检察制度

俄罗斯联邦现行军事检察制度是对传统俄罗斯军事检察制度的延续与发展。作为俄罗斯联邦国家检察制度体系的分支,一方面,俄罗斯联邦军事检察制度在根本宗旨、基本任务与一般检察职权等方面与俄罗斯联邦国家检察制度保持高度统一。另一方面,俄罗斯联邦军事检察制度在组织机构、管辖范围、干部配备与职权划分等方面又具有自己独到之处。     

Contemporary Russian conservatism

This article analyzes contemporary Russian conservatism through the prism of ideational and positionist ideological perspectives. The author argues that Russian conservatism proposes a distinct value package through its anthropocentric nature, its plans for modernization of Russia, and its future outlook that must rest on the best elements of tradition. The author compares these trends with the Western conservative tradition, making distinct parallels between the two strands of conservative thought. The author also explores the attitude of Russian conservatism toward the post-modern world. This is intrinsically linked to the discussion of Russia's attempts to develop a political and ideational alternative to the West, introduce a distinct model for the architecture of international relations, and find Russia's position in the global world.     

Broadcasting agitainment: a new media strategy of Putin’s third presidency

This article argues that accounts of the Russian media system that tend to view the time from Vladimir Putin’s rise to power in 2000 as a single homogenous period do not capture major qualitative shifts in state-controlled media coverage. By analyzing the output of Russia’s two main television channels during Putin’s third presidential term, we identify a range of distinctly new features that amount to a new media strategy. This involves a significant increase in the coverage of political issues through the replacement of infotainment with what we term agitainment—an ideologically inflected content that, through adapting global media formats to local needs, attempts to appeal to less engaged and even sceptical viewers. Despite the tightening of political control over the media following the annexation of Crimea, the new strategy paradoxically has strengthened the constitutive role played by the state-controlled broadcasters in the articulation of official discourse.