The institutionalization of relative advantage: formal institutions,subconstitutional presidential powers,and the rise of authoritarian politics in Russia, 1994–2012

What role do formal institutions play in the consolidation of authoritarian regimes such as the Russian Federation? Oftentimes, it is assumed that autocrats, usually potent presidents, wield informal powers and control far-flung patron–client networks that undermine formal institutions and bolster their rule. After the institutional turn in authoritarianism studies, elections, parties, legislatures, or courts have taken center stage, yet presidencies and public law are still on the margins of this research paradigm. This paper proposes a method for measuring subconstitutional presidential power and its change by federal law, decrees, and Constitutional Court rulings as well as a theoretical framework for explaining when and under which conditions subconstitutional presidential power expands. It is argued that as a result of a gradual, small-scale, and slow-moving process of layering, presidential powers have been accumulated over time. This furthers the institutionalization of presidential advantage toward other federal and regional institutions, which in turn contributes to the consolidation of authoritarianism.     

中国2000年城乡小康社会指标实证分析与比较

本文以中国国家统计局小康课题组制定的中国全国、城市和农村小康标准为依据,对中国2000年各省市自治区城乡小康实现程度作了实证分析与比较,目的是通过研究城乡之间、地区之间的小康实现程度的差距,为全面建设小康社会,促进城乡之间、地区之间经济协调发展,提出一些政策建议。     

边疆民族地区的政治文明建设

边疆民族地区在现代化进程迅速推进的过程中,必须加强政治文明建设。政治文明建设的滞后必然会对该地区的发展产生影响。但是,边疆民族地区的政治文明建设面临着特殊的环境条件:一是在历史上的政治发展程度低;二是现实的政治关系复杂;三是政治文明建设的基础薄弱。政治文明建设面临着一些特殊的问题。因此,只有从实际出发,边疆民族地区的政治文明建设才能取得应有的成效。     

The demographic and agricultural development of the Kokand oasis during the Russian Imperial era: nomad immigration and cotton monoculture

ABSTRACT

This study investigates oasis expansion in the precolonial period and agricultural evolution in the colonial period using village-level statistics from the early twentieth century. This survey illustrates that the Kokand oasis in the Ferghana Valley initially appeared in the central part, where the Sart population settled by the seventeenth century. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the Uzbek and Karakalpak tribes migrated to the valley peripheries, while the Kyrgyz semi-nomads settled in the alluvial fan. It is not surprising that such a migratory process created a mosaic-like ethnic distribution. Furthermore, this study suggests that the pattern coincided with a variety of agricultural practices, and presents two contrasting models of cotton monoculture under the Russian Empire. The main area occupied by the Sarts presents a general model of canal-irrigated cotton planting in Central Asia, while the Karakalpaks’ cotton planting using groundwater in the periphery suggests multiple courses of nomad sedentarization.     

滇西北香格里拉生态旅游示范区开发研究

滇西北香格里拉腹地中甸县,是云南省生态旅游开发示范区.近年来,在可持续发展战略和旅游扶贫原则指导下,构建保护性开发模式,开发设计并建成了以中甸县城为旅游中心城镇的碧塔海、松赞林寺和霞给村生态旅游示范区.这不仅丰富了生态旅游理论,更重要的是为云南乃至全国提供了一个生态旅游区开发的示范模式.     

Russia's “turn to the east”: a study in policy making

Russia's recent reorientation “to the East” has gained increased urgency given events in Ukraine. Here the policymaking process surrounding the “turn to the East” is examined. The focus is on the economic dimension – the economic development of the Russian Far East and engagement with the Asia-Pacific region – rather than geostrategic and security issues. Policymaking is evaluated in terms of general approach and process, with the implications of the evaluation for Russian policymaking more generally then being explored. “Turn to the East” policymaking exhibits a strong commitment to strategic planning that is characteristic of Putin, and which in this case struggles not only with process issues but also with contradictions within the strategy and the challenging realities of the region. Regarding process, a far more institutionalized policy process than the currently dominant personalist view would lead us to expect is found, with relevant bureaucratic and non-state actors well represented in an elaborate and relatively formal process. However a considerable weakening of sign-off procedures is noted, which has lead to policy inconsistency and indeed “policy irresponsibility” among participants. The author attributes the weakening of sign-off procedures to Putin's frustration with the gridlock tendencies of strict sign-off regimes, rather than a desire to create a personalist regime of hands-on management. This suggests that improvement of the Russian policy process requires structural and procedural change, rather than simply leadership change.     

The current EU/US–Russia conflict over Ukraine and the WTO: a preliminary note on (trade) restrictive measures

In 2012, the Russian Federation (RF) joined the World Trade Organization (WTO) as its 156th member. Two years later, an international conflict over the developments in Ukraine in general and the changing status of Crimea erupted, which henceforth saw the RF, the United States (US), and the European Union (EU) drawn into a circle of the unilateral imposition of trade and other restrictive measures. This article looks at the trade aspects of the ensuing conflict and provides a detailed survey of the restrictive measures imposed by the EU, the US, and the RF from the perspective of the national legal orders of the jurisdictions concerned, as well as from the international perspective of the applicable WTO trade rules. It includes a critical assessment of the compatibility of economic sanctions with the parties' WTO commitments, as well as the possibility of addressing the current divergences under the WTO dispute settlement mechanism.     

Dynamics of regime personalization and patron–client networks in Russia, 1999–2014

Many comparative scholars classify personalist regimes as a distinct category of nondemocratic rule. To measure the process of regime personalization, and to distinguish such a process from overall authoritarian reversal, is difficult in comparative context. Using the Russian political regime in 1999–2014 as a case study, we examine the dynamics of regime personalization over time. Relying on original data on patron–client networks and expert surveys assessing the policy influence of the key members of the ruling coalition, we argue that having more clients, or clients who are more powerful, increases the power of patrons – and that where the patron is the ruler, the resulting measure is an indication of the level of personalization of the regime. We trace regime personalization from the changes in political influence of the president's associates in his patron–client network versus that of other elite patron–client networks. We find that as early as 2004, the Russian regime can be regarded as personalist, and is strongly so from 2006 onward.     

Radicalization of Russians in Ukraine: from ‘accidental’ diaspora to rebel movement

Abstract

The article examines different types of macropolitical identities in Ukraine and their interaction in establishing political order in the country. The authors argue that political institutional design was unfavourable to the Russian diaspora in eastern and southern regions. It hindered stable development of post-Soviet identity between Russians in the country. But during the Euromaidan protests, the Russians reacted to unpleasant political situation by exploring who they were and what social and political goals they had. Having been incipient for decades, the identity of the diaspora evolved in a soaring way within three or four months. The violent actions of the newly established government in Kiev radicalized the Russian diaspora. Diasporants started establishing alternative authorities in regions where government had no monopoly on the use of force. The involvement of Russia and international volunteers complexifies the situation in Donbass and the identity formation process in unrecognized republics also known as DNR and LNR.