Russia’s civil service: professional or patrimonial? Executive-level officials in five federal ministries

ABSTRACT

The issue of poor performance of the Russian federal bureaucracy is addressed by linking performance to type of official, through analysis of biographical data on deputy ministers and division (departament) heads in five federal ministries since 2012, supplemented by internet searches on behavior, particularly of a corrupt nature. Education, previous career experience, and recruitment, including its timing relative to superiors and subordinates, are analyzed, in order to determine whether officials behave primarily as members of patrimonial teams, as members of problem-solving organizations, as self-serving individuals, as the instruments of capture by commercial organizations, or as servants of bureaucratic agency interests. The data do not strongly support any one conclusion, but problem-solving officials have the strongest presence.     

The body global and the body traditional: a digital ethnography of Instagram and nationalism in Kazakhstan and Russia

ABSTRACT

What is the power of social media in defining and policing sexual identities and bodily expressions, and what are their connections to understanding nation, power and self in authoritarian contexts? Through the study of popular Instagram accounts in Kazakhstan and Russia, I argue that these sites serve as spaces of visualization and re-creation of new forms of ‘acceptable’ behaviour and lifestyles, that on the one hand may lead to new globalized visions of sexual identity and the body while on the other promoting localized conflict and resentment online, triggered by online users’ fear of losing their ‘national culture’ in these global trends. While many resort to policing gender norms and heteronormative body images online, influencers and Instagrammers from Russia and Kazakhstan take an active part in resisting these frameworks and categories.     

Kazakhstani public opinion of the United States and Russia: testing variables of (un)favourability

ABSTRACT

Though Central Asia is often studied through the prism of its relationships with external powers, research on local public perceptions of these different actors has largely been overlooked. The literature on Kazakhstanis’ perceptions of their neighbours, for instance, is scarce, and mostly focused on analysis of official discourse on Kazakhstan’s multi-vector policy, with little exploration of how this is received, appropriated or refuted by the population. On the basis of Gallup data spanning the last decade, and several other surveys, we test most of the main hypotheses usually advanced to explain attitudes to the US and Russia – age, ethnicity and access to information – and draw five main conclusions: (1) Kazakhstanis are not defined by an exclusive pro-US/pro-Russian dichotomy; (2) they nevertheless largely choose Russia over the US if forced to pick; (3) age does not have a significant effect on foreign policy attitudes; (4) ethnicity does affect some of the attitudes under consideration, but its effects are not large enough to produce markedly different opinions among ethnic Kazakhs and ethnic Russians in aggregate; and (5) consumption of media from Russia and access to non-governmental and Western sources of information do not seem to have significant effects on the attitudes under consideration.     

俄欧经贸合作的动因、特点及发展趋势

俄罗斯与欧盟开展与对方的经贸合作的目的不尽相同,然而十余年来,俄欧经贸合作全面迅速发展,成效十分显著,尤其在能源领域合作成果更是令世人瞩目。展望未来俄欧经贸合作的发展趋势,短期内仍将维持以能源合作为主的稳定发展态势,中长期有可能实现建立“统一经济空间”的战略目标。     

中国东部蒙古族人群15个STR基因座多态性研究

目的调查15个STR基因座在中国东部蒙古族人群中的基因频率分布。方法应用四色荧光标记引物复合扩增技术,对105名东部蒙古族无关个的血样15个STR基因座进行多态性研究。结果在东部蒙古族人群中15个STR基因座偶合率在0.0084～0.2169之间,个体识别概率(DP)在0.7831～0.9916之间,杂合度在0.5619～0.9231之间,三联非父排除率(PE)在0.4490～0.8444之间,多态性信息总量(PIC)在0.5438～0.9178之间,15个STR基因座总TDP值为0.9999999999998,所有基因座经χ2检验符合Hard-Weinberg平衡。结论上述15个STR基因座在东部蒙古族人群中等位基因分布较好,个体识别率高,适合法医个体识别和亲子鉴定。     

俄罗斯私有化——理想与现实的碰撞

上世纪90年代,俄罗斯为了改变经济停滞不前的现状,推行了大规模的私有化运动。然而,事与愿违,一方面,私有化导致出现的并不是改革者所设想的"外部人控股"而是"内部人控股"的企业治理结构;另一方面,私有化后,国有资产被少数金融寡头控制,导致普通民众产生了对私有化乃至整个经济转轨过程的抵触情绪,降低了人们对改革的认同度。各种利益集团都希望利用"私有化"提供的机会为自己多争得一份"苏联的遗产","私有化"一词在俄罗斯与"掠夺"和"盗窃"几乎成了同意词。因此,俄选择私有化进行经济转轨的现实与改革者的理想并不一致,它是一个由利益集团的相互冲突和妥协决定的动态过程。     

俄罗斯大学生"婴儿化"现象浅析

在越来越激烈的社会竞争面前,俄罗斯大学生对玩具的眷眷深情一直难以释怀。玩具在一定意义上缓解了青年人的心理压力,丰富了他们的生活。但一旦"成人婴儿化"达到一种病态时,就会出现不敢正视成长道路上的艰难险阻、期望停止成长和逃避成长的问题。     

俄罗斯中央与地方关系嬗变的宪法逻辑考察

俄罗斯中央与地方关系是保证国家稳定发展的重大问题。俄罗斯联邦宪法及具有宪法性法律文件是调整中央与地方关系的重要载体。从动力上,中央和地方对宪法的凝聚力是在强总统推动下逐渐实现的,总统—威权体制是中央与地方关系嬗变的动力;从趋势上看,中央与地方关系结构从分散联邦制走向了集中联邦制,职权从地方向中央聚集,并最终集中于总统;从控制上看,中央对地方官员的问责从横向政治问责转变为垂直行政问责,中央控制地方的重要手段是问责,对地方最高官员问责的提出与决定权集中于总统。实践证明,完全照搬西方的联邦制并没有带来国家的统一和安定,建立符合俄罗斯国情和现代化要求的联邦体制是中央与地方关系模式的基石,明确中央与地方权责的合理边界,是二者关系的核心;顺应民主法治化潮流,注重以法治方式构建长效稳定的关系格局,加大权力制约力度,这是维护良性关系的重要保障。     

哈尔滨国际科技城在促进对俄科技合作战略升级中的作用

哈尔滨国际科技城是黑龙江省推进对俄科技合作的重点工程,自2003年5月开工建设以来,对俄科技合作取得初步成效。黑龙江省应该更好地发挥其作用,支持其尽快完善配套设施,抓住机遇,把哈尔滨国际科技城做大做强,以此带动全省对俄科技合作战略升级。     

转型中的俄罗斯新闻传播

自戈尔巴乔夫推行“公开性”改革以来，大众传媒就扮演着改革的心脏与脉搏的角色。在经过了传播自由的洗礼与媒体转型期的动荡之后，俄罗斯传媒开始朝着多元化、私有化、市场化的方向自由发展。