1 “CIVIL SOCIETY “ IN TURBULENT TIMES: RUSSIAN CASE Svetlana Kirdina Institute of Economics, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia

2 Outline “Civil society” = an Ideologem? “Civil society” and a state: opponents or partners? “Civil society” in Russia: theory and empirical data

The importance of terms’ meaning Once disciple of Confucius asked his Teacher (488 BC): “New governor is going to involve you in the state administration. Where do you start?”. Confucius replied: "First we need to refine the names that do not correspond to the essence... If the words are unfavorable, the case will not be going well... (Lun Yu, XIII, p. 8) 3

“Civil society” in different ideological contexts (examples) The New Left: civil society has a key role in defending people against the capitalist state and the market and in asserting the collective will to influence the state; Neo-liberals: civil society needs the market and is created for the satisfaction of individual interests and private property in accordance with liberal values.. [ [ 4

“Civil society” as “liberal” Ideologem CSI (Civil Society Index): 2 of 4 parameters characterize the basic freedoms and values; CSSI (Civil Society Strength Index): 1 of 2 groups of parameters is named as Civil Society values factor; GCSI (Global Civil Society Index): 2 of 5 parameters reflect the distribution of tolerance values. 5

Civil society and a state Civil society is the state (since Thomas Hobbes, John Locke) Civil society is an opponent of the state, or “political superstructure” (since the Great Scots David Hume, Adam Smith, Patrick Ferguson) Civil society is a complement rather than an alternative to the state, “the state is seen as a precondition of civil society” (Whaites, 1996; Zaleski, 2006) 6

Civil society and a state (Russian version) Civil society is a part of the state. Its main objective is to promote the social integration through: o Legitimization of state power; o Public control of state decisions; o Participation in the process of state decision making. (Russian school of constitutional economics, Russian civil and public law studies). 7

8 December 2004 December 2005 December 2006 December 2009 The strengthening of “the vertical of power” The strengthening of civil rights and freedoms, civil society Neither one nor the other Don’t know Table 1. In your opinion, what could promote the welfare of Russia, %? (Levada-Center. Press release What is democracy and whether it is necessary in Russia?)

9 June 2008June 2010 on the private initiative of citizens, “bottom-up”, independently of the government or other political forces 1413 initiated by the authorities3230 initiated by opposition political forces2122 initiated by external forces interested in a particular way of Russia's development 1113 Don’t know22 Table 2. Do you think the majority of public movements and initiatives in modern Russia is emerging… Levada-Center. Press release Problems of social and political participation.

10 March 1998 February 2006 February 2010 A unitary centralized state with the heads of local authorities appointed by the Center State with the most extensive rights of local authorities and central government coordinating their interests Don’t know Table 3. What type of state would you like to see to exist in Russia? Levada-Center. Press release State and society interrelations in Russian public opinion.

11 November 2001 February 2006 December 2006 December 2007 December 2010 The authorities should take care of people People should be able to obtain from authorities what they need Don’t know34546 Table 4. In your opinion, on which of the following principles a society, in which you want to live, should be based? Levada-Center. Press release On state and society interrelations.

Institutional matrices theory (X- and Y-theory) as one of theoretical explanations Kirdina S. G. Institutional Matrices and Development in Russia (2 edition). Novosibirsk, 2001 (In Russian). Kirdina S. The Institutional Matrices Theory in the Context of Modern Sociology. /Visions and Divisions: the Russian Outlook The Russian Academy of Sciences - The Russian Society of Sociologists. - Moscow- Helsinki, Kirdina S. Fundamental Difference in the Transformation Process between Russia and East European Countries // Berliner Osteuropa Info, № 16/2001. Kirdina S. Institutional Matrices and Institutional Changes / Economic Transformation and Evolutionary Theory of J. Schumpeter. The 5th International Symposium on Evolutionary Economics, Pushchino, Moscow region, Russia, Institutional matrix in sociology / Sociological encyclopedia. Moscow, 2003 (in Russian), Institutional matrices theory/ Sociological dictionary. Moscow, 2010 (in Russian). 12

13 X- and Y-matrices X Y Redistributive economy Communitarian ideology Unitary-centralized political order Federative political order Ideology of subsidiarity Market economy X

14 Combinations of X- and Y- matrices Russia, China, and North American most of Asian and countries and most of Latin American countries European countries Y X Y X

15 X- and Y-institutions in politics and their functions Functions of institutionsX-institutionsY-institutions 1.Territorial administrative organization of the state Administrative division (unitarity) Federative structure (federation) 2. Governance system (flow of decision making) Vertical hierarchical authority with Centre on the top Self-government and subsidiarity 3.Type of interaction in the order of decision making General assembly and unanimity Multi-party system and democratic majority 4. Filling of governing positions AppointmentElection 5. Feed-back mechanismAppeals to higher levels of hierarchical authority Law suits

Conclusion “Civil society” remains an ideologem rather than a rigorous scientific concept. A critical interpretation of civil society discourse needs placing it in the context of contingent policy regimes defined by institutional factors. A version of civil society discourse contextualized in the Russian transitional society calls for interpreting it not as an opponent of the state but as a part of the state with main objective to promote the social integration. 16

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