Russia: Citizens, Society, and the State Rebecca Naimon

Statistics Population: 142,500,482 Population Growth Rate: -.02% [(pop t2 -pop t1 )/pop t1 ]*100 Life Expectancy: years (64.04 males, females) Literacy (defined as age 15 and up can read and write): 99.7%, very high

Geography

Federal Districts Left to right: North Caucasian Federal District, Southern Federal District, Central Federal District, Northwestern Federal District, Volga Federal District, Ural Federal District, Siberian Federal District, Far Eastern Federal District

Federal Subjects

Subdivisions of Russia Federal District: supposed to strengthen federal authority at the more local level, 8 total Oblast: province with some autonomy (has a governor and local legislature), 46 in Russia Republic: more autonomy than an oblast (has a constitution), can establish an official language (originally based on non-Russian ethnicities), 21 total Autonomous okrug: originally to give autonomy to indigenous people in the north, 4 in Russia Kray: same status as oblasts (a traditional name), 9 in Russia Federal City: Moscow and St. Petersburg Autonomous Oblast: only one, originally created for the Jewish population

Cleavages Nationality 79.8% Russian 3.8% Tatar 2% Ukrainian 1.2% Bashkir 1.1% Chuvash 1.04% Chechen Example: Chechnya (95.3% Chechen) Has a movement for independence, causing violence in Chechnya. Russia gave them a controversial referendum on a new constitution in 2003 in an effort to secure its hold over Chechnya.

Cleavages

Cleavages Religion Majority Russian Orthodox, although Communism left many non-religious, but the statistics vary Second-largest religion is Islam (estimated 19.6 million in Russia), most are Sunni, and live in Moscow, the Caucasus, or Bashkortostan and Tatarstan

Cleavages Social Class Communism in the Soviet Union ended the cleavage of noble vs. peasant, but then party members were given higher status: nomenklatura, the elite group appointed to significant positions by the Party. Gap between the new rich and the poor, although there is a growing middle class (concentrated in urban areas). Gini index: 40.1 (close to the U.S, not far from the Soviet Union) Rural vs. Urban Industrialization led to a more urban population, and there is an economic and cultural divide between urban and rural.

Beliefs and Attitudes Marxism (in the Soviet Union) : the belief that the struggle between social classes is a major force in history and that there should eventually be a society in which there are no classes Stalinism (in the Soviet Union) : the theory and practice of communism developed by Stalin from Marxism-Leninism and marked especially by rigid authoritarianism, widespread use of terror, and often emphasis on Russian nationalism Mistrust of the government: People want free elections, liberties, rights, and other democratic ideals, but don’t believe that the government can provide them.

Beliefs and Attitudes Statism : Statism : concentration of economic controls and planning in the hands of a highly centralized government, often extending to government ownership of industry Economic beliefs: “Shock therapy” of Yeltsin’s 1990s reform was an attempt to quickly privatize the market and remove government regulation; created an economic decline. Westernization : Here lies the choice: Slavophile or Westernizer? Russian nationalism and Slavic culture, or integration into the world and its economy?

Political Participation Social Capital : the networks together with shared norms, values, and understandings that facilitate cooperation within or among groups. Voting : often above 60% turnout (65.27% for 2012 presidential elections) State corporatist arrangement (in the Soviet Union) : only the Communist party was supposed to represent the people, so organizations were state-sponsored to allow the government to remain in control Youth groups : Nashi (youth democratic anti-fascist movement) was discontinued due to being “compromised” and will be replaced. Used questionable tactics and was involved in scandals.

Political Participation Civil society : not a lot of Russians take part in organizations or associations, leading to low social capital Putin/government makes it difficult destroyed/a destroyed/a destroyed/a Tightly controlled during the Soviet era, and developed with the idea of glasnost in the 80s % are integrated into church life Thousands of nongovernmental groups overall, but relatively few members

Media Television is most popular. Channels include First Channel, Rossiya, and NTV. (Tightly controlled by the government.) Newspapers: second-most popular; more than 400 daily newspapers. Reporters Without Borders ranked Russia 148 out of 179 measured countries in terms of freedom of the press (2013). (U.S. was #32, Eritrea was 179.)

Sources ignored.html ignored.html platon/Russia_Essay_by_Carroll_Bogert_with_Platon_photos.pdf platon/Russia_Essay_by_Carroll_Bogert_with_Platon_photos.pdf