2. Geographic Setting  Largest Country in the World (Area) 11 time zones Hard to govern  Only 8% of land is arable  45% of land is forested  Rich in natural Resources Minerals, timber, oil and natural gas ○ Basis for Russia’s economic wealth

3. Geographic Setting  Federation containing 83 federal subjects Equally represented  Republics (21)  Krais (9)  Oblasts (46)  Federal Cities (2)  Autonomous Oblasts (1)  Autonomous Okrug (4)

4. Population  Largest European Country  73% live in urban areas 8% before soviet rule  Ethnicity 79.8% Russian 12.1% Unspecified 3.1% Tatar 2.0% Ukrainian 1.2% Bashkir 1.1% Chuvash

5. Political Structure  Federal State 83 Federal Subjects (sub-national governments)  Executive- Dual Executive President Prime Minister  Legislature- Bicameral Federation Council State Duma  Judiciary Independent Constitutional court  Multi-Party System

6. Modern Russian State  Transitional Democracy  2008- Putin made party chairman for United Russia. While becoming Prime Minister  Medvedev did not always follow Putin’s lead  WILL PUTIN BE AN ABSOLUTE DICTATOR?

7. Russian Civil War  Civil war breaks out 1917-1922  Tsar Thrown from power (Nicolas II) ○ Last emperor of Russia ○ Provisional government put in place

8. Bolshevik Revolution  Bolsheviks – followed a particular brand of Marxism  Vladimir Lenin takes over provisional government ○ Reflects values of proletariat ○ Promises a better life for the poor  Bolshevik Ideology ○ Democratic Centralism ○ Vanguard party  Government seizes peasant livestock and crops ○ Bolsheviks introduce production quotas ○ Induces famine, killing five million

9. Stalin “ Man of Steel”  Joseph Stalin born in 1878 into poor peasant family  Lenin's successor, eventually turns on Bolsheviks  Idolized by Russians as their savior ○ Industrialized Soviet Union ○ Responsible for millions of deaths ○ paranoia leads to arrests within Communist party  USSR sides with allies in World War II ○ After Germany breaks non aggression pact  Nikita Khrushchev succeeds Stalin after his death in 1953

10. De-Stalinaztion  1953-1985  Nikita Khrushchev (57-64) Rejected terror as an instrument of political control Revived Communist Party  Leonid Brezhnev (64-82) Succeeded Khrushchev Political repression was predictable unlike in Stalin’s period Tacit social contract governed state-society relations ○ In exchange for political compliance citizens received job security, lax work environments, low prices for necessities, free social services, and minimal interference in personal life

11. Perestroika and Glasnost Mikhail Gorbachev 1985  Perestroika-(restructuring) The decentralization and rationalization of economic structure  Glasnost-(openess) Allowed diverse viewpoints to be aired on public debates

12.  Boris Yeltsin (1991) Became president of Russian Republic NEW CONSTITUTION 1993 ○ Ended Soviet Rule and established the Commonwealth of Independent States Claimed his commitment to Western-style Democracy Resigned as president in 1999 ○ Putin succeeded him in the 2000 elections Collapse of the USSR

13. After September 11 th  Terrorism in Russia  Chechen Separatist Movement  The Orange Revolution (2004)

14. Historical Junctures and Political Themes  Collapse of the USSR  Seeking a new identity

15. Implications for Comparative Government  Four transition processes  “Backsliding” from democratic development