Russia's Political Economy Transformation

Study Course Description

Course Description Statuss:Approved

Course Description Version:7.00

Study Course Accepted:02.02.2024 12:29:30

Study Course Information
Course Code:		PZK_164		LQF level:		Level 7
Credit Points:		3.00		ECTS:		4.50
Branch of Science:		Politics		Target Audience:		Political Science
Study Course Supervisor
Course Supervisor:		Māris Andžāns
Study Course Implementer
Structural Unit:		Faculty of Social Sciences
The Head of Structural Unit:
Contacts:		Dzirciema street 16, Rīga, szfrsu[pnkts]lv
Study Course Planning
Full-Time - Semester No.1
Lectures (count)		8	Lecture Length (academic hours)		2	Total Contact Hours of Lectures		16
Classes (count)		6	Class Length (academic hours)		2	Total Contact Hours of Classes		12
Total Contact Hours								28
Part-Time - Semester No.1
Lectures (count)		6	Lecture Length (academic hours)		2	Total Contact Hours of Lectures		12
Classes (count)		4	Class Length (academic hours)		2	Total Contact Hours of Classes		8
Total Contact Hours								20
Study course description
Preliminary Knowledge:
Basic knowledge of economics, as well as general knowledge on Russia.
Objective:
This course will introduce students to the economic and political transformation of Russia from the early days of Yeltsin to current-day Putin. We will examine Yeltsin’s breakthrough transformation and key economic reforms of the 1990’s, as well as their early results ten years later. Then we will focus on Putin’s political trajectory; economic growth and development from 1999; the oligarchs; the energy sector, and Russia’s foreign policy in the near abroad and in Europe. We will conduct rigorous analysis of reform and policy design in post-Soviet Russia. Among the key topics are privatization and property rights, shadow economy and corruption, peculiarities of political system, and the model of capitalism that emerged in Russia as a result of transformation.
Topic Layout (Full-Time)
No.	Topic			Type of Implementation		Number	Venue
1	Introduction. The end of Communism			Lectures		0.50	auditorium
2	Early 1990s: Strategies of economic reform			Lectures		0.50	auditorium
3	Early results and the disillusionment			Lectures		0.50	auditorium
4	The rise of Putin			Lectures		0.50	auditorium
5	Chinese counterfactual?			Lectures		1.00	auditorium
6	Russian growth and the energy sector			Lectures		1.00	auditorium
7	Oligarchs and corruption			Lectures		1.00	auditorium
8	Center and periphery			Lectures		1.00	auditorium
9	Russia on the international arena			Lectures		1.00	auditorium
10	Quo Vadis, Russia?			Lectures		1.00	auditorium
11	Gradualism vs Big Bang: Literature discussion. Paper presentations			Classes		0.50	auditorium
12	Economic reform strategies. Literature discussion. Paper presentations			Classes		0.50	auditorium
13	Why institution of private property doesn’t work properly in Russia? Literature discussion. Paper presentations			Classes		0.50	auditorium
14	Was rise of Putin inevitable? Literature discussion. Paper presentations			Classes		0.50	auditorium
15	Would gradualist approach yield a different result? Literature discussion. Paper presentations			Classes		0.50	auditorium
16	Natural resources' abundance: curse or blessing? Literature discussion. Paper presentations			Classes		0.50	auditorium
17	Was there any way for Russia to establish capitalism of Central European-style? Literature discussion. Paper presentations			Classes		0.50	auditorium
18	Can Russian Federation follow the footsteps of USSR? Literature discussion. Paper presentations			Classes		0.50	auditorium
19	Russia and Europe: too far gone? Literature discussion. Paper presentations			Classes		1.00	auditorium
20	Quo vadis, Russia? Literature discussion. Paper presentations. Wrap-up			Classes		1.00	auditorium
Topic Layout (Part-Time)
No.	Topic			Type of Implementation		Number	Venue
1	Introduction. The end of Communism			Lectures		0.50	auditorium
2	Early 1990s: Strategies of economic reform			Lectures		0.50	auditorium
3	Early results and the disillusionment			Lectures		0.50	auditorium
4	The rise of Putin			Lectures		0.50	auditorium
5	Chinese counterfactual?			Lectures		0.50	auditorium
6	Russian growth and the energy sector			Lectures		0.50	auditorium
7	Oligarchs and corruption			Lectures		0.50	auditorium
8	Center and periphery			Lectures		0.50	auditorium
9	Russia on the international arena			Lectures		1.00	auditorium
10	Quo Vadis, Russia?			Lectures		1.00	auditorium
11	Gradualism vs Big Bang: Literature discussion. Paper presentations			Classes		0.50	auditorium
12	Economic reform strategies. Literature discussion. Paper presentations			Classes		0.50	auditorium
13	Why institution of private property doesn’t work properly in Russia? Literature discussion. Paper presentations			Classes		0.50	auditorium
14	Was rise of Putin inevitable? Literature discussion. Paper presentations			Classes		0.50	auditorium
15	Would gradualist approach yield a different result? Literature discussion. Paper presentations			Classes		0.25	auditorium
16	Natural resources' abundance: curse or blessing? Literature discussion. Paper presentations			Classes		0.25	auditorium
17	Was there any way for Russia to establish capitalism of Central European-style? Literature discussion. Paper presentations			Classes		0.25	auditorium
18	Can Russian Federation follow the footsteps of USSR? Literature discussion. Paper presentations			Classes		0.25	auditorium
19	Russia and Europe: too far gone? Literature discussion. Paper presentations			Classes		0.50	auditorium
20	Quo vadis, Russia? Literature discussion. Paper presentations. Wrap-up			Classes		0.50	auditorium
Assessment
Unaided Work:
During the module students will prepare for the seminars, read literature, write essay and prepare a presentation. • The aim of a seminar is to develop students' ability to argue and present their opinion in a consistent and logical manner; to promote activity; to test students’ knowledge of the topic and materials in question. • The aim of a presentation is to write one's opinion in a structured, reasoned, and consistent manner, emphasizing the essentials by researching and analyzing the acquired information; to develop policy analysis skills and the ability to present recommendations. • The aim of the essay is to develop the ability to identify the key issue of the topic; to identify and evaluate alternative arguments and views; to offer an opinion, explaining and arguing why this particular opinion is better than any other. The report should compare all possible alternatives, considering all their strengths and weaknesses. Another goal is to develop skills to independently study the situation and the problem, give it an assessment and be able to find solutions.
Assessment Criteria:
Attendance and activity – 20% Presentations – 50% Final essay – 30%
Final Examination (Full-Time):		Exam (Written)
Final Examination (Part-Time):		Exam (Written)
Learning Outcomes
Knowledge:		Students will understand the basic principles of Russian political economy and their inclusion in the theoretical concepts of political economy. Students will evaluate the most important stages of the development of the political economy of Russia's transformation. Students will distinguish the basic principles of political economy and apply them in practice.
Skills:		Students will independently conduct a comparative study of the Russian political economy transformation processes, critically selecting information sources, as well as presenting their conclusions and answering questions in discussions with the lecturer and other students. Students will explain the Russian political economy processes in an argumentative and in-depth way and model the tendencies of Russian political economy.
Competencies:		Students will develop papers based on the interdisciplinary scientific literature on political science and economics. Students will appreciate the interdisciplinary nature of these complex problems and combine political science and economics research methods and assumptions.
Bibliography
No.	Reference
Required Reading
1	Robert J. Shiller, Maxim Boycko, and Vladimir Korobov. "Popular Attitudes Toward Free Markets: The Soviet Union and the United States Compared." The American Economic Review 81, no. 3 (1991): 385-400.
2	Maxim Boycko, and Robert J. Shiller. "Popular Attitudes toward Markets and Democracy: Russia and United States Compared 25 Years Later." The American Economic Review 106, no. 5 (2016): 224-29.
3	Kevin M. Murphy, Andrei Shleifer, and Robert W. Vishny. "The Transition to a Market Economy: Pitfalls of Partial Reform." The Quarterly Journal of Economics 107, no. 3 (1992): 889-906.
4	Alexander Gerschenkron. "Economic Backwardness in Historical Perspective." In The Sociology of Economic Life, ed. Mark Granovetter and Richard Swedberg, 111-130. Boulder: Westview, 1992.
5	Andrei Shleifer, and Daniel Treisman. Without a Map: Political Tactics and Economic Reform in Russia (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 2000), 1-20, 39-51
6	Dani Rodrik. "Understanding Economic Policy Reform." Journal of Economic Literature 34, no. 1 (1996): 9-41.
7	Kathryn Hendley. “Legal Development in Post-Soviet Russia,” Post-Soviet Affairs 13, no. 3 (July-September 1997): 228-251
8	Sergei Guriev, and Ekaterina Zhuravskaya. "(Un)Happiness in Transition." The Journal of Economic Perspectives 23, no. 2 (2009): 143-68.
9	Roland Gérard. "The Political Economy of Transition." The Journal of Economic Perspectives 16, no. 1 (2002): 29-50.
10	B. Black, R. Kraakman and A. Tarassova, “Russian Privatization and Corporate Governance: What Went Wrong?,” Stanford Law Review 52, no. 6 (July 2000): 1731-1808
11	Vadim Volkov. "Violent Entrepreneurship in Post-Communist Russia." Europe-Asia Studies 51, no. 5 (1999): 741-54
12	Daniel Treisman. “Russia Renewed?” Foreign Affairs (November-December 2000).  Available from: http://www.foreignaffairs.org/20021101faessay9992/daniel-tr…
13	Stephen Kotkin. "The Resistible Rise of Vladimir Putin: Russia's Nightmare Dressed Like a Daydream." Foreign Affairs 94, no. 2 (2015): 140-53.
14	Rodrik, D., & World Bank. (2006). Goodbye Washington Consensus, Hello Washington Confusion? A Review of the World Bank's "Economic Growth in the 1990s: Learning from a Decade of Reform". Journal of Economic Literature, 44(4), 973-987.
15	Andrei Shleifer, and Daniel Treisman. "A Normal Country: Russia after Communism." The Journal of Economic Perspectives 19, no. 1 (2005): 151-74.
16	Huang Yasheng (2012). “How Did China Take Off?” Journal of Economic Perspectives 26 (4): pp. 147–170.
17	Zhu Xiaodong (2012). “Understanding China’s Growth: Past, Present, and Future.” Journal of Economic Perspectives 26 (4): pp. 103–124.
18	Frederick Van Der Ploeg. "Natural Resources: Curse or Blessing?" Journal of Economic Literature 49, no. 2 (2011): 366-420.
19	Anders Aslund (2010): Gazprom: Challenged Giant in Need of Reform, in: Russia After the Global Economic Crisis; Chapter 7
20	Thane Gustafson. "Putin's Petroleum Problem: How Oil Is Holding Russia Back—and How It Could Save It." Foreign Affairs 91, no. 6 (2012): 83-96.
21	V. Dobrynskaya and E. Turkisch, “Economic Diversification and Dutch Disease in Russia,” Post-Communist Economies 22, no. 3 (2010), 283-302.
22	Sergi, Bruno S. and Berezin, Andrey (2018). Oil and Gas Industry’s Technological and Sustainable Development: Where Does Russia Stand? In Bruno S. Sergi (Ed.) Exploring the Future of Russia’s Economy and Markets: Towards Sustainable Economic Development (pp. 161-182). Bingley, UK: Emerald Publishing Limited.
23	Sergei Guriev, and Andrei Rachinsky. "The Role of Oligarchs in Russian Capitalism." The Journal of Economic Perspectives 19, no. 1 (2005): 131-50.
24	Daniel Treisman. "Russia's Billionaires." The American Economic Review 106, no. 5 (2016): 236-41.
25	Chaim Shinar (2015). “The Russian Oligarchs, from Yeltsin to Putin.” European Review 23 (4): pp. 583-596.
26	Jakob Svensson. "Eight Questions about Corruption." The Journal of Economic Perspectives 19, no. 3 (2005): 19-42.
27	Padma Desai. (2005). “Russian Retrospectives on Reforms from Yeltsin to Putin.” Journal of Economic Perspectives 19 (1): pp. 87–106.
28	Keith Darden, and Anna Grzymala-Busse. "The Great Divide: Literacy, Nationalism, and the Communist Collapse." World Politics 59, no. 1 (2006): 83-115.
29	Henry E. Hale. "The Makeup and Breakup of Ethnofederal States: Why Russia Survives Where the USSR Fell." Perspectives on Politics 3, no. 1 (2005): 55-70.
30	Oxana Shevel. "Russian Nation-building from Yel'tsin to Medvedev: Ethnic, Civic or Purposefully Ambiguous?" Europe-Asia Studies 63, no. 2 (2011): 179-202.
31	Ivan Krastev, and Mark Leonard. "Europe's Shattered Dream of Order: How Putin Is Disrupting the Atlantic Alliance." Foreign Affairs 94, no. 3 (2015): 48-58.
32	Mary Elizabeth Malinkin (8/10/2014): Russia: The World Second Largest Immigration Heaven, The National Interest http://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/russia-the-worlds…- immigration-haven
33	Graham Allison, Dimitri K. Simes (4/20/15): Russia and America: Stumbling to War, The National Interest http://nationalinterest.org/feature/russia-america-stumblin…
34	Sergei Guriev. "Russia's Constrained Economy: How the Kremlin Can Spur Growth." Foreign Affairs 95, no. 3 (2016): 18-22.
35	Sergei Guriev, and Ekaterina Zhuravskaya. "Why Russia is not South Korea." Journal of International Affairs 63, no. 2 (2010): 125-39.
36	Sergei Guriev, and Daniel Treisman. "Informational Autocrats." The Journal of Economic Perspectives 33, no. 4 (2019): 100-27.
37	Clifford Gaddy, and Fiona Hill. The Great Errors. In: Siberian Curse: How Communist Planners Left Russia Out in the Cold. : Brookings Institution Press, Ch1, 2
38	Allison Graham (2020). “The New Spheres of Influence Sharing the Globe with Other Great Powers.” Foreign Affairs (March/April 2020).