Post-Soviet Politics: Regimes transformation in the region

Sylabus

Lecture 1 and 2.

Introduction to the course aims and objectives.

Democracy and its arenas: civil society, political society, usable bureaucracy, rule of law and economic society. What democracy is and is not. Elections and their role. Free and fair elections criteria.

* Required reading

Schmitter, Philippe C., and Terry Lynn Karl. 1991. "What Democracy Is . . . And Is Not." Journal of Democracy 2(3): 75-88

Linz J. & A. Stepan Problems of Democratic Transition and Consolidation Baltimore and L., The John Hopkins University Press, 1996

Elklit 1997 Journal of Democracy

* Additional reading

Przeworski, Adam 1991. Democracy and the Market. Political and Economic Reforms in Eastern Europe and Latin America. Cambridge University Press

* Lecture 3

Conceptualization of regime criteria and types. Contemporary regimes. Authoritarian regimes, post-totalitarism, sultanism. Regimes with adjectives or hybrid regimes. Delegative democracy, electoral democracy.

* Required readings:

Linz J. & A. Stepan Problems of Democratic Transition and Consolidation Baltimore and L., The John Hopkins University Press, 1996

O'Donnell, Guillermo. 1998. "Horizontal Accountability in New Democracies." Journal of Democracy 9(3): 112-126

O'Donnell, Delegative Democracy, Journal of Democracy, 5, January, 1994

* Lecture 4 and 5

"Waves of democratization" in the world. Peculiarities of the third wave of democratization: Southern Europe, Latin America, Eastern Europe and Former Soviet Union. Reasons and the process within the third wave.

* Required readings:

Huntington S. The Third Wave. Democratization in the Late Twentieth century. Norman and L., University of Oklahoma Press, 1991,

* Additional reading

Przeworski, Adam 1991. Democracy and the Market. Political and Economic Reforms in Eastern Europe and Latin America. Cambridge University Press

* Lecture 5 and 6

Types of transition and their interrelations with previous regime types. Stages of democratic transition. The models of transitions: reforms, pacts, revolutions, enforcement. Differences of strategies (forceful and compromises) and differences within the participants (masses and elites) during the process of democratization. The division within the ruling elites: hardliners and reformers. Consoidation theories.

* Required readings:

Linz J. & A. Stepan Problems of Democratic Transition and Consolidation Baltimore and L., The John Hopkins University Press, 1996

Huntington S. The Third Wave. Democratization in the Late Twentieth century. Norman and L., University of Oklahoma Press, 1991

Schedler, Andreas. 1998. "What is Democratic Consolidation." Journal of Democracy 9(2): 91-107

* Additional reading

Przeworski, Adam 1991. Democracy and the Market. Political and Economic Reforms in Eastern Europe and Latin America. Cambridge University Press

* Lecture 7

Actors and context of transition - internal and external reasons. Domestic factors of democratization during the "third wave": Economic ineffectiveness of authoritarian regimes and economic collapse of communism. Nationalism, disintegration and separatist tendencies. Elements of civic culture. Main actors of contemporary democratic transitions, comparisons of the role of masses and elites. International (governmental, nongovernmental and inter governmental) factors of democratic transitions. The varieties of international influences on the process of democratization. The influence of Soviet politics of perestroika on the processes of democratic transitions in Eastern and Central Europe

* Required readings:

Linz J. & A. Stepan Problems of Democratic Transition and Consolidation Baltimore and L., The John Hopkins University Press, 1996

Huntington S. The Third Wave. Democratization in the Late Twentieth century. Norman and L., University of Oklahoma Press, 1991

* Additional readings

Whitehead L. International Aspects of Democratization in G.O'Donnell, Ph.Schmitter and L.Whitehead (eds.) Transitions from Authoritarian Rule. Comparative Perspectives, Baltimore and L., John Hopkins University Press, 1991, pp. 3 - 47

Hyde-Price A.1994 Democratization in Eastern Europe: the external dimension in G. Pridham and T. Vanhanen (eds.) Democratization in eastern Europe. Domestic and International perspectives. L and NY, Routledge, pp. 220 -255

* Lecture 8

The problem of institutional choices during democratic transitions. Democratic institution building and institutionalization of democracy. Presidential parliamentary and semipresidentialism as models of new democracies. Their pros and contras. The choices among electoral systems. The influences of majoritarian system and proportional representation. The role of "founding elections".

* Required readings:

Linz, Juan J. and Arturo Valenzuela. Eds. 1994. The Failure of Presidential Democracy. The Johns Hopkins University Press.

* Additional readings

Lijphart Arend. 1992. "Democratization and Constitutional Choices in Czecho-Slovakia, Hungary and Poland 1989 - 1991." Journal of Theoretical Politics 4(2): 207 - 223.

* Lecture 9 and 10

The outcomes of democratic transitions. 1) consolidated democracies; 2) nonconsolidated democracies 3) hybrid regimes; 4) reverse toward authoritarian regime etc.

Case studies. Russia. Caucasus: Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia.

* Student presentations to be started

* Required readings:

Developments in Russian Politics 6 Edited by Stephen White, Zvi Gitelman and Richard Sakwa, pp. 1 - 40, 241 - 257

Baran, Zeyno. 2002. "The Caucasus: Ten Years after Independence." Washington Quarterly Winter: 221 - 234

* Lecture 11

Student presentations continued

* Lecture 12

Final discussions

Anotace

The course starts with the presentation, analysis and discussion of the contemporary types of regime with further application and reflection of this theoretical framework to the study of democratic transition and transformation in the post-soviet region viewed in a comparative perspective. The course will present and discusses, analyze and compare the processes leading to the collapse of the regimes in Eastern Europe and Soviet Union, focusing on types and stages of transition: liberalization; democratization; foundation of democracy and consolidation of democracy.

Participants will learn the modes and types of transitions and study influences of institutional choices over democratization. Special attention will be paid to the role of domestic and international environment of transition as well as case studies and discussion of the issues devoted to the region: such as transitions and the politics in transition in the Caucasus and the wider region of the FSU.