AP Comparative Government Soviet Union/Russia Country Questions

1. During 1917, Lenin’s Bolsheviks overthrew Russia’s tsars, the leaders of the firm dictatorship party, in the Bolshevik Revolution. The new Communist party leader, Vladimir Lenin, renamed the country the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, or the U.S.S.R. The new communist leaders ruled according to socialist principals while continuing to lean toward centralized and absolute rule similar to the tsars. The Communist party became the only legitimate political institution in the country. Joseph Stalin, who after, Lenin died in 1924, took central control over the Communist Party, realized that his country was economically behind in many aspects and needed to take steps toward modernization. Lenin, who had instituted his New Economic Policy, which allowed a great deal of private ownership to exist under a centralized leadership, made economic changes that supported farmers and not industrialization. After Stalin took power, he takes brutal steps to industrialize called the Five Year Plan. This plan set ambitious goals for the production of heavy industry like steel, oil, and electricity. This caused many farmers to be forcibly moved into factories, and placed a lot of pressure on the agricultural system, which not only suffered from the lack of farmers, but also was charged with the task of producing at a higher rate with fewer farmers. Many were moved to collective farms that were run by the government. Stalin created a command economy by taking government control over the economy, and by keeping economic control through Gosplan, the Central State Planning Commission that made production plans for each individual company. Since Stalin’s primary focus was internal development, his foreign policy reflected his goal of industrial development of the U.S.S.R. Stalin first got involved with World War II by signing a non-aggression pact with Nazi Germany in 1939, only to be attacked by then the year after. Stalin then joined the Allied powers for the remainder of the war. After Stalin’s death and televised funeral in 1953, Nikita Khrushchev became the leader of the Communist party. He took steps to reform with the reveal of his Secret Speech in 1956 that lead the deStalinization of the country. These reforms included loosening government censorship of the media, de-centralization of economic decision-making, and structuring of collective farms. In the realm of foreign policy, Khrushchev advocated peaceful relations between the Soviet Union and the United States, only to attempt to place nuclear missiles in Cuba in 1963 in an event called the Cuban Missile Crisis, which ensured his loss of control. Leonid Brezhnev, who ended deStalinization reforms to deal with the increasing economic problems in the Soviet Union, then replaced him. He made a tacit social contract with the people, saying that in exchange for good behavior, the Soviet government would provide full job security, a lax working environment, and agreed to lower prices on goods. More social services became free and the government started backing out of the citizens’ personal lives. Brezhnev became preoccupied with foreign affairs, and became unaware of the downward sloping domestic economy. Consumer goods were in short supply, and the ones that were available were in poor quality. The Soviet Union made advancements in science and engineering, opening the citizens’ minds to how far behind they were than western civilization, collapsing their moral. Environmental pollution became increasingly high because there were no controls

set on factories. When Brezhnev dies in 1982, he is eventually replaced in 1985 with Mikhail Gorbachev, who was young and aware of the shortfalls of the Soviet Union. He institutes reforms that lead to the eventual collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991: Glasnost, Democratization, and Perestroika. Glasnost translates to openness, which refers to allowing more open discussion of the government and economic issues. This reform allowed for the creation of several interest groups, and also allowed professional organizations to begin challenging the government. Democratization reflected Gorbachev’s belief that he could keep the old Soviet structure, including Communist Party rule, yet integrate democracy into the system by allowing directly elected Deputies, and creating a position of “president” selected by Congress. Perestroika is translated to restructuring, which refers to the transferring of economic power of the central government to private hands and the market economy. None of his reforms were fully effective or were carried out because a second revolution occurred in 1991, causing the U.S.S.R. to dissolve, breaking its fifteen republics into independent nations. A failed coup leads to the election of Boris Yeltsin, the leader of a group of popular protestors. Gorbachev was restored to power, however by December 1991, eleven out of fifteen of the Soviet Republics had declared their independence, and Gorbachev was forced to announce the demise of the Soviet Union. Boris Yeltsin then came back into power, renaming the new republic the Russian Federation. He continued with his plans to make Russia more democratic

2. The social cleavages that greatly impact the Russian Federation are nationality, religion, social class, and the split between rural and urban citizens. Nationality is a significant cleavage because Chechnya, a primarily Muslim region, has fought for years for its freedom. Russia has had difficulty keeping Chechnya a part of Russia, for it’s independent movement is still very strong. They must shape policymaking decisions around them to keep from disturbing the peace; they determine the organization of the country into federations. Religion is a social cleavage because it goes along with nationality. Muslims are concentrated in three areas of Russia: Moscow, the Caucasus, and Bashkortostan and Tatarstan. Tsarist Russia was overwhelmingly Russian Orthodox, with the star serving as spiritual head of the church. Many citizens lost their religious affiliations during the 20th century due to the Soviet ban on religious practice. Yeltsin encouraged the reestablishment of the Russian Orthodox Church as a reflection of Old Russian nationalist along with the breakup of communism. The Soviets attempted to destroy social class differences in Russia by ridding it of the tsarist distinction between nobles and peasants, only to replace it with the distinction of Communist Party members and non-Communist Party members. The industrialization lead by Stalin caused an increasingly urban population, with 73% of Russians now living in the city. The split between rural and urban people is very wide: City dwellers are more likely to be well educated and in touch with western culture. The political consequences of these differences are unclear in current political times.

3. The Soviet Union’s control corporatist interest group system was changed under Gorbachev. Interest groups were only allowed under government control in the

Soviet Union, and decision-making took place within the Central Committee and the Politburo, and if any outside contacts influenced policymaking, they were confined to the Communist Party. Gorbachev’s Glasnost reform lead to individual organized activity, which caused the eventual creation of labor unions, worker unions, and a variety of interest groups. Under Yeltsin in the 1995 legislative election, 42 parties ran candidates for elections seats the Duma. The Russian Oligarchy became noticeably powerful during Yeltsin’s reign. Oligarchs may be loosely defined as an interest group because they greatly influenced the policymaking process during the formative years of the Russian Federation. Oligarchs monopolize Russian industries and build huge fortunes, eventually finding their way into the political realm through various parties such as the Unity Party. Under Putin, interest group activity continues, but at a lower level. The number of influential parties shrinks to four because of the increase from 5% to 7% for the minimum national vote to gain seats in the Duma.

4. Oligarchs are young and rich owners of major companies and corporations that gain political power through Yeltsin. They took a huge political role during his rule by strongly influencing Yeltsin’s policymaking decisions. Putin however showed more resistance against oligarchic control. He decides that Oligarchs need to be taken out of control, so he begins to put pressure on them and starts to even threaten arrest. Putin tells them that they can get what they want, however they must stay out of political affairs. Two major oligarchs Vladimir Gusinsky and Boris Berezovsky get the picture while another, Mikhail Khodorvsky, the richest man in Russia and chief executive officer of Yukos Oil Company, did not. He was then arrested, and his company was forced into bankruptcy. He was then sentenced to 8 years in prison for avoiding taxes on the sale of oil. His company was then broken up and sold to individuals who support Putin. The other oligarchs then heeded the warning from Khodorkovsky’s example and receded from political activities, leaving Putin in control with less support from the economic leaders.

5.