Реферат: Consolidation Of Democracy In PostSoviet Russia Essay

new political and economic system? (Shevstova 57).

Democratization and the Reinvention of Russian Government

An orderly exit from the Soviet past and progress towards stable democracy necessitates the development

of a state capable of effective governance. Tsarism and state socialism have provided Russians with little

experience with working governmental institutions, nor knowledge of how to coordinate the actions of

state agencies in pursuit of a common goal. As especially was the case with the early Gaidar economic

reforms, political compromise and coalition building were ignored in favor of policies designed for the

?public good.? The continued employment of Soviet-style politics by the Yeltsin regime bodes ill for the

establishment of consolidated democracy in Russia.

To begin the movement to a consolidated democracy, Russian government most promote new institutional

capacities and move towards more rational and pragmatic linkages between formal administrative

agencies and their functions. This is a sharp break away from bureaucratic malaise that characterized the

Soviet system. Important in this development is the fostering of economic movements outside the old

system (Shevtsova 56).

Shevtsova raises an interesting question of whether the ?collapse? of communism actually strengthened

the hand of the nomenklatura , especially on the regional and local level, by allowing them to gain a novel

claim of legitimacy as the leaders of new nations (Shevtsova 60). Along with this new found legitimacy

came access to the new found economic resources. It is of foremost importance that wealth not be

distributed solely among a small group of state officials and enterprise directors. Such actions could lead

to a continuation of patron-client and personalist relations that characterized the state socialist system.

But the separation between the public and private sphere is not clearly defined in Russian society. The

penetration and coerciveness of the Communist Party dulled the line between state and civil society. In

order to consolidate and strengthen the budding private sector, Russia needs to create an administrative

system that actively encourages its growth. Note my use of the word ?actively.?. Laissez faire policies are

not what the private sector needs to grow and develop into a true bourgeoisie. A true bourgeoisie in the

sense that economic opportunity and success is not achieved by simply being a former member of the

nomenklatura. But recent improvements show that the distribution of wealth is becoming more equitable.

Recent improvements in the privatization process, especially in dwellings, hold great promise for the

expansion of small-scale property ownership; an important step in consolidating private ownership. This