Teaching Comparative

Russian (Political) Idol

Ah, reality TV - combined with politics. Now we're talking about real prizes: a seat in the legislature!

Who needs blonde celebrities like Ksenia Sobchak to kick start political participation when you can recruit future leaders on live TV. At the beach, no less.

Maybe MTV should do something like this rather than trying to replicate a League of Women Voters "get out the vote" campaign for GenX or GenY or Gen Z.

On a more serious note, there's more evidence here that United Russia is modeling itself on the CPSU. Does "Young Guard, the party's youth wing" sound as much like a modern version of Komsomol (Young Communist League) to you as it does to me?

One other note about Lipetsk television. In September 2001, The St. Petersburg Times reported that the government had taken over the independent broadcaster in Lipetsk.

(Regional TV Station Falls Victim to Takeover

MOSCOW - An NTV-style takeover has occurred at TVK, the oldest privately owned television station in Lipetsk, and a regular critic of the region's governor.

Security police last Wednesday locked out the 100 staff members and helped to install a new general director, Dmitry Kolbasko.

"We always offered our audience a point of view different from that of our governor's office," ousted TVK news editor Ilya Sakharov said Thursday by telephone. "Thus, local official agencies, like the Tax Police or fire departments, have been very persistent in their attempts to close us down in the past two years."

Lipetsk regional administration spokesperson Alexander Sarik did not conceal his satisfaction. "The company now belongs to predictable people whom the governor's office has known for a long time," Sarik said.

Kolbasko appointed his brother, Alexei, as TVK editor, Kommersant reported...)

While provoking a discussion about varieties of political recruitment is the obvious purpose of teaching with this article, discussing or writing about these last two serious notes are probably the real purposes of sharing articles like this one with students. It might sound a bit like bait and switch, but it's worth it.




Russian Party Asks Young: Who Wants to Be a Deputy?

"LIPETSK, Russia -- To the list of contest prizes that stoke fantasies worldwide -- riches, fame, a dream date, a new washer-dryer -- add another: a seat in parliament.

"Shunning pinstripes for shorts and bathing suits, a group of potential legislators was unveiled at a beach party here last weekend -- the first-round winners in a competition called Political Factory, modeled on the popular Russian television show Star Factory. Plucked from obscurity, a few of these aspiring lawmakers, or deputies, are due to join the Russian ruling class by October...

"In April, the Supreme Council of United Russia, the political party that supports President Vladimir Putin and controls legislatures at both the federal and regional levels, decided that 20 percent of all candidates on party lists in future elections must be between 21 and 28 years of age.

"The move is part of efforts to broaden the party's membership beyond the stolid bureaucrats and businessmen who currently stuff its ranks -- many of them inspired not by ideological fervor but by the party's almost complete electoral dominance.

"Lipetsk's regional governor, Oleg Korolyov, joined United Russia last October, part of a wave of political grandees switching sides. But how to recruit at the entry level? Young Guard, the party's youth wing, hatched the idea of a reality contest and opened it up to all comers. The competition was launched in May in nine regions, including Lipetsk, that are scheduled to hold local parliamentary elections in the fall.

"It's the first time in Russian history that a party has made a decision to share real power . . . on every level from local to federal," said Ivan Demidov, a Young Guard leader and well-known television personality. "It's the first actual step toward renewing the elite."...

Critics call this approach a desperate gimmick. "Demidov is a showman," said Vladimir Pribylovsky, head of the Panorama research institute in Moscow. "The president asked him to propagandize among young people and he had to come up with something new to generate some interest. But I don't believe they'll give away parliamentary seats. There are too many of the party's adults who want them."

One young person who embraced the idea was [21-year-old Svetlana] Kondakova. "You look at politicians, and all you see are middle-aged men -- and how are they going to solve the questions of young people?" she said, speaking on the beach of an artificial lake outside Lipetsk. "This competition is a real surprise and a chance for young people to actually do things."...

Over the next month, the winners have to gather the signatures of 500 people who pledge to support them in the fall elections. They also have to organize some local events to show their political smarts. The contest will end with a debate among the 20 aspirants before the judging panel makes its final decision.

On June 27, five final winners will be chosen in Lipetsk and added to the party list. Three of those will almost certainly end up in parliament.

"We're looking for energetic, thinking patriots," said Alexei Demikhov, head of Young Guard in Lipetsk. "And our main task is to choose those we won't feel ashamed of when they become deputies."

posted by Ken Wedding @ 9:13 AM