Teaching Comparative

Rule of Law for some of the "more-equals" in Russia

RFE/RL correspondent Nikola Krastev interviewed Andrei Illarionov recently. There are many ideas in the article for your students to examine. Asking them to find evidence to confirm or contradict these claims would be a valuable exercise.

This article is one of the places where knowing about the Soviet nomenklatura is vital to understanding the message. That knowledge will also help when studying China. If Illarionov is right perhaps the Chinese guanxi "system" is replacing the Soviet nomenklatura "system." Do I sense an essay question coming on?

Economist Says Political Elite 'Have Their Own Law'

"Andrei Illarionov spent five years as Russian President Vladimir Putin's economic adviser. Since leaving his post at the end of 2005, however, he has become a vocal critic of the Kremlin's political tendencies and human rights record.

"The emergence of a new political, economic, and ideological regime... where power is concentrated in the hands of corporations whose members hold all the key positions in the political, economic, ideological, informational, financial, and other spheres of life...

"Another element... is the widespread use of force and violence in various forms toward opponents...

"Are there similarities between this new Russian elite and the Soviet-era nomenklatura?... Certainly. Some people already refer to them as "the new nomenklatura." To a certain extent, that's correct, because the members of this nomenklatura are being appointed to the power structures with no regard for traditional, open, and competitive criteria.

"The Soviet nomenklatura was more ideological; its key element was loyalty to certain sets of dogmas... Now the most important thing is not to be a loyal follower of a certain ideology, but to be loyal to particular personal relationships...

"I have absolutely no interest in following the so-called political campaign and actions of political parties, or the so-called contenders for president [in the March 2008 election]. They're meaningless, because it's all just an imitation campaign... the government is using all the means and resources of the state apparatus, including the Foreign Ministry, the Prosecutor-General's Office, the State Duma, the Defense Ministry, state media, and so on -- all of this has been engaged in order to distract the public..."

Labels: rule-of-law, Russia

posted by Ken Wedding @ 7:50 AM