Mafia and Corruption in Russia

Transcription

1 Mafia and Corruption in Russia PS 388. Instructor: Myagkov Mikhail Class Time: MW am 101 LLCS Office Hours M Myagkov@uoregon.edu GTFs: Bhattacharya Debasis dbhattac@uoregon.edu Golya Tamas tgolya@uoregon.edu Steinmetz Jay steinmet@uoregon.edu Quiz scores here News Articles to Read: Article #1 Medvedev Promises to Fight Corruption Article #2 Article#3 ( corruption index) Article #4 ( corruption in Russian Police Academy ) Russia Opens Bolshoi Theater Corruption Probe: Interior Ministry: Russia takes down 750 militants in 2009: Chances of finding Politkovskaya Killer fades: Ingush Leader Dissmises Government amid Corruption Scandal: Russian godfathers honour mafia boss Vyacheslav Ivankov at funeral and his life story In Moscow, Secretary of State Clinton Pushes Russian Tolerance and Openness: Opposition Parties Stage Walkout of Duma, Claim Vote Fraud: Russia Gas Pipeline Heightens East Europe s Fears: Corruption: Russia's Economic Stumbling Block:

2 Analysts: Russia's Entrenched Corruption Defies Solutions: voa45.cfm?cfid= &cftoken= &jsessionid=de301b8da159d426af074d683f Russians are talking about adopting one party Chinese model. General Description In recent years, stories about Russia in the western media have been full of references to terms such as "Mafia," "Corruption," "Money Laundering" and "Election Fraud." Most western observers (and most Russian citizens as well) seem to agree that corruption is the single most important obstacle that undermines efforts toward Russian reforms. New Russian President Dmitriy Medvedev recently outlined fighting corruption as the top priority for his government. At the same time the Transparency International ranked Russia s corruption as 147 th worst in the world ( out of 180 reported). We will review a number of Russian and foreign sources to confirm whether the situation in Russia is truly as dire as multiple sources suggest. There have been claims, for example, that "The Russian mob controls everything in the country, including nuclear weapons, " and that "Recent elections have been stolen by corrupt politicians close to the ruling elite." Whether these claims are true is not as simple to establish as it might seem. This course will help students understand what has transpired in recent decades in the Russian economy and in Russian politics. To comprehend the current situation, it is necessary to study the organization, the institutions, and the power structure of Russian society. An understanding of these forces, as well as some important insights into how the Russian economy now works, will shed light on the important role of the Mafia within modern Russian society This class will focus on Mafia and Corruption as integral parts of Russia s transition to democracy. We will consider a lot of fascinating examples of criminal and Mafia related activities in Russia. We will watch parts of a movie that is Russian equivalent of the Godfather. We will also look at theoretical aspects of how corruption can undermine democracy. Finally, we will look at other countries around the world that are undergoing transition to democracy, and we will compare situation with crime and corruption in these countries to Russia. Requirements and Grading: Students are expected to attend classes, discussion sessions ( if any), read the required materials ( see below ) and follow ( on a daily basis) news reports which concern Russia's current state of affairs. A special attention should be paid to the reports, which concern Mafia and corruption. There will be a number of in-class quizzes (multiple choice type answers) and two midterm essays to test for the above requirements. Students are expected to actively participate in in-class discussions. Grading Policy: 1. Class attendance and in-class quizzes ( 56% of the grade ) The quizzes will be in the form of multiple choice type questions covering in-class lectures and discussions. There will be a total of 7 quizzes ( each with multiple choice type questions). There will be also attendance taken ( randomly). A missed attendance will result in 3% deduction. Each quiz is worth 8% of the grade. 2. Two in-class midterm essays ( first one worth 24% of the grade and the second one is worth 20% ). There will be two in-class midterm essays during the fifth and tenth week of class. A week before the exam I will distribute a set of 12 questions to study. We will randomly select three of them for the exam. Student will have a choice of any two of these three, Communication: Due to large size of the class, all of the routine issues should be first addressed to a GTF. I will be available for students during my regular office hours on Monday I will NOT be communicating with students via , unless there is an emergency. Organization

3 The class will be organized as a combination of lectures on the evolution and structure of Mafia in Russia and open in-class discussions. Below are tentative themes of subjects to be discussed in the lectures : Week Origins of contemporary corruption in Russia. Organization and structure of the pre-1985 Soviet Union. Socialist Mafia. Readings: Comrade Criminal pp 1-58; Godfather of the Kremlin pp Article: The rise of Russia's crime commissars. By: Gray, John. World Press Review, Jun94, vol. 41 Issue 6, p13 Week Soviet Criminal Worlds and its connection to the state. Vors ( crowned criminals) as clones of soviet bureaucracy. 3. Role of government in a democratic society, and problems associated with corruption as far as collective action is concerned. Readings: Comrade Criminal pp 59-92; Godfather of the Kremlin pp Article: Organized Crime in Russia from the 60s through the first half of the 90s By: Khokhriakov, Gennadii F.. Sociological Research, Sep/Oct2002, Vol. 41 Issue 5, p5-25 Week Role of Mafia in early political reforms in the former Soviet Union. Introduction of money into the equation. 5. Mikhail Gorbachev s Perestroyka and Galsnost and its connection to Mafia formation. Readings: Comrade Criminal pp ; Godfather of the Kremlin pp Article: Reform, corruption, and growth: Why corruption is more devastating in Russia than in China. By: Larsson, Tomas. Communist & Post-Communist Studies, Jun2006, Vol. 39 Issue 2, p Week Formation organization and internal structure of organized criminal groups in Russia, and their relations with the governments of all levels 7. Criminal economy of market reforms: How to Steal a Billion Rubles. Readings: Comrade Criminal pp ; Godfather of the Kremlin pp Article: Diagnosing Corruption in Russia. By: Popov, O.. Russian Social Science Review, Jan/Feb2005, Vol. 46 Issue 1, p19-36 Week Slave Trade and the economic reform. 9. Privatization as the driving force behind formation of state criminal groups.

4 Readings: Comrade Criminal pp ; Godfather of the Kremlin pp Article: From Guns to Briefcases.By: Sokolov, Vsevolod. World Policy Journal, Spring2004, Vol. 21 Issue 1, p68-74 Week Emergence of oligarchs, and formation of state capitalism. 11. Midterm Examination Readings: Comrade Criminal pp ; Godfather of the Kremlin pp Article: Russia after Yeltsin: A Duel of Oligrarchs. By: Khrushchev, Sergei. Mediterranean Quarterly, Summer2000, Vol. 11 Issue 3, pp1-30 Week War in Chechnya as someone s moneymaking enterprise: who did that and why? 13. Corruption in the Russian Army. Readings: Comrade Criminal pp ; Godfather of the Kremlin pp Article: Their Hands in the Till: Scale and Causes of Russian Military Corruption. By: Bukkvoll, Tor. Armed Forces & Society (Sage Publications Inc.), Jan2008, Vol. 34 Issue 2, p Week Role of police, prosecutors and judges in Russia s corrupt legal system. 15. Why Vladimir Putin does not fight corruption and organized crime? Readings: Comrade Criminal pp ; Godfather of the Kremlin pp Article: How is Corruption Punished in Present Day Russia? By: Skoblikov, Petr A.. European Journal of Crime, Criminal Law & Criminal Justice, 2006, Vol. 14 Issue 4, p , Week Russia s foreign policy as a tool of corrupt oligarchs 17. Election fraud in Russia s elections. Readings: Comrade Criminal pp 331-end; Godfather of the Kremlin pp Article: Why was democracy lost in Russia s regions? Lessons from Nizhnii Novgorod By: Sharafutdinova, Gulnaz. Communist & Post-Communist Studies, Sep2007, Vol. 40 Issue 3, p Week Corruption and Organized Crime in Former Soviet States.

5 19. Russia, Oil prices and elites incentives to changes Article: What RussiaMust Do to Fight Organized Crime By: Firestone, Thomas. Demokratizatsiya, Winter2006, Vol. 14 Issue 1, p59-65, Preparation for writing the essay(s) Examples of discussion topics are as follows: Is corruption in Russia a result of its communist past? Is Russia s President Vladimir Putin going to fight corruption? Are Gorbachev or/and Yeltsin to blame for the Mafia propagation in Russia? Is Election Fraud a real problem in Russian politics? Is there a link between Russian organized crime and international terrorism? Why are Russian people so tolerant to the widespread corruption? Is war in Chechnya on Mafia s agenda too? Is corruption bad for Russian economy? Readings: Reading Package of 10 Peer-Reviewed Articles Godfather of the Kremlin by Paul Khlebnikov ( required ) "Comrade Criminal" by Stephen Handelman (required) Violent Entrepreneurs" by Vadim Volkov ( recommended) "Bear Hunting with Politburo" by Craig Copetas (recommended) WWW Sites to follow:

6 Workload Expectations To be successful in fulfilling the above described requirements, students are expected to spend at least eight hours a week working on this class. This should include the following: 1. reading required books 2. reading peer-reviewed articles 3. attending discussion sessions 4. following the recommended web sites as well as looking for their own news and stories that are related to the topic of the class. ( highly recommended) 5. working on the essay study topics