The ministry of civil society?

Problems of Post-Communism

Volumn 56, Issue 6, 2009, Pages 7-20

  Richter, James ^a  

^a BATES COLLEGE   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 72449190077     PISSN: 10758216     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.2753/PPC1075-8216560602     Document Type: Article

References (84)

1. Vladimir Putin, "Speech at the Enlarged Government Meeting with the Government and Heads of the Regions" (September 13, 2004), available at www.kremlin.ru/eng/speeches/2004/09/13/0000-type82912type8291376667. shtml.
2. Federalnyi zakon Rossiiskoi Federatsii ot 4 aprelia 2005 g. N32-F3 "Ob Obshchestvennoi palate Rossiiskoi Federatsii" (Federal Law from April 4, 2005. N32-F3. On the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation), available at the official Web site of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation, www. oprf.ru/about/law/418.
3. A partial list can be found in the partnery (partners) section of the Web site of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation (www.oprf.ru/ru/ interaction). The list continues to grow.
4. For a complete list, see the Obshchestvennyi Kontrol (Social Monitoring) subsection of the Public Chamber's Web site (www.oprf.ru/ru/762/836/).
5. Nikolai Petrov, "Obshchestvennaia Palata: Dlia vlasti ili obshchestva?" (The Public Chamber: For the Authorities or for Society?), Pro et Contra 10, no.1 (January/February 2006): 41, available at www.carnegie.ru/en/pubs/ procontra/74103.htm.
6. Sarah L. Henderson, "Shaping Civic Advocacy: International and Domestic Policies Towards Russia's NGO Sector" (Evans School of Public Affairs Project on Rethinking Advocacy Organizations, University of Washington, 2008), available at http://evans.washington.edu/files/HendersonAdvocacyChapter. pdf.
7. The adjective "decorative" is a favorite among Russian commentators to describe the public chamber. See Dmitri Deryabin, "Dekorativnye struktury tormoziat razvitie grazhdanskogo obshchestva" (Decorative Structures Hinder Development of Civil Society), Nezavisimaia Gazeta (March 20, 2008), available at www.ng.ru/ng-politics/2008-03-18/19-oreshkin. html;
8. Mikhail Belyi, "Obshchestvennaya Palatka" (The Public Kiosk), Ekspert Online (July 8, 2008), available at www.expert.ru/articles/2008/07/08/ ulpalata.
9. For the depiction of the public chamber as a transmission belt, see Peter Rutland, "Is Putin Out to Destroy Civil Society in Russia?" Eurasia Daily Monitor (June 1, 2004), available at www.jamestown.org/edu/article.php? article-id=236788.
10. Alfred B. Evans, Jr., "The First Steps of Russia's Public Chamber: Representation or Coordination?" Demokratizatsiya 16, no.4 (2008): 345-62;
11. see also see James Richter, "Putin and the Public Chamber," Post-Soviet Affairs 25, no.1 (2009): 40-66.
12. On gosudarstvennost, see Oleg Kharkordin, "What Is the State? The Russian Concept of Gosudarstvo in the European Context," History and Society 40, no.22 (2001): 206-240
13. Also John Squier, "Civil Society and the Challenge of Russian Gosudarstvennost," Demokratizatsiya 10, no.2 (2002): 166-183
14. Philip G. Cerny, "Political Globalization and the Competition State," in The Political Economy of the Changing Global Order, 3d ed., ed. Richard Stubbs and Geoffrey R.D. Underhill (New York: Oxford University Press, 2005), pp. 376-386
15. Dmitry Medvedev, "Address to the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation" (November 5, 2008), available at www.kremlin.ru/eng/speech-es/ 2008/11/05/2144-type70029type82917type127286-208836.shtml.
16. Putin made a similar statement at a December 23, 2004, press conference; see www. kremlin.ru/eng/speeches/2004/12/23/1806-type82915- 81700.shtml.
17. Jens Bartelson, "Making Sense of Global Civil Society," European Journal of International Relations 12, no.3 (2006): 371-395
18. There are many accounts of the weakness of Russian civil society. The best are Marc Morje Howard, The Weakness of Civil Society in Post- Communist Europe (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2002);
19. Lisa McIntosh Sundstrom and Laura A. Henry, "Russian Civil Society: Tensions and Trajectories," in Russian Civil Society: A Critical Assessment, ed. Alfred B. Evans, Laura A. Henry, and Lisa McIntosh Sundstrom (Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, 2006), pp. 305-322
20. See Sundstrom and Henry, "Russian Civil Society";
21. Linda J. Cook and Elena Vinogradov, "NGOS and Social Policy-Making in Russia's Regions," Problems of Post-Communism 53, no.5 (September/October 2006): 26-41.
22. Author's interview with Oblast Minister-Chair of the Committee for Ties to Society, Saratov, Russia, June 5, 2009.
23. Harley Balzer, "Managed Pluralism: Vladimir Putin's Emerging Regime," Post-Soviet Affairs 1, no.3 (2003): 191.
24. More information on the Civic Forum can be found in Alexander Nikitin and Jane Buchanan, "The Kremlin's Civic Forum: Cooperation or Co-optation for Civil Society in Russia?" Demokratizatsiya 10, no.2 (2002): 147-165
25. See especially Henderson, "Shaping Civic Advocacy";
26. Elena Belokurova and Natalia Yagomskaia, "Do i posle Grazhdanskogo Foruma: Grazhdanskoe ob-shchestvo v regionakh Severo-Zapada" (Before and After the Civil Forum: Civil Society in the Northwest Regions), in Grazhdanskoe obshchestvo i politicheskie protsessy v regionakh (Civil Society and Political Processes in the Regions), Carnegie Moscow Center, Working Paper, no.3, 2005, pp. 23-28.
27. Belokurova and Yargomskaia, "Do i posle Grazhdanskogo Foruma."
28. The doctrine of sovereign democracy is articulated in three articles written by Surkov in 2006-2007: Vladislav Surkov, "Sekretnyi doklad Vladis- lava Surkova" (Secret Report of Vladislav Surkov), Radio Liberty, May 17, 2005 (www.svobodanews.ru/content/article/127679.html);
29. Vladislav Surkov, "Natsionalizatsiia budushchego" (Nationalizing the Future), Ekspert 43, no.537 (November 20, 2006) (www.expert.ru/printissues/expert/2006/43/natsionalizatsiia-buduschego);
30. and Vladislav Surkov, "Russkaia politicheskaia kultura. Vzglad iz utopii" (lecture in the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Sciences, June 7, 2007)
31. reprinted, Russian Journal (www.russ.ru/politics/ docs/russkaya- politicheskaya-kultura-vzglyad-iz-utopii).
32. Surkov, "Natsionalizatsiia budushchego."
33. The phrase "renationalizing" in this context comes from Sergej Ljubownikow, Jo Crotty, and Peter W. Rodgers, "Dependence or Independence: The Prospect of the Development of a Russian Style Civil Society" (paper presented at the annual conference of the Academy of Management, Chicago, August 7-11, 2009).
34. For similar arguments, see Henderson, "Shaping Civic Advocacy";
35. Julie Hemment, "Whose Potemkin Democracy? Making Sense of Civil Society in Post-Soviet Russia" (paper presented at the Kennan Institute workshop, International Development Assistance in Post-Soviet Space, Washington, DC, May/December 2007).
36. Vladimir Putin, "Annual Address to the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation" (May 26, 2004), available at www.kremlin.ru/eng/ speeches/2004/05/26/1309-type70029type82912-71650.shtml.
37. Audrey Wood, "Enforcement of the NGO Law: A Deeper Look" (Wood- side, CA, School of Russian and Asian Studies, October 29, 2006), available at www.sras.org/news2.phtml?m=780. In July 2009, this law was revised to mitigate somewhat the powers of surveillance and the daunting reporting requirements. In essence, though, the law remains the same.
38. Debra Javeline and Sarah Lindemann-Komarova, "How We Assess Civil Society Developments: The Russia Example," PONARS Eurasian Policy Memo, no.34 (August 2008), available at http://ceres.georgetown.edu/esp/ ponarsmemos/page/55934.html.
39. Ibid. Debra Javeline and Sarah Lindemann-Komarova, PONARS Eurasian Policy Memo;
40. see also Henderson, "Shaping Civic Advocacy."
41. Several organizations I interviewed in both Saratov and Volgograd, including two organizations working with disabled children and one advocating the human rights of immigrant laborers, had received grants both from foreign donors and from the competitions overseen by the public chamber.
42. Federalnyi zakon Rossiiskoi Federatsii ot 4 aprelia 2005 g. N32-F3.
43. For example, the report published for 2008 criticizes the 2006 law on NGOs, but only for excessive reporting requirements and for not providing the funding to allow the Federal Registration to perform its job adequately. See "Report on the State of Civil Society in the Russian Federation (2008)," Public Chamber, Moscow, 2009, 75.
44. A somewhat more detailed analysis of the PCRF can be found in Richter, "Putin and the Public Chamber."
45. In August 2006, the Kremlin substantially revised the list of grantees in the first competition for government grants to Russian NGOs. As an explanation, Maria Slobodskaia, chair of the Public Chamber for the Development of Civil Society, admitted, "There were instances of pressure on the part of NPOs [non-profit organizations] and other high officials" in awarding the grants. See "Russian Public Chamber Supports Changes to Distributing Grants Among NPOs," Interfax (August 23, 2007).
46. Author's interview with a member of the PCRF, Moscow, June 5, 2007.
47. The in"luence of presidential support in the early days of the public chamber is discussed in Evans, "First Steps of Russia's Public Chamber";
48. and Richter, "Putin and the Public Chamber."
49. Author's interview with Sergei Markov, member of PCRF, June 15, 2007.
50. Deryabin, "Dekorativnye struktury."
51. Meeting with members of the faculty in political science, Saratov Classical University, June 25, 2007.
52. Vladimir Avdonin, "Davlenie sovetskikh traditsii na grazhdanskoe obshchestvo v regione: Sluchai Riazanskoi oblasti" (The Pressure of Soviet Traditions on Civil Society in a Region: The Case of Ryazan Oblast), in Grazhdanskoe obshchestvo i politicheskie protsessy v regionakh, pp. 9-22.
53. Henderson, "Shaping Civic Advocacy."
54. Ibid. Henderson, "Shaping Civic Advocacy."
55. Belokurova and Yagomskaia, "Do i posle Grazhdanskogo Foruma."
56. Avdonin, "Davlenie sovetskikh traditsii na grazhdanskoe obshchestvo v regione."
57. See Aleksandr Yagodkin "V Voronezhe Obshchestvennaia palata soprotivliaetsia grazhdanskomu obshchestvy tikho, no effektivno" (In Voronezh the Public Chamber Opposes Civil Society Quietly, But Effectively), Novaya gazeta (November 21, 2007), available at www.novayagazeta.ru/data/2007/ 89/08. html;
58. Natalya Zviagina, "V obshchestvennoi palate voronezhskoo oblasti bolshe ne budet komiteta po zashchite prav cheloveka" (In the Public Chamber of the Voronezh Region There Will No Longer Be a Committee for Human Rights), Kollektivnoe Deistvie (March 23, 2007), available at http://ikd.ru/ node/2495/print.
59. Among the forty-seven laws passed after March 2005 that I found on the Internet, nearly forty had a selection process similar to the PCRF. The most common difference was that the members chosen from social organizations are recognized as representatives in about twenty of these new chambers.
60. Natalia Kostenko, "Shestdesiat piat odnikh obshchestvennykh palat" (65 Identical Public Chambers), Nezavisimaia gazeta (April 20 2006), available at www.ng.ru/politics/2006-04-20/1-shestdesyat-pyat.html.
61. Yagodkin, "V Voronezhe Obshchestvennaia palata soprotivliaetsia grazhdanskomu obshchestvy tikho."
62. Kostenko, "Shestdesiat piat odnikh obshchestvennykh palat."
63. Nadezhda Borisova, "Permskii Krai v dekabre, 2008 g" (Perm Krai in December 2008), Carnegie Moscow Center, Regional Monitoring report (January 2009), available at http://monitoring.carnegie.ru/2009/01/perm/borisova- december-2008/;
64. Sergei Ovchinnikov, "V Permskom krae poiavitsia svoia obshchestvennaia palata" (Perm Krai Now Has Its Own Public Chamber), Perm State Radio and Television (March 6, 2009), available at http://perm.rfn. ru/rnews.html?id=34879.
65. "Kakoi khotelos by videt Obshchestvennuiu palatu?" (What Kind of Public Chamber Would You Like to See?), Gazeta "Zhenskii Parlament," no.50 (December 2006), available at www.natm.ru/womenpar/gaz/ 50/50palata.htm.
66. Vadim Popov, "Konstantin Yemeshin, ispolnitelnyi sekretar Obshchestvennoi palaty Altaiskogo kraia" (Konstantin Yemeshin, Executive Secretary of the Public Chamber of Altai Kray), Klub Regionov (October 27, 2007), available at http://club-rf.ru/r22/person/4324.
67. This account relies on interviews with Oblast Minister-Chair of the Committee with Ties to Society, June 4, 2009, and a discussion with members of the former public chamber, June 20, 2007.
68. Of course, there are also the many regions that have not yet passed such legislation at all. These are found disproportionately in the Russian Far East and among the national republics. In some cases, as in Sverdlovsk and St. Petersburg, the absence of such legislation does not necessarily mean the absence of an institutionalized medium for interactions between state and society, just the absence of a successful coalition willing to change existing arrangements.
69. Deryabin, "Dekorativnye struktury."
70. Author's interview with the secretary of the Volgograd Public Chamber, Volgograd, June 8, 2009.
71. Author's interview with an activist from an advocacy organization for disabled children, Volgograd, June 9, 2009. Expressions of surprise also came from another interview with an advocacy organization for disabled children, Volgograd, June 8, 2009, and an activist for a small business association, Volgograd, June 8, 2009.
72. Activist, Small Business Association, Volgograd, June 8, 2009.
73. Belyi, "Obshchestvennaia Palatka."
74. "Vyshli iz palaty" (They've Left the Chamber), Ekspert Online (June 18, 2008), available at www.expert.ru/news/2008/06/18/ulop.
75. Member, Saratov Public Chamber and environmental activist, interview with author, June 5, 2009. This impression was confirmed in two other interviews with activists and academics in Saratov.
76. Leonid Knizhkov, "Efim Shusterman: Da, my ne dengi delili . . ." (Efim Shusterman: Yes, We've Distributed No Money . . .), Ezhenedelnaia rossiiskaia gazeta Inter, no.8 (February 28, 2008), available at www.inter-volgograd.ru/ second.shtml?id=5315). It should be noted that neither argument was successful. The six members who resigned in Ulyanovsk were quickly replaced with six new people with close ties to One Russia. In Volgograd, the governor vetoed the legislation reforming the public chamber.
77. Federalnyi zakon Rossiiskoi Federatsii ot 4 aprelia 2005 g. N32-F3.
78. Kostenko, "Shestdesiat piat odnikh obshchestvennykh palat."
79. Iosif, Diskin, "Vlast dolzhna dobitsia doveriia k antikrizisnym meram" (The Authorities Must Gain Trust for Anti-Crisis Measures), RIA Novosti (June 24, 2009), available at www.rian.ru/crisis-news/20090624/ 175299742.html.
80. Former member, Saratov Public Chamber and migrant labor activist, interview with author, June 6, 2009.
81. Author interview with Saratov Oblast Minister-Chair of the Committee for Ties to Society, June 4, 2009; author meeting with members of the previous Saratov public chamber, June 20, 2007.
82. Sarah Lindemann-Komarova, "Re: JRL 2009 #55: Moscow Times Kremlin Doles Out Funds to NGOs," Johnson's Russia List, no.56 (March 20, 2009), available at www.cdi.org/russia/johnson/2009-56-15.cfm; author interview with migrant labor activist, Saratov, June 4, 2009.
83. Sergei Borisov, "Obshchestvennaia palata nizhegorodskoi oblasti-eto produkt biurokraticheskogo tvorchestva" (The Public Chamber of Nizhegorod Oblast Is the Product of Bureaucratic Craftsmanship), Agentstvo politicheskikh novostei-Nizhnii Novgorod (Agency for Political News-Nizhnii Novgorod), (October 2008), available at www.apn-nn.ru/comment-s/1079.html.
84. The notion of an emerging "Russian-style" civil society is discussed at length in Ljubownikov, Crotty, and Rodgers, "Dependence or Independence."