Country Fact Sheet
Directions
Below is some key information you should know about each countries you studied in Comparative Politics. Use this chart to test yourself and see what you need to review
Federal/Unitary | Number of subunits * “federal districts” * Mayors races (municipalities and subunits), governors | Description of arrangement (for example, devolution, etc) 374- Yeltsin and Putin (How change?) 375- “subjects of the federation” 375- Putin’s role |
Presidential, Parliamentary, or Mixed? **Remember to research UPDATED information on President and Prime Minister. The book is outdated** Also, carefully describe how the system works because it is unique. | Name of Head of State (for example, President) | Name of Head of Government |
Head of State/Head of Government | Powers of head of state, length of term * Presidency * Party of Power | Powers of head of government 371- The Government |
Election of head of state, length of term | Election of head of government | |
Name of Legislative Branch (Identify both houses if applicable) | Number of seats in legislative branch, length of term, describe power of legislative branch (rubber stamp, powerful) * Parliament (Duma and Federal Council) * Single Member Districts (Duma elections) | Describe elections of legislative branch 374-375- Executive-Legislative Relations 373- 3 |
Name of Judicial Branch | How are judges selected? *Constitutional Court * The Bar | Describe type of power 402- Judiciary (know the difference between the Supreme Court and the |
Bureaucracy/Cabinet | Describe bureaucracy * Procuracy (this is not the bureaucracy itself but plays an important role in how the bureaucracy operates) *You will need to do some outside research for this topic* | Describe cabinet *You will need to do some outside research for this topic* |
Political Recruitment/Participation | How are elites recruited? * Soviet Regime (nomenklatura). Also, discuss recent changes. * Channels of recruitment of political elite * New Sectors | What are various forms of participation? |
Other important institutions (complete only if applicable to the country) | ||
Media | Describe type of “feedback” citizens receive * How affected by FSB? * What forced the media to report a “sanitized picture of its wars?” What does this say about the role of the media. *You may need to do some outside research on this topic, as well* | |
Legitimacy You may want to combine this with “Historical Evolution of Political Traditions” | Describe levels of legitimacy * Historical sources of legitimacy (very important) * Describe the lack of legitimacy when transitioning from communism to democracy. This may require some outside research, as well. | Identify sources of legitimacy 401- Law-governed state 403- Constitutional Adjudication (How treat the President and why?) *You also could discuss Putin’s popularity as a source of legitimacy for his policies (p. 380).* 404- Role of Corruption in undermining legitimacy. |
Features of the Constitution VERY important section! | When was it written? Established in 1993 and still lasts today. * Still evolving (discuss how power is used and the role of informal rules) * Obstacles to the Rule of Law (don’t forget corruption among citizens, businesses, and organized crime) | Identify 3 unique features 378- 1. delegative democracy 2. Super federations 3. hallowed out democracy |
Historical Evolution of Political Traditions You may want to combine with “Legitimacy” | (Identify 3 key events and briefly explain how the events shaped current government (revolutions for example) * Challenges of democracy, mindset change. * Tsarist Regime, Communist Revolution, Transition Period (Demise of USSR, and 1990-1993) | |
Key Political Leaders and their Policies | Identify and describe at least 3 key political leaders * Lenin and Stalin * Gorbachev * Yeltsin and Putin * Yeltsin and Putin policies regarding their use of power * Putin authoritarian while Yeltsin not so much * Putin’s approval | |
Ethnic Cleavages | Identify the major ethnic cleavages in the country * Demographic factors (2nd paragraph) * | Describe the results of these cleavages in political conflict and government response; include a description of women |
Political Parties (Identify/describe platforms of 3) | Discuss role of Communist Party in Russian political life. * United * parties and aggregation of interests | |
Electoral Systems | Describe the methods by which citizens elect their leaders. Include length of terms, frequency of elections, * Single Member Districts (Duma elections) | |
Role of Political Elites | Identify elites (people with political power) and describe the role * Governors and conflict * Governors * oligarchs | |
Citizens | Describe attitudes towards government (political socialization) * Russian Political Culture (History of autocratic rule, Gibson findings, impact of Yeltsin reforms) * Faith in political system * contradictory elements * Political socialization * Participation * Social Capital * New Sectors of Interest * Social Conditions | Describe types of political participation |
Interest Group System (identify pluralist or corporatist) | Identify key interest groups * RUIE * Committee of Soldiers’ mothers. * FITUR | Describe their power and activities 386- Between statism and pluralism (be sure to define each and discuss how between the two) -Also, discuss transition, impact of glasnost, insider and outsider access) |
Economic System (identify capitalist, socialist, etc.; identify major economic policies government has adopted) | Identify state-owned industries, foreign-owned industries, nature of privatization *market economy (describe how?) *stabilization and privatization (describe what these are and consequences of each in detail) | Describe nature of private/public industries 400- Challenges of post-communist state (contrast on paper and in practice), 1998 collapse of ruble) |
First World/ | Describe level of economic development *This discussion can be combined with above* | Identify 5 socioeconomic indicators that places the country in this category |
Supranational Organizations | Identify supranational organizations that country is a part of (Provide a brief discussion of challenges) | Discuss impact of supranational organizations on sovereignty and on development 406- emphasize trade with the west and their view of the war on terror |
Public Policy | Identify and describe 3 recent policies | Identify and describe most pressing current problems |
Other | Yukos Affair *Describe |
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