Public Administration in the Post-Soviet Space

July 1 – 12

Online/In-person

Language: Russian

The course covers the major characteristics and peculiarities of public administration in the countries which used to be a part of the Soviet Union. 

Course Description

For more than thirty years, the countries which used to be a part of the Soviet Union, have been building their own administrative models which are sometimes surprisingly similar, but usually different from each other. During the course, we will understand if there is a Soviet legacy in public administration, and have a look at the phenomena of neopatrimonialism, patronal politics and 'bad governance' in the post-Soviet space.

We will find out in which fields the post-Soviet countries managed or did not manage to carry out reforms and achieve their full implementation.

The course is based on the political analysis of the specific spheres of a public policy which allows, on one hand, to see the diversity of its manifestations—successful and unsuccessful, skilful and completely incompetent—but, on the other hand, we will be able to come back to the peculiarities of the political development of individual countries and the whole region under study in general.

Why Choose This Course?

The mixture of political research, research on public administration and an analysis of the individual sphere of public policy turns this course into an encyclopaedia of political processes in the post-Soviet space.

Content

• Research of public policy and reforms in the political science
• Peculiarities of the public administration in the Soviet Union
• Achievements and failures of the public administration in the post-Soviet countries
• International influence and authoritarian modernisation as conditions for the success of the state reforms”
• Approaches to the explanation of the post-Soviet development failures (neopatrimonialism, patronal politics, 'bad governance' and so on)
• 'First wave' reforms in the post-Soviet countries: privatisation and creation of the free market
• Tax and budgetary reforms in the post-Soviet countries
• Social policy in the post-Soviet space
• Presentations and a discussion of the final assignments

Skills and Competence

• The students will learn the basic concepts of the political courses research, management and public administration, and will be able to apply them to describe and explain the government processes in post-Soviet countries
• The students will be able to write texts about public administration in the post-Soviet countries for a wide audience

Prerequisites

The course does not require any specific prior knowledge from the students. The knowledge of the main theories of Political Science and basic knowledge of the political processes in the post-Soviet countries may make the course simpler for students, but they are not significant for its successful completion.

Final Assessment

During the course, the students prepare a short text (700-800 words) in the form of an editorial for a popular newspaper on any topic related to the modern process of public administration in post-Soviet countries. The final assessment is based on the preparation and presentation of this text.  

Final Grade Background

The final grade for the course is composed of the grade for the final assignment (50%) and the grade for the participation in the classes: discussion of the read literature and answers to the lecturer's questions (50%).

Course is taught by

Candidate of Sciences (PhD) in Political Institutes, Associate Professor A. Starodubtsev