State and Society: Toward the Emergence of Civil Society in the Soviet Union

2019 ◽  
pp. 130-150
Author(s):  
Gail W. Lapidus
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
State And Society

State and Society under Stalin: Constitutions and Elections in the 1930s

Slavic Review ◽  
1991 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
pp. 18-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Arch Getty
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Civil Rights ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
State And Society ◽  
The World ◽  
Democratic Elections ◽  
Democratic Country

It is clear that tested by the Constitution of the Soviet Union as revised and enacted in 1936, the USSR is the most inclusive and equalised democracy in the world.Sidney and Beatrice Webb, 1937Many who lauded Stalin's Soviet Union as the most democratic country on earth lived to regret their words. After all, the Soviet Constitution of 1936 was adopted on the eve of the Great Terror of the late 1930s; the “thoroughly democratic” elections to the first Supreme Soviet permitted only uncontested candidates and took place at the height of the savage violence in 1937. The civil rights, personal freedoms, and democratic forms promised in the Stalin constitution were trampled almost immediately and remained dead letters until long after Stalin's death.

Managing civil society: democratisation and the environmental movement in a Russian region

2003 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 489-508 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jo Crotty
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
Citizen Participation ◽  
Russian Federation ◽  
Third Sector ◽  
Environmental Movement ◽  
Donor Funding ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
The Russian Federation ◽  
Donor Agencies

The stalling of civil society development within the Russian Federation and its attendant causes have been a focus of academic study since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Alongside the emergence of a fragmented and chronically under-funded community of advocacy groups, the literature points to a rejection of democratic structures by the Russian populace and an absence of active civil engagement. Consequently, the international community has sought to bolster the growth and development of the Russian third sector by funding projects and organisations with a view to increasing public participation.Utilising research undertaken in Samara oblast of the Russian Federation, this paper examines the role played by overseas donor agencies within the Samara Environmental Movement (SEM). In examining both the quality and quantity of donor assistance received, it reveals a number of dysfunctions arising from this aid, and in particular, a lack of contextualization and mis-direction of the assistance offered vis-à-vis citizen participation, alongside other behavioural impacts of donor funding within the SEM itself.

The Role of Historical Memory in the Socio-Political Processes of Chechnya (1986—1994)

Istoriya ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (10 (108)) ◽  
pp. 0
Author(s):  
Cécile Druey
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
Historical Memory ◽  
Mikhail Gorbachev ◽  
Relational Approach ◽  
Political Processes ◽  
Local Newspapers ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Autonomous Republic

During the years that preceded and followed the disintegration of the Soviet Union, the Autonomous Republic of Chechnya in the south of Russia has experienced an intensive movement of civil society mobilisation, nationalist radicalisation and armed conflict. Referring to the case of the society “Kavkaz” as an example for the emerging movement of civil society, this paper traces the mobilising role of history and historical memory during the period of reform under Mikhail Gorbachev in the late-1980s, until the onset of the first Chechnya War in 1994. It argues, that the use of historical memory is not that much a cause, than it is an indicator of conflict and radicalisation in society, and that these processes of radicalisation are closely linked to their context at a local, national and international level. Drawing on data collected from interviews with representatives of the Chechen national movement, from local newspapers and legal acts, the paper tracks the evolution of civil society movements in Chechnya in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Doing so, it departs from a relational approach to conflict analysis (della Porta, 2018; Alimi, Bosi, and Demetriou, 2012; Tilly and Tarrow, 2015; Hughes and Sasse, 2016). Located at the intersection between conflict- and memory studies, the paper thus adds insights to the study of the pre-war period in post-Soviet Chechnya, and in general to the conceptual discussion about the link between historical memory, mobilisation, radicalisation and conflict.

The Making and Breaking of States: The End of Empire in India Revisited

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judith M. Brown
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Public Interest ◽  
Arab World ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
State And Society ◽  
The World ◽  
The Many ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Imperial State ◽  
Second World

Recent events in the Arab world have sharpened and widened public interest in the way states can be broken and made. Since the end of the Second World War the world has seen three great waves of state-breaking and state-making: the end of European empires; the collapse of the Soviet Union; and the contemporary ‘Arab Spring’. By revisiting an example from the first of these great waves, perhaps the greatest ‘imperial ending’—the end of British imperial rule in India in 1947, this lecture investigates issues which may prove instructive in probing the dynamics of other phases of turbulence in the structures and nature of states. It addresses four major questions which are relevant across the many different episodes of state breaking and making, with the help of evidence from the case of the South Asian subcontinent. What is the relationship between state and society and the patterns of relationship which help to determine the nature and vulnerability of the state? What makes a viable and destabilising opposition to the imperial state? What is the nature of the breaking or collapse of that state? How are states refashioned out of the inheritance of the previous regime and the breaking process?

Introduction

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
Alexander Cooley ◽  
Daniel Nexon
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
The United States ◽  
Great Powers ◽  
Critical Factors ◽  
Liberal Democratic ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Transnational Civil Society ◽  
Us Hegemony

Analysts have pronounced the end of American leadership since at least the 1970s. In the 1980s, some confidently proclaimed that the United States was in decline and Japan was on the rise. But in 1989, Moscow allowed its satellite regimes in Eastern Europe to collapse; in 1991 the Soviet Union fell apart under the pressure of nationalist movements. The resulting American “unipolar moment” was marked by three critical factors: the lack of any great powers both willing and able to challenge US hegemony; the existence of a “patronage monopoly” centered around the United States and its liberal democratic allies; and the development of a transnational civil society composed of liberal nongovernment organizations, international institutions, and activist networks. However, great powers and regional players now challenge US power; Washington has lost its patronage monopoly; and illiberal transnational movements are on the offensive against a retreating liberal international civil society.

The Great Patriotic War, 1941–1945

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine Andreyev
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Russian Orthodox ◽  
Russian Orthodox Church ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
State And Society ◽  
History Of ◽  
War Aims ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Second World

After a long period of scholarly neglect, owing partly to political reasons, the Second World War is now being studied as an integral part of the history of the Soviet Union. This chapter considers the war’s far reaching effects on state and society, taking a multi-faceted, comparative view. Beginning with German and Soviet war aims, the chapter goes on to highlight recent historiography, which has revealed much about the experience of the individual Soviet soldier and has emphasized that by concentrating on military set-pieces, such as the battle of Stalingrad, we risk distorting our understanding of the war. Also discussed are controversial subjects such as collaboration and partisan warfare, and the impact of the war on the Russian Orthodox Church and on Russian national identity.

scholarly journals Participation of the Public in Central and Local Governance: Principles, Statistics and European Experiences for Ukraine

2019 ◽  
Vol 85 (2) ◽  
pp. 21-30
Author(s):  
V. М. Semianovskyi
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
Public Participation ◽  
Local Governance ◽  
Solution Process ◽  
Problem Solution ◽  
Public Governance ◽  
Society Business ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Soviet Union

Issues of the effective participation and cooperation of the civil society in power bodies have been a central social problem of the globe in the latest times. Although theoretical issues of participatory governance have been well developed and widely implemented, e. g. in business sector, cooperation of Power and Community pose a serious problem in the world and Ukraine in particular. The effectiveness of cooperation between Power and the civil society is downgraded by the issue the current condition of both parties, the quality of their work and their mutual trust. Also, it needs to be born in mind that this problem is a part of the triangle Power – Society – Business, and that the external environment has significant impact in the conditions of globalization. Given the Ukrainian context, it should be considered that the power system here was inherited from the Soviet Union. It is incompatible with the present-day realities, and its reform has been so far ineffective. The data from the State Statistics Service of Ukraine (SSSU) show the vast numbers of officials in local governance and central power bodies, picked up in industry-like administrative departments. The bulky apparatus of public governance being streamlined on the problem solution process in economic industries, social problems, not mentioning the ones of individual humans, can be looked at only before elections.   On the other hand, according to SSSU, Ukraine has a network of rather diverse public organizations, but their total number is small. According to Eurostat, quantitative and qualitative parameters of the civil society in Ukraine lag far behind the European ones. A diversity of goals, weak consolidation of efforts, resources and methods for solving the most important problems are factors complicating the cooperation between Power and Community. Theoretical and practical aspects of the problem related with cooperation of Power and the civil society have been elaborated in Europe since long. Advanced principles and various technologies for its solution have been proposed and implemented. The first typology of the public participation in form of “public participation staircase” was admittedly made by researcher Sh. R. Arnstein. She broke the staircase into the three levels: non-participation, symbolic participation, public power. To boost the effectiveness of collaborative action, the European community has elaborated the Code of recommended norms for the participation of the public in taking public decisions. In fact, this technology is the standard of cooperation between Power and Community in Europe.   The need for reform of the system for cooperation of power bodies with the civil society in Ukraine by use the European experience of cooperation is substantiated. The issues of goals, principles, methods and phases of cooperation between the power and the society, their advantages and drawbacks are highlighted.

scholarly journals Why the Reasons for the Collapse of the USSR should be Sought before the USSR Formation. First Article

2020 ◽  
pp. 10-17
Author(s):  
V. A. Shamakhov ◽  
N. M. Mezhevich
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Russian Empire ◽  
The State ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
State And Society ◽  
The Russian Empire ◽  
Soviet Model

It is pointless to begin the search for an answer to the question about the reasons for the collapse of the Soviet Union by analyzing the events of the eighties of the last century, moreover, considering the Soviet form of organization of the state and society. It is necessary to remember what the creators of the Soviet model relied on practices tested in the Russian Empire.

Popular Opinion Under Communist Regimes

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sheila Fitzpatrick
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
Public Sphere ◽  
Eastern Europe ◽  
The State ◽  
Popular Opinion ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Collapse Of Communism ◽  
Over Time

The totalitarian nature of communist states is generally understood to exclude the existence of a public sphere sufficiently independent of the state to allow the expression of a range of opinions. However, popular opinion, if not a public sphere, did exist and it was monitored extensively by these states, since leaders needed to know about popular responses to their policies and campaigns. This essay explores the limits on the expression of popular opinion in the Soviet Union, China, and Eastern Europe, and the ways in which those limits shifted—and were challenged—over time. If it may be argued that the transformation of popular opinion into a ‘public sphere’ followed the collapse of communism in Poland, and possibly Hungary, ‘civil society’ was relatively insignificant in the collapse elsewhere (or indeed its persistence in the case of China).

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