GOVT173C CM - Russian Politics

This course provides an in-depth study of Soviet and post-Soviet Russian politics. The course begins with an analysis of the Communist system and analyzes the nature of the regime, its sources of legitimacy and sustenance, and the reasons for the system’s decline. The course then examines Russia’s post-Soviet period in order to understand the successes and failures within political and economic liberalization. In this course, we will examine the transformation of political institutions, national identities, and economic systems that followed from the collapse of the Soviet system. While this course reviews the main historical events in Russian politics, the main focus of the course is to evaluate Russian political developments within the context of theories in political science on democratization, national identity, and the role of ideology in political and economic regime change. The course concludes with a special focus on Russian energy politics and the evolution of Russian foreign policy toward Eastern Europe and the “Near Abroad.”

Prerequisite: GOVT 020 CM

Offered: Every year

Credit: 1

Course Number: GOVT173C CM