“CIVIL SOCIETY “ IN TURBULENT TIMES: RUSSIAN CASE Svetlana Kirdina Institute of Economics, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia
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Outline “Civil society” = an Ideologem? “Civil society” and a state: opponents or partners? “Civil society” in Russia: theory and empirical data
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The importance of terms’ meaning
Once disciple of Confucius asked his Teacher (488 BC): “New governor is going to involve you in the state administration. Where do you start?”. Confucius replied: "First we need to refine the names that do not correspond to the essence ... If the words are unfavorable, the case will not be going well ... (Lun Yu, XIII, p. 8) 3
“Civil society” in different ideological contexts (examples) The New Left: civil society has a key role in defending people against the capitalist state and the market and in asserting the collective will to influence the state; Neo-liberals: civil society needs the market and is created for the satisfaction of individual interests and private property in accordance with liberal values. .[
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“Civil society” as “liberal” Ideologem CSI (Civil Society Index): 2 of 4 parameters characterize the basic freedoms and values; CSSI (Civil Society Strength Index): 1 of 2 groups of parameters is named as Civil Society values factor; GCSI (Global Civil Society Index): 2 of 5 parameters reflect the distribution of tolerance values.
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Civil society and a state
Civil society is the state (since Thomas Hobbes, John Locke) Civil society is an opponent of the state, or “political superstructure” (since the Great Scots David Hume, Adam Smith, Patrick Ferguson) Civil society is a complement rather than an alternative to the state , “the state is seen as a precondition of civil society” (Whaites, 1996; Zaleski, 2006) 6
Civil society and a state (Russian version)
o o o
Civil society is a part of the state. Its main objective is to promote the social integration through: Legitimization of state power; Public control of state decisions; Participation in the process of state decision making.
(Russian school of constitutional economics, Russian civil and public law studies). 7
Table 1. In your opinion, what could promote the welfare of Russia, %? (Levada-Center. Press release 21.01.2010. What is democracy and whether it is necessary in Russia?) December December December December 2004 2005 2006 2009
The strengthening of “the vertical of power” The strengthening of civil rights and freedoms, civil society Neither one nor the other Don’t know
31
31
29
31
42
38
42
48
13
14
11
8
14
17
18
12
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Table 2. Do you think the majority of public movements and initiatives in modern Russia is emerging… Levada-Center. Press release 25.06.2010. Problems of social and political participation.
June 2008 June 2010 on the private initiative of citizens, “bottom-up”, independently of the government or other political forces initiated by the authorities initiated by opposition political forces initiated by external forces interested in a particular way of Russia's development Don’t know
14
13
32
30
21
22
11
13
22
22 9
Table 3. What type of state would you like to see to exist in Russia? Levada-Center. Press release 16.03.2010. State and society interrelations in Russian public opinion.
March February February 1998 2006 2010 A unitary centralized state with the heads of local authorities appointed by the Center State with the most extensive rights of local authorities and central government coordinating their interests Don’t know
25
41
46
52
39
36
23
20
19 10
Table 4. In your opinion, on which of the following principles a society, in which you want to live, should be based? Levada-Center. Press release 14.01.2011. On state and society interrelations. November February December December December 2001 2006 2006 2007 2010
The authorities should take care of people People should be able to obtain from authorities what they need Don’t know
66
68
74
66
65
33
28
21
30
29
3
4
5
4
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Institutional matrices theory (X- and Y-theory) as one of theoretical explanations
Kirdina S. G. Institutional Matrices and Development in Russia (2 edition). Novosibirsk, 2001 (In Russian). Kirdina S. The Institutional Matrices Theory in the Context of Modern Sociology. /Visions and Divisions: the Russian Outlook The Russian Academy of Sciences - The Russian Society of Sociologists. - MoscowHelsinki, 2001. Kirdina S. Fundamental Difference in the Transformation Process between Russia and East European Countries // Berliner Osteuropa Info, № 16/2001. Kirdina S. Institutional Matrices and Institutional Changes / Economic Transformation and Evolutionary Theory of J. Schumpeter. The 5th International Symposium on Evolutionary Economics, Pushchino, Moscow region, Russia, 2003. Institutional matrix in sociology / Sociological encyclopedia. Moscow, 2003 (in Russian), Institutional matrices theory/ Sociological dictionary. Moscow, 2010 (in Russian). 12
X- and Y-matrices Redistributive economy
X
Y Market economy
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Combinations of X- and Ymatrices
X Russia, China, and most of Asian and Latin American countries
Y X
Y
North American countries and most of European countries
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X- and Y-institutions in politics and their functions Functions of institutions
X-institutions
Y-institutions
1.Territorial administrative organization of the state
Administrative division (unitarity)
Federative structure (federation)
2. Governance system (flow of decision making)
Vertical hierarchical authority with Centre on the top
Self-government and subsidiarity
3.Type of interaction in the order of decision making
General assembly and unanimity
Multi-party system and democratic majority
4. Filling of governing positions
Appointment
Election
5. Feed-back mechanism
Appeals to higher levels of hierarchical authority
Law suits
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Conclusion
“Civil society” remains an ideologem rather than a rigorous scientific concept. A critical interpretation of civil society discourse needs placing it in the context of contingent policy regimes defined by institutional factors. A version of civil society discourse contextualized in the Russian transitional society calls for interpreting it not as an opponent of the state but as a part of the state with main objective to promote the social integration. 16
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