Module description
The central puzzle addressed by the module Governance and Economic Growth in Transition is the degree to which Russian and Central and East European economic growth is sustainable, and what policy options are available to increase both growth and sustainability. The module will address key issues including models of economic development in comparative perspective, the importance of regime type, paths of transition from planned to market economies, the interaction between the extractive industries and other economic sectors, the politics of economic reform, the origins of the post-communist market economy, barter economics, business regulation and privatisation. Particular emphasis placed on the post-communist paths of Poland, Ukraine, and, especially, Russia.
Assessment details
Class Participation (Including Presentations) - 10%
2 x 1,500 word Online Tests (45% Each) - 90% |
Educational aims & objectives
These are the two main, overarching questions that will draw special attention in this course and which will frame our analysis of economic growth and development in post-socialist transition states. First, we will examine the popular and widely debated hypothesis that economic development is a prerequisite for democracy, as well as examine a set of alternative hypotheses as some scholars have dismissed the economic development-as-prerequisite-for-democracy argument. Then, we will delineate whether political regimes really do matter when it comes to economic growth. Democracy and growth have long been considered to be at odds with one another, but recent research has shed light on why democracy may be better for achieving wealth than dictatorships, depending upon certain factors.
Next, we will delve more deeply into the difficult dual transition that the post-communist region has endured over the past two to three decades with an attempt to parse out the causal factors at play for the collapse of the socialist economy and political system, the various political and economic outcomes that emerged across the post-communist landscape and the economic reform course that followed. Reviewing here the economic crises, reform paths and avenues for growth that have been pursued will enable us to assess whether and how opportunities for future economic growth have been expanded or constrained by the nature of the transition.
Finally, after examining two facets of the current Putin governance and economic model in Russia (an increase in corruption and administrative influence in the economy and reliance on the oil/natural resource economy), we will examine what exactly is Globalization and the post-communist region’s role in it since the marketplace is becoming more “globalized” each year. Is the international economy a good or bad thing for Central and Eastern Europe and Russia, and whether it provides for greater opportunities or greater constraints with respect to achieving economic wealth.
Learning outcomes
At the end of the course, students should have:
• A knowledge of the dynamic debates regarding the origins of democracy;
• A greater comprehension of the diversity of arguments used for and against hypotheses that certain economic perquisites are needed for democratization to occur and whether they are appearing in the post-communist twin regions of Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union today;
• A firm grasp on the different theories that link regime-types, especially democracy and authoritarianism, to economic development as well as a firm grasp of the statistical evidence on these linkages to date;
• An appreciation that these theories on the linkages between democracy, regime types, economic wealth and Globalization can be applied to the Russian case as well as to other Central and Eastern European cases;
• An ability to analyse the economic reforms and privatization plans of the 1990s from the perspective of economic growth in Russia and Central and Eastern Europe today;
• A more nuanced interpretation as to whether and how the oil (and natural resource) economy will continue to aid post-communist economic growth in the future;
• An ability to formulate plausible arguments in support for or against these hypotheses and to be capable of presenting such arguments in a thoughtful, considerate and well articulated manner to a class audience;
• A command of what Globalization actually is, or rather on the different theoretical perspectives as to what Globalization actually is; and
• An ability to identify ways in which Globalization may help or hurt the Russian state and Central and Eastern Europe.
Teaching pattern
Two-hour lecture and seminar weekly over ten weeks (one term)
Suggested reading list
- Marc P. Berenson, Taxes and Trust: From Coercion to Compliance in Poland, Russia and Ukraine (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2018.)
- Joel S. Hellman, “Winners Take All: The Politics of Partial Reform in Postcommunist Transitions,” World Politics, Vol. 50, No. 2 (January 1998), pp. 203-234.
- Cynthia McClintock, “Lipset’s Legacy,” Journal of Democracy, Vol. 16, No. 2 (April 2005), pp. 163-166.