Russian Public Policy & Implementation

1. Russian Public Policy & Implementation

2. Public Policy: Voting • The citizens of Russia are required to vote. • Presidential Elections had started in 2008. • Elections in Russia are not dynamic, and there is almost certainly a predictable winner; this especially became the case with Vladimir Putin (mostly because his word is law, and people who disobey him are arrested or subjected to worse punishment).

3. Public Policy :Civil Societies • The Civil Societies began to form since 1991 in Russia. People operated openly (openly in Russian terms), but were still supervised by the government. • Under Vladimir Putin, Civil Societies were reviewed holistically by the Government, and were to report to the government when asked to. Putin had pretty much diminished the Russian Civil Society. • Russian Youth Groups: An organization created by Vladimir Putin in an effort to establish a strong and loyal support in the hearts of young Russians. The youths usually organize marches or other demonstrations of loyalty to Putin.

4. Public Policies: Linkage Institutions • Media: The media in Russia is completely at the mercy of the government (Putin). Hence why Russia has a low Press Freedom Rating (80th/ 179). They are constantly forced to promote the government, or face dire consequences. Since 1992, 54 journalists have beenkilled. • Political Parties: The Opposing Parties are too unstable to ever be a threat to United Russia (the dominant party). They are always convinced (forced, threatened, etc.) tosupport Putin. Their ideologies are no different from Putin’s either, making their presence insignificant. • Mafia: Gangs which control the Underworld, corruption probably gives them significant power to operate. (May give them an edge in case they are sent to trial).

5. Supranational Organizations/Foreign Influence • Russia is not part of the famous European Union because it tends to isolate itself from European Affairs. Under Putin, Russia is distancing itself farther and farther away from the rest of Europe, and the world in general. In fact Russia does not even consider itself European. • Russia’s sheer size and it’s army have a significant impact on neighboring smaller countries such as Georgia, Estonia, Ukraine, etc. Russia carries out various operations in the smaller countries which neighbor it. Russia also has a significant influence on Central Asia, and Asia in general, serving as one of it’s main countries (along with India, China, Japan, Saudi Arabia, etc.) • Russia is part of many international organizations. It has signed numerous pacts with NATO, such as the NATO- Russia founding act, NATO Partnership for peace initiative, etc. It has also signed many pacts with Europe (i.e Commonwealth of Independent States, and Organization of security and cooperation in Europe also known as OSCE) and continues to stay honest to those

6. Major Policy issues Recently in Russia there have been a rash of changes to the public policy, one of the most major among these is the recent halt on all adoption of Russian children by American citizens this was caused in part by the recent death of a Russian boy whose death has come into suspicion as murder, once this news reached Russia there was a massive out cry by the Russian people and since then a number of Russian to American Adoptions have been halted all together and all new plans for adoption have been denied Along with this a recent bill passed by Vladimir Putin has now allowed him the power to directly choose the governor of the many districts of Russia, these seats of power used to be powers meant for only the people of the region but now with the passing of this bill Vladimir Putin has once again taken power away from the regional government and once again made a play to solidify power under his rule. A third and final policy issue at this time a recent issue has become evident in Russia, fertility rates have decreased rapidly, which leads many to believe that in the near future Russia will lose a major portion of its population, to counter this Vladimir Putin has made a number of holidays celebrating fertility and the need for family values, this is a attempt by Mr. Putin halt the overall decline in population that is apparent in Russia

7. Similar Countries • On paper Russia is in itself a democratic nation, however due to the large amount of corruption in the government, and the increasing amount of power that Mr. Putin has consolidated under himself Russia at this time is at a turning point, not really a truly democratic nation and due to recent power plays by Mr. Putin it seems as if the nation may be heading back down the route of Communism and Authoritarianism, because of its changing nature at this time no country can really be compared to Russia in any major way.

8. Terrorism • Islamic extremist groups • al-Qaeda • Osbat al-Ansar • Egyptian Jihad • 1999 Apartment bombings • Killed nearly 300 people • Caused by 3 FSB agents • Declared a “Training Exercise”

9. Corruption • Abuse of political system by Putin • Corruption index of 2.4 (2012) • 15% of population confessed to paying a bribe

10. Meteor Crash • Impact had explosive force of 300 kilotons • 20X stronger than Little Boy nuke. • 1,200 injured by shockwave. • Damage cost estimated at 1 billion ($33 mill.)

11. Other Post-Commie Countries • One of the few to still hold significant communist presence. • Like other, economy has increased since becoming more free market. • Leaders very powerful, make decisions quickly and very independently.

12. Future Policy Trends • Leaders have been grossly powerful, likely to continue quasi-authoritarian rule. • Trending toward “westernization” • Economy becoming more integrated with foreign exports and markets.

13. Bibliography Mills, Laura. "Russian Region Begins Recovery From Meteor Fall." Time World. Time Magazine, 16 Feb. 2013. Web. 25 Feb. 2013. "'Terror' List Out; Russia Tags Two Kuwaiti Groups." Arab Times Kuwait English Daily. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Feb. 2013. Transparency International - the Global Coalition against Corruption. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Feb. 2013.