It seems like most of the news coming from Russia lately have been full of keywords such as "Mafia", "Corruption", "Money Laundering", "Election Fraud" and them alike. Most western observers agree that corruption is the single most important obstacle that undermines Russian reforms. Is the situation really that bad? Does the Russian mob control everything in the country, including nuclear weapons? Have recent elections been stolen by corrupt politicians close to the ruling elite? Answers to such questions are not as simple as they might look at first sight. To understand what is happening in Russian economy and politics and why it looks so profoundly corrupt it is necessary to study organization, institutions and power structure of the Russian society. That, combined with understanding of how Russian economy works would shed some light on the Mafia’s role within Russian society. This class will focus on Mafia and Corruption as integral parts of Russia’s transition to democracy. We will consider major as well as minor political and economic events, which have happened in Russia since 1985 to understand how Mafia and Corruption penetrated every single piece of Russian life.

Requirements:

Students are expected to attend classes, read the required materials and follow news reports which concern Russia's current state of affairs. A special attention should be paid to the reports, which concern Mafia and corruption. There will be a number of in-class quizzes (multiple choice type answers) to ensure that students:

1. read the required books
2. follow news reports
3. keep up with in-class discussions.

Grades will be based on those quizzes. There will be no final nor midterm exam in this class. Students might earn extra credits for preparing (and leading) an in-class discussion as will be explained in class.

The class will be organized as a combination of lectures and open in-class discussions (45 minutes once a week). Examples of discussion topics are as follows:

• Is corruption in Russia a result of its communist past?
• Is Russia’s new president Vladimir Putin going to fight corruption?
• Are Gorbachev or/and Yeltsin to blame for the Mafia propagation in Russia?
• Is Election Fraud a real problem in Russian politics?
• Who lost Russia?
• Why are Russian people so tolerant to the widespread corruption?
• Is war in Chechnya on Mafia’s agenda too?
• Is corruption bad for Russian economy?

Students leading the discussion will start with a brief introduction into the theme. Then, they would formulate the discussion questions, and explain why those questions are of great importance for understanding a particular discussion topic. At that point all students will be asked to make their comments on the issue while the discussion’s organizers act as moderators.

The first 5 to 10 minutes of each class will be devoted to discussion of the latest news reports from Russia in light of the course’s main topic: Mafia and corruption.

"Comrade Criminal" by Stephen Handelman

"How Russia Votes" by Stephen White, Richard Rose and Ian McAllister