Politics and Legitimacy in Post-Soviet Eurasia

Politics and Legitimacy in Post-Soviet Eurasia

Also by the editors J. Ahrens and H.W. Hoen (eds), Economic Development in Central Asia: Institutional Underpinnings of Factor Markets, Emerging Markets Studies, 2014. J. Ahrens and H.W. Hoen (eds), Institutional Reform in Central Asia. Politico- Economic Challenges, Central Asian Studies, 2013. J. Ahrens, R. Caspers and J. Weingarth (eds), Good Governance in the 21st Century: Conflict, Institutional Change and Development in the Era of Globalization, 2011. J. Ahrens and R. Ohr (eds), Zehn Jahre Vertrag von Maastricht, 2003. J. Ahrens, Governance and Economic Development. A Comparative Institutional Approach, 2002. M. Brusis, K. Staroňová and R. Zubek (eds), Strategic Policymaking in Central and Eastern Europe, Network of Schools and Institutes of Public Administration in Central and Eastern Europe, 2008. M. Brusis and J. Emmanouilidis (eds), Thinking Enlarged. The Accession Countries and the Future of the European Union, 2002. M. Schulze Wessel. Russlands Blick auf Preußen. Die polnische Frage in der Diplomatie und politischen Öffentlichkeit des Zarenreiches und des Sowjetstaates 1697 1947, 1995. M. Schulze Wessel. Revolution und religiöser Dissens. Der römisch-katholische und russisch-orthodoxe Klerus als Träger religiösen Wandels in den böhmischen Ländern und der Habsburgermonarchie bzw. in Russland 1848 1922, 2011.

Politics and Legitimacy in Post-Soviet Eurasia Edited by Martin Brusis Director, Competence Network on Institutions and Institutional Change in Postsocialism, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Germany Joachim Ahrens Professor of International Economics, Private University of Applied Sciences, Göttingen, Germany Martin Schulze Wessel Chair for the History of East and Southeast Europe, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Germany

Selection and editorial matter Martin Brusis, Joachim Ahrens and Martin Schulze Wessel 2016 Individual chapters Respective authors 2016 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2016 978-1-137-48943-2 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No portion of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, Saffron House, 6 10 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The authors have asserted their rights to be identified as the authors of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. First published 2016 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN Palgrave Macmillan in the UK is an imprint of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. Palgrave Macmillan in the US is a division of St Martin s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010. Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world. Palgrave and Macmillan are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries. ISBN 978-1-349-56928-1 ISBN 978-1-137-48944-9 (ebook) DOI 10.1057/9781137489449 This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. Logging, pulping and manufacturing processes are expected to conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Politics and legitimacy in post-soviet Eurasia / edited by Joachim Ahrens, Martin Brusis, Martin Schulze Wessel. pages cm Summary: Political legitimacy has become a scarce resource in Russia and other post-soviet states in Eurasia. Their capacity to deliver prosperity has suffered from economic crisis, the conflict in Ukraine and the ensuing confrontation with the West. Will nationalism and repression enable political regimes to survive? This book investigates the politics of legitimation in post-soviet countries, focusing on how political and intellectual elites exploit different modes of legitimation. Combining cross-national comparisons and country case studies, it addresses state-economy relations, pro-presidential parties, courts, ideas of nationhood, historical and literary narratives. Weak economic performance, evidence of electoral fraud, unresponsive governments and the waning authority of presidents continue to jeopardize institutional legitimacy. Whilst incumbent elites have been able to shift between legitimation modes, this collection argues that shifts towards nationalism, artificial charisma and traditionalism will not be sufficient in the long term to keep elites in power Provided by publisher. 1. Legitimacy of governments Former Soviet republics. 2. Former Soviet republics Politics and government. 3. Elite (Social sciences) Political activity Former Soviet republics. 4. Post-communism Former Soviet republics. I. Ahrens, Joachim, 1963 editor of compilation. II. Brusis, Martin, editor of compilation. III. Schulze Wessel, Martin, 1962 editor of compilation. JN6581.P58 2015 320.947 dc23 2015019851

Contents List of Figures and Tables Acknowledgments List of Contributors vii viii ix 1 The Politics of Legitimation in Post-Soviet Eurasia 1 Martin Brusis 2 Comparing Legitimation Strategies in Post-Soviet Countries 18 Christian von Soest and Julia Grauvogel 3 State Capitalism in Eurasia: A Dual-Economy Approach to Central Asia 47 Joachim Ahrens, Herman W. Hoen and Martin C. Spechler 4 Legitimation and the Party of Power in Kazakhstan 72 Adele Del Sordi 5 Legitimacy and State-Led Economic Policy in Georgia 97 Christian Timm 6 Legitimacy, Accountability and Discretion of the Russian Courts 121 Alexei Trochev 7 Concepts of the Nation and Legitimation in Belarus 148 Fabian Burkhardt 8 State Programs, Institutions and Memory in Russia 172 Philipp Bürger 9 Cynics, Loyalists and Rebels in Recent Russian Fiction: Literary Scenarios of Legitimation and the Pursuit of Sovereign Democracy 193 Alfred Sproede and Oleksandr Zabirko v

vi Contents 10 Comparative Conclusions: Legitimacy and Legitimation in Eurasian Post-Communist States 223 Leslie Holmes Index 246

Figures and Tables Figures 2.1 Legitimation strategies in Russia and the western PSE states 25 2.2 Legitimation strategies in the Caucasus 29 2.3 Legitimation strategies in Central Asia 32 6.1 Court-ordered amounts to be paid by federal agencies 138 10.1 Eurasian democracy ratings, rank-ordered by 2013 percentile rank 237 Tables 1.1 Modes and objects of legitimation 11 2.1 Summary of claims to legitimacy 20 2.2 Regime dates assessed by experts 23 6.1 Judge-approved detentions in Russia 126 6.2 Registered crimes of wrongful detention under article 301 of the criminal code in Russia, 1997 2010 127 6.3 Citizen Versus Government lawsuits in Russian courts of general jurisdiction, 2007 2013 134 6.4 Lawsuits regarding unlawful government actions/decisions at all levels handled by Russian courts of general jurisdiction (thousands) 135 10.1 Economic performance of Eurasian post-communist states 231 10.2 Inequality and unemployment in Eurasian post-communist states 232 10.3 Perceived corruption levels in Eurasian post-communist states, 2014 235 10.4 Multi-party parliamentary elections in Eurasian post-communist states, 1992 2014 240 vii

Acknowledgments This volume presents findings from a multi-disciplinary research network that has been funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). Aimed at strengthening area studies in Germany, the network has brought together scholars who are studying the generation, contestation and erosion of institutional legitimacy in post-soviet countries. Draft versions of the chapters for this volume were presented and debated at a workshop held in November 2013 at Siemens Stiftung in Munich. The editors would like to thank all participants of this workshop and all colleagues involved in the network for their stimulating comments and helpful suggestions during the preparatory process. The editors are particularly grateful to Leslie Holmes, who crossed the globe several times to inspire and enrich this work, to Jutta Scherrer for her invaluable advice and to Barbara Serfozo who took great care in polishing the English language and editing the chapters. We also thank the BMBF for its generous funding, Rolf Geserick as well as Angelika Baldus for their professional guidance on all administrative issues and Siemens Stiftung for hosting our workshop. viii

Contributors Joachim Ahrens is Professor of International Economics at the Private University of Applied Sciences, Göttingen, Germany. Martin Brusis is Managing Director of the project network Institutions and Institutional Change in Postsocialism, University of Munich, Germany. Philipp Bürger is a historian and PhD candidate at the Institute of Historiography, University of Munich, Germany. Fabian Burkhardt is a PhD student in Political Science at the Graduate School of East and Southeast European Studies, University of Munich, Germany. Adele Del Sordi is a post-doctoral researcher in Political Science at the University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Julia Grauvogel is a research fellow at the GIGA German Institute for Global and Area Studies, Hamburg, and a PhD student at the University of Hamburg, Germany. Herman W. Hoen is Professor of International Political Economy at the University of Groningen, The Netherlands. Leslie Holmes is Professor Emeritus of Political Science at the University of Melbourne, Australia. Martin Schulze Wessel is Professor of History of East and Southeast Europe at the University of Munich, Germany. Martin C. Spechler is Professor of Economics at Indiana University, USA. Alfred Sproede is Professor of Slavonic and Baltic Literatures, University of Münster, Germany. ix

x List of Contributors Christian Timm is a PhD student in Political Science and researcher at the Private University of Applied Sciences, Göttingen, Germany. Alexei Trochev is Associate Professor of Political Science at Nazarbayev University, Astana, Kazakhstan. Christian von Soest is a senior research fellow at the GIGA German Institute for Global and Area Studies, Hamburg, Germany. Oleksandr Zabirko is a PhD candidate in East European Cultural Studies, University of Münster, Germany.