PostCommunist Russian Society Essay Research Paper Many

Post-Communist Russian Society Essay, Research Paper

Many critics and skeptics forecast doom for post-communist Russia when 1991 saw the end to the Soviet-Union. It was believed that a collapsed economy, hurt pride, and rampant nationalism would all soon drive Russia to some sort of neo-communist or neo-fascist state. It has been almost 10 years now since the dissolution of the Soviet-Union, and this scenario has failed to arise. Some experts feel, pointing to the decisive defeat of the communists in the presidential election in July, that at this point the predicted doom is not likely to occur at all.

Richard Layard and John Parker, in their book The Coming Russian Boom, predict that the Russian economy will soon grow by 4% a year for at least a decade. While some skeptics still scoff at such optimism, the authors make a good case for their prediction. The factors that they list in Russia s favor include a highly educated workforce, exceptional natural resources, a potentially huge domestic market and the fact that the Russian economy has been largely privatized with much of the financial and legal framework for commercial enterprise now in place. As long as Russia maintains competent political management and a post-communist constitution, it is quite likely that Russia will experience an economic boom. All of this predicted success, however, does not to mean that the new Russian society does not have problems. Often the transition from communism to capitalism has been a rocky one; however, despite these difficulties the future holds promise.

In January of 1992, The Russian Federation was recognized by the United Nations as the legal successor to the USSR. The key issue for the new Russian government under Boris Yeltsin was to create multi-party competitive political system and a market economy based on privatized enterprise. After the termination of the Warsaw Pact, an open political and economic frontier to the West was formed. As this has taken place, nearly every aspect of Russian life has undergone change. This paper will take a brief look at several aspects of those changes in Russian society.

Crime

Unfortunately, one byproduct of loosening state control was the creation of a void of power. Once the state gave up its power, organized crime immediately recognized this void and exploited it. Soon after privatization, the Russian mafia put itself in position as one of the key power holders. A 1994 study prepared under the direction of the Yeltsin administration discovered that at least 70% of private enterprises and commercial banks had connections with organized crime. In a separate study, it was found that 55% of enterprise capital and 80% of voting shares of stock were in the control of criminal elements. Essentially, it was discovered that many Russian businesses were controlled by an elite few that had multiple ties to the Russian mafia. This has created a scenario where the mafia and these elite few have a stranglehold on Russia s business sector. The control is so pervasive and the power held so great that the government is having a great deal of trouble combating the problem and dispersing the power.

In addition to problems with organized crime, the Russian criminal system has had to deal with a staggering rise in the crime rate during the early 1990s. Reported crimes rose from 1.62 million to 2.76 million from 1989 to 1992. Hampered by problems such as under-funding and a lack of new recruits, the police have had little success in combating such growing problems as drugs, racketeering and violent crime.

While much of the crime problem is external, much it has also resulted from internal problems. Since the fall of communism, efforts have been made to make the new Federal Intelligence Service (FKS) and the Ministry of Security, which are the two main successors to the KGB, subordinate to the rule of Parliament and the courts. The FKS and the Ministry of Security were formed to operate under a totally new set of rules, which would have them fighting organized crime, maintaining the security of nuclear weapons, and attending to other major threats against the state, rather than damaging political opposition as such organizations have done in the past. However, since the personnel, internal structures and organizations of these security forces remained essentially the same, the public has retained suspicions that these institutions are merely old wine in new bottles. If the new regime had attempted to identify and punish those responsible for abuses in the past, it might have inspired more public confidence and they might be more effective at achieving their intended purposes.

Another internal problem is that of reforming the Russian legal system. Transforming the system inherited from the Soviet Union has been an incredibly difficult task that is complicated by the absence of a tradition of legality throughout most of Russia s history. In the past, law has been subordinate to the interests of the government. Unlike Western countries, courts have usually operated under the presumption that the accused was guilty, with defense procedures and juries not a part of even the most serious cases. Sentences were often extremely harsh. Since the end of communism, reform measures have been made in several areas. For example, the last of the political prisoners were released in February of 1992. There are procedural c