- •Государственный университет
- •2. Discussion points.
- •3. Speaking skills.
- •Creativity and the Experts: New Labour, Think Tanks, and the Policy Process
- •1. Before reading the article try to answer the following question: «Is it possible for think tanks to be really independent?»
- •2. Discussion points.
- •II. Action Intellectuals
- •1. While reading the research concentrate on the role of a personality in the historical process.
- •Ivory-Tower Activists
- •2. Discussion points.
- •The Meaning of Democracy
- •A Ruling Elite or Plural Elite?
- •Pluralism and Democracy
- •The Masses in Democratic Society
- •2. Discussion points.
- •IV. Role and Techniques of Pressure Groups
- •1. Reading the survey compare the author’s view with that of the above chapter.
- •Techniques in Group Offense and Defense
- •Manipulating Public Opinion
- •Persuading Legislators
- •Relations with Administration
- •Pressure Groups and the Courts
- •Intergroup Lobbying
- •Interest Groups and the Governing Process
- •Representative Function of Private Groups
- •Legislation as Intergroup Negotiation
- •Group Involvement in Administration
- •2. Discussion points.
- •V. Russian Political Leadership
- •1. Before reading think why the authors of the reviewed books have turned to the mentioned personalities. What do the names of Gorbachev and Yeltsin mean to you?
- •2. Discussion points.
- •VI. Development of Civil Society in Russia
- •Is Russia Going Backward?
- •1. Before reading the essay set general ideas of progressive development. Pay special attention to the editor’s note.
- •2. Discussion points.
- •1. While reading compare the views of the author with the conclusions of the previous article. How might the change of the attitudes be explained?
- •The Soviet Legacy
- •Trying to Reign in the Regions
- •Setbacks to Recentralization
- •Democracy and Enhanced State Capacity
- •Learning from Bankruptcy
- •2. Discussion points.
- •1. What are your associations with the so-called Yukos case? Give particular details you must know from media sources.
- •1. What is your understanding of the notion “oligarchy”? What does the assault on Yukos mean for Russian business, politics and power?
- •Presidents and precedents
- •5) Reading the article try to find the proofs of the author’s position or prove your disagreement.
- •Never felt more like singing the Blues
- •2. Discussion point.
- •VII. Ethics in Public Relations
- •1. Before reading the text find as many definitions of the notion 'ethics' as you can and choose among them the most suitable one, to your mind, and explain your choice.
- •2. Discussion points.
- •VIII. Human Rights Taking the Reasons for Human Rights Seriously
- •1. As the first stage of the work at the survey you are to give a list of human rights.
- •2. Discussion points.
- •Who Cares about Human Rights?
- •2. Discussion points.
- •Do International Human Rights Treaties Improve Respect for Human Rights?
- •1. Before reading the text think the title of it over and share your point of view concerning the problem mentioned.
- •2. Discussion points.
- •IX. Mediating International Crises Cross-national and Experimental Perspectives
- •1. While reading the text pay attention to different models of crisis mediation.
- •2. Discussion points.
- •X. Negative Advertising in Politics Examining the Possible Corrosive Impact of Negative Advertising on Citizens’ Attitudes toward Politics
- •1. Give your own understanding of positive and negative advertising. Substantiate your ideas with examples.
- •The Case against Political Advertisements
- •2. Discussion points.
- •Appendices
- •Organization image: Formation and Management Имидж организации: формирование и управление
2. Discussion points.
Why does the author characterize the new changes in Russian electoral legislation as formal rejection of electoral principles?
Where is the major retreat from democracy most obvious?
Give the main features of Russian regional policy.
Leaders: An over-played hand; Russia's Yukos
The Economist. London: Jul 10, 2004.Vol.372, Iss. 8383; pg. 11
1. What are your associations with the so-called Yukos case? Give particular details you must know from media sources.
Vladimir Putin's brutal tactics against the oil giant may be an ominous sign of weakness.
TWO weeks ago, Vladimir Putin reassured investors that his government was "not interested" in the bankruptcy of Yukos, one of Russia's biggest oil companies, which has spent a year fending off attacks by prosecutors and tax officials. But in the days after the Russian president's remarks, the attacks intensified: Yukos was ordered to pay $3.4 billion in back taxes by July 7th and threatened with another, similarly huge claim, while creditors declared the firm in default of a $1 billion loan. As The Economist went to press, with the tax-payment deadline past, Yukos was waiting for either an official response to its proposals for a deal, or for bailiffs to start seizing assets and selling them off to cover its debts (see page 59).
There would be a certain poetic justice if Yukos were to die, as it was born, through the aggressive interpretation of vaguely-defined laws. Its main shareholder and former boss, Mikhail Khodorkovsky – in jail on his own charges of tax evasion and embezzlement--has always insisted that the freewheeling ways in which he and other "oligarchs" acquired their companies in the 1990s were legal at the time. Indeed, the government itself helped to arrange the rigged auctions. Nobody doubts that Mr Khodorkovsky is now being punished for brazenly flouting Mr Putin's informal agreement with the oligarchs that they should not meddle in politics. And it seems clear that the Kremlin's ultimate intention is to make Mr Khodorkovsky and his partners give up their stake in Yukos.
Because of this, many foreign investors have until now seen Yukos's woes as something isolated: an inevitable stage in Mr Putin's attempts to wrest political power away from the oligarchs and to institute what he calls a "dictatorship of the law". He clearly wants Russia to prosper, and understands the need for investment and economic reform. And the more he has tightened the state's grip on the media and political institutions, the more cheerily some have argued for the "benevolent-dictator" model: a heavy-handed and well-meaning ruler who can deliver reform, and prosperity, that much faster.
Yet the past few weeks have sown doubts, even among those who like the idea of a benevolent dictator. The blatant manipulation of the law against Yukos – its lawyers were given a few hours to review over 300 volumes of evidence – sets an example that politicians and prosecutors in other regions may now feel free to follow. Rumours that other oligarchs may be targeted next have made the financial markets jittery. And every other event that smacks of official whimsy, such as the threat earlier this year to suspend a leading mobile operator's licence, unnerves investors. This week the government claimed that America's ChevronTexaco plans a big Russian investment, but the firm gently dismissed the idea.
On top of that, Mr Putin's reforms are losing momentum. Liberalisation of the state-controlled gas and electricity sectors has been postponed. An overhaul of the army seems to have been abandoned. Mr Putin's shake-up of Russia's government has brought some departments nearly to a standstill.
One reassurance would be a quick and fair resolution of the Yukos affair, either by mutual agreement or by a sale of its assets conducted transparently. But a forced bankruptcy or a quick fire-sale to Kremlin favourites would suggest that either Mr Putin has ceased to care even about the appearance of propriety or that--as some observers suspect--things have spun beyond his control and he cannot keep the vultures away. Either would be an ominous development for Russia.
1. to fend off attacks – отражать атаки
2. a bailiff – судебный пристав
3. poetic justice – идеальная справедливость
4. tax evasion – уклонение от уплаты налогов
5. embezzlement – растрата, хищение
6. to wrest (зд. political power) away from smb. – вырвать (силой)
Ex: to wrest control of the government from the military – вырвать контроль над правительством из рук военных
7. a heavy-handed and well-meaning ruler – деспотичный и действующий из лучших побуждений правитель
8. to make smb. jittery – заставить кого-л. нервничать
9. to suspend a licence – временно лишить лицензии
10.to lose momentum – терять темп, движущую силу
11.an overhaul of smth. (зд: the army) – ревизия чего-л.
12. shake-up of the government – коренная реорганизация правительства
13. a vulture – хищник (о человеке); «охотник за деньгами»
Business: The future of Russian business; Putin versus the oligarchs
The Economist. London: Aug 7, 2004.Vol.372, Iss. 8387; pg. 55