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Module Title LH Advanced Contemporary Russian and East European Politics
SchoolGovernment
Department Political Sci & Intern'tl Stud
Module Code 08 21882
Module Lead Prof Wolczuk
Level Honours Level
Credits 20
Semester Full Term
Pre-requisites
Co-requisites
Restrictions All Russian Studies, European Politics, Society & Economics, and POLSIS programmes Prohibited module combinations: 08 12050/1 Contemporary Russian and East European Politics A & B
Contact Hours Lecture-20 hours
Seminar-20 hours
Guided independent study-160 hours
Total: 200 hours
Exclusions
Description The module focuses on contemporary Russia and Ukraine as the two biggest Soviet successor states.
The underlying theme of the module is the progress or otherwise of democracy. The module is split into the following blocks:
  • The collapse of the Soviet Union
  • The Soviet political system, nationality policy, causes of collapse
  • Institutions, Power and Political Actors
  • Institutional choice, informal power, party development
  • Spatial Politics
  • Centre-regional relations, the Chechen Wars
  • Foreign Policy
  • Relations between Russia and Ukraine, relations with former Soviet states and relations with the West and Western institutions
  • State and Nation Building
  • Challenges of post-communist nation-building
  • Developing post-Soviet states
  • Conceptualising political change
  • Problems of transition, democratisation, new models of political change
Learning Outcomes

By the end of the module the student should be able to:

  • Understand the key features of the USSR as a political system and the role of nationalist movements in the disintegration of the USSR.
  • Apply and develop broad concepts of `transformation' in the Russian and Ukrainian cases.
  • Identify key political developments facing Russia and Ukraine since the break-up of the USSR.
  • Identify major political forces in Russia and Ukraine and to identify their distinctive features.
  • Conceptualise Europe from an eastern European perspective, and understand the dynamics of regional integration within the former Soviet Union.
Assessment 21882-01 : "One 3000 word essay" : Coursework (50%)
21882-02 : Exam 2 hours : Exam (Centrally Timetabled) - Written Unseen (35%)
21882-03 : Seminar Presentation : Presentation (15%)
Assessment Methods & Exceptions 1 x 3,000 word essay (50%), Presentation (15%), 1 x 2 hour Examination (35%) Reassessment: None
Other
Reading List