Joel M. Ostrow's Books

Politics In Russia: A Reader

By: Joel M. Ostrow

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

A comprehensive reader composed of landmark selections, guided by the insight that to understand contemporary Russia, students need to know that there are strongly competing interpretations of Russian politics, both past and present.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

513

Publisher

CQ Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

1608716503

ISBN 13

9781608716500

Comparing Post-Soviet Legislatures

A Theory of Institutional Design and Political Conflict

By: Joel M. Ostrow

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Comparing Post-Soviet Legislatures

A Theory of Institutional Design and Political Conflict

By: Joel M. Ostrow

One dilemma facing new or newly independent states, such as those of the former Soviet Union, is how to design effective legislatures when political parties are weak and fragmented or even nonexistent. In this book, Joel M. Ostrow develops a comparative institutional framework to explain marked differences in behavior across three post-Soviet legislatures: the Russian Supreme Soviet, the Russian State Duma, and the Estonian legislature. He argues that these differences in ability to manage political conflict can be explained in large measure by the design of the legislatures. Most significant is the choice of whether and how to include parties or partisan factors. Legislatures are an omnipresent component of modern democracy. Ostrow's comparative institutional design confirms the presumption of many political scientists that parties are essential for legislative consensus building. However it also reveals that parties may have paradoxical effects on a legislature's performance. In following the budget process in Russia and Estonia, Ostrow explores the consequences that different institutional designs have had on post-Soviet legislatures. He has found that how parties are included may determine how capable a legislature is at managing political conflict, both internally and with the executive branch of the government. The author was present at many of the committee hearings and legislative sessions he describes, and his firsthand observations and interviews with committee members enhance his analysis.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

324

Publisher

Ohio State University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

081420841X

ISBN 13

9780814208410

The Consolidation of Dictatorship in Russia

An Inside View of the Demise of Democracy

By: Joel M. Ostrow,Georgiy A. Satarov,Irina M. Khakamada

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

The Consolidation of Dictatorship in Russia

An Inside View of the Demise of Democracy

By: Joel M. Ostrow,Georgiy A. Satarov,Irina M. Khakamada

The still-prevailing notion among Western powers, including the United States, is that Russia is a democracy, or at least that it remains in the process of democratization. Nothing could be further from the truth, as Ostrow, Satarov, and Khakamada demonstrate in The Consolidation of Dictatorship in Russia. Journalists critical of Vladimir Putin's dictatorship, such as Anna Politkovskaya, are murdered. Nearly 100 investigative journalists, an average of two per month, have been murdered since Putin took power, and not one person has been charged or convicted of those crimes. In this book the authors seek to explain not just how Russia has become a dictatorship, but why Russia's leaders made the choices that undermined democratic political development, something no book has done until now. The still-prevailing notion among Western powers, including the United States, is that Russia is a democracy, or at least that it remains in the process of democratization. Nothing could be further from the truth, as Ostrow, Satarov, and Khakamada demonstrate in The Consolidation of Dictatorship in Russia. Journalists critical of Vladimir Putin's dictatorship, such as Anna Politkovskaya, are murdered. Nearly 100 investigative journalists, an average of two per month, have been murdered since Putin took power, and not one person has been charged or convicted of those crimes. Others critical of or in opposition to Putin often meet the same fate, as in the suspicious poisoning in London of Aleksandr Litvinenko. How did Russia manage to transition from dictatorship to dictatorship, when the hopes for democracy were so great and when Western conventional wisdom assumed for so long that democracy was inevitable there? The Consolidation of Dictatorship in Russia answers that question. Georgiy A. Satarov was President Boris Yeltsin's chief political counselor for much of the 1990s, and in that capacity was inside the Kremlin and present when most of the decisions this book details were made. Irina M. Khakamada was a Deputy in the Russian State Duma, a Deputy Speaker in the parliament, held a cabinet-level position in the government, and most recently was Putin's main liberal opponent in the 2004 presidential election. These individuals are among Russia's most prominent democratic activists and were participants in the events that led Russia away from the path of democratization. They share a unique perspective and knowledge of what happened and why. The authors seek to explain not just what Russia did and the consequences of those decisions, but why Russia's leaders made the choices that undermined democratic political development, something no book has done until now.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

185

Publisher

Bloomsbury Publishing USA

Published Date

ISBN 10

0313345953

ISBN 13

9780313345951

Book's by Joel M. Ostrow

Politics In Russia: A Reader

Politics In Russia: A Reader

Comparing Post-Soviet Legislatures

Comparing Post-Soviet Legislatures

The Consolidation of Dictatorship in Russia

The Consolidation of Dictatorship in Russia

Username

Password

Username

Password

Password again

Birthday

Email