Suchergebnisse

Regional convergence is one of the greatest strategic challenges for the Russian Federation. Socio-economic zoning directly affects the regional policy in Russia, as most administrative and political practices are reproduced within a federal district or an economic region. This study is aimed at identifying steady clusters or, in other words, groups of Russian regions, based on quantitative data on socio-economic development. The study relies on the methods of spatial econometrics. The authors also aim to compare the results of their study to the macro-regions suggested by the Strategy of Regional Development of the Russian Federation and therefore to the current administrative practices. The paper determines 12 clusters continual in space, based on 62 regional development indicators and reflecting the statistical resemblance of the regions within a cluster. The study has not found stable macro-regions of similar values except in Siberia and the Far East. Thus, the authors conclude that addressing the wide range of socio-economic problems based on one standardized grid for dividing the country will likely not lead to success. Therefore, a more asymmetric and multi-level regional policy should be sought. This implies that every ministry responsible for an area of regional development should come up with its own spatial structure of Russia in order to define its targets and the practices required to meet them.

This article presents the results of the development and application of improved methodological tools based on spatial econometrics. The authors started with analyzing the spatial distribution of two social phenomena – democratization and suicide level. The following procedures were carried out for each indicator: a selection of reliable and regularly collected and published data, density-measuring zoning on the basis of a diagram and a map of extent, calculation of local indicators of spatial autocorrelation (LISA) and calculation of the authors' proposed spatial dependence index (SDI) to identify and interpret anomalous SDI values. The authors obtained anomalous values indicating the supposedly significant role of geographical factors (SDI >0.08): press freedom, political rights protection and state fragility for political regimes; autonomy index and religiousness level for suicides per 100,000 population. The research results are not intended to be exhaustive; however, the authors conclude that spatial econometrics tools, being extrapolated and used along with other traditional methods of political and social sciences, are useful for finding outputs of spatial relations and distribution of certain socio-economic and political phenomena that are not always logically obvious. In addition, the proposed analysis algorithm can be used for the analysis of other quantifiable and statistically tracked phenomena.

The perception of neighboring states is one of the main focus areas in sociology and political science. However, the issue of regional differentiation of public opinion often remains outside of sociological and political research. This article aims to determine regional differences in the perception of Russia by Belarusians. The study uses the results of a survey conducted by the authors in Belarus following the November 2019 parliamentary election, and the data received from a spatial analysis of the last four electoral cycles in Belarus. The authors presumed that there were no consistent lines of regional differentiation in the public opinion in Belarus, with the exception of differences in residents' perception of the center (the capital) and peripheral regions. This main assumption was divided into ten working hypotheses, and the attitude of Belarusians towards Russia as its closest neighbor was chosen as a variable in order to determine the degree of Russia's influence on the Belarusian political agenda as perceived by Belarusians, their attitude towards different types of institutional relations between the two states, and to assess how strong social ties between people living in Belarus and Russia are. A comprehensive analysis of the obtained data has proven that there is no regional cleavage in Belarusian society concerning Russia, except for expected differences in the attitude of Minsk residents and those living in other regions. Belarusians' electoral behavior is influenced not by the region they live in but by their stable social practices such as trips to Russia, use of Russian media as a source of information, and of the "Russia" theme in the election campaign debates.

English abstract:
This article assesses the 2000s reforms of the Russian administrative divisions and the implications of the reforms for the institutional structure and related discourse through institutional and discourse analysis. The authors reach the conclusion that the "special status" of the newly formed territorial entities remains undefined, while the representation norm is highly uneven, since the competences of governing bodies in the merged entities lie predominantly in the ethnic and cultural sphere. The reform was not a single and coherent policy measure but rather a number of incoherent initiatives. This can be seen from the presence of different (re)integration models in respective amalgamation cases, different models of a "special status" and a variety of reactions to the reform emanating from the population.Spanish abstract:
Este artículo evalúa las reformas del 2000 en las divisiones administrativas rusas y las implicaciones de dichas reformas en la estructura institucional y el discurso relacionado, a través del análisis institucional y del discurso. Los autores llegan a la conclusión de que el "estatus especial" de las entidades territoriales recién formadas permanece indefinido, mientras que las normas de representación son desiguales, ya que las competencias de los órganos rectores en las entidades fusionadas residen predominantemente en la esfera étnica y cultural. La reforma no fue una medida política única y coherente, sino una serie de iniciativas incoherentes. Esto se puede ver por la presencia de diferentes modelos de (re) integración en los respectivos casos de amalgamación, diferentes modelos de un "estatus especial" y una variedad de reacciones a la reforma que emanan de la población.French abstract:
Cet article analyse les réformes des divisions administratives russes de l'année 2000 et leurs implications pour la structure et le discours institutionnels, en utilisant les méthodes institutionnelle et discursive. Les auteurs concluent que le « statut spécial » des entités territoriales nouvellement formées reste indéfini, tandis que la norme de représentation demeure très inégale, les compétences des organes directeurs des entités fusionnées étant principalement concentrées dans les domaines ethnique et culturel. La réforme ne constitue pas une mesure politique cohérente, mais un certain nombre d'initiatives incohérentes. La présence de différents modèles de (ré)intégration dans les cas de fusion évoqués, les divers cas de « statut spécial » et la variété des réactions populaires face à cette réforme en témoignent.

Intro -- Foreword -- Introduction -- PART I: Merger of Regions as a Part of the Federative Reform of the Russian Federation in the 2000s -- Composite Regions as an Element of Russian Federalism -- The Merger of Perm Oblast and Komi-Permyak Autonomous Okrug -- The Merger of Taymyr Dolgano-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, Evenk Autonomous Okrug and Krasnoyarsk Krai -- The Merger of Koryak Autonomous Okrug and Kamchatka Oblast -- The Merger of Ust-Orda Buryat Autonomous Okrug and Irkutsk Oblast -- The Merger of Agin-Buryat Autonomous Okrug and Chita Oblast -- The Attempt to Merge Nenets Autonomous Okrug and Arkhangelsk Oblast -- PART II: Assessing the Consequences of Merging Regions of the Russian Federation -- The Institutional Aspect -- The Electoral Aspect -- The Socio-Economic Aspect -- The Ethnic Aspect -- Analysis of Media Messages -- Analysis of Opinion Polls -- Analysis of In-Depth Interviews -- Conclusions and Recommendations -- Bibliography -- Appendix 1: Questions for the Sociological Survey -- Appendix 2: In-Depth Interview Questions.

This book compares existing approaches to regionalism and transregionalism and discusses its global impact on world politics and economy. It argues that for the changing world order, the development of transregionalism would have benign implications on the global level.