“Sovereign Democracy” and International Law: Legitimation and Legal Ideology

Morris, P. Sean

doi:10.4324/9781315123837-6

Cited by 2 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…This followed severe criticism of the 2003 parliamentary and 2004 presidential elections, in which Putin and his circle strengthened its grip on power and after which election observers emphasized how Russia's democracy was no longer "real," "true," "meaningful," or "genuine" OSCE/ODIHR 2004a, 2004c. The term sovereign democracy, coined by "political technologist" Vladislav Surkov, was never used explicitly by Putin, but components of the idea were expressed in several of his speeches, notably his annual address to Russia's legislature in 2005 ( Morozov 2008 ; see also Morris 2018 ). What makes it interesting from a stigma-management perspective was the assertion that Russia was still democratic but democratic in its own sovereign way: "The democratic road we have chosen is independent in nature, a road along which we move ahead, … taking into account our own specific internal circumstances" ( Putin 2005 ).…”

Section: The 2000s and "Sovereign Democracy": Stigma Rejection And Co...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Stigma Dynamics: Russia and the Crisis of Liberal Ordering

Rogstad

2022

Global Studies Quarterly

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The concepts of stigma and stigmatization have recently made inroads into IR. However, scholarship on stigmatization has primarily focused on discrete instances of stigmatization and stigma management for the purposes of comparison. Less has been written about how the dynamics of stigmatization processes can alter over time as actors change stigma-management tactics and stigmatization varies in intensity, and the effect this may have on social norms. To that end, this article introduces a distinction between direct and diffuse forms of stigmatization that, when combined with different forms of stigma management, lead to changes in stigma dynamics over time. It applies this distinction to Russian stigma management vis-à-vis liberal international order, specifically the norms of democracy and human rights that constitute a “normal” for states to aspire to, any deviance from which requires stigma management. By outlining the interactive process of Russia's stigma management in relation to these norms since the end of the Cold War, and the degrees of direct and diffuse stigmatization of Russia by the norms’ promoters, the article also seeks to make a contribution to work on the crisis of liberal international order, aligning itself with contributions focused on the co-constitution of order through processes of ordering. The article proposes that stigmatization is a constitutive mechanism of liberal ordering and that some of the explanation for the supposed crisis of liberal order is the alteration of international stigma dynamics.

show abstract

Section: The 2000s and "Sovereign Democracy": Stigma Rejection And Co...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Stigma Dynamics: Russia and the Crisis of Liberal Ordering

Rogstad

2022

Global Studies Quarterly

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…1 Surkov argued that the 1990s -with its corrupt privatisations, fraudulent elections, acceptance of separatism in Chechnya and its fi nancial indebtedness to the Westhad left Russia 'on the verge of losing state sovereignty', using the term to reference both domestic and international meanings (Surkov 2006b). In 2006 Surkov began articulating a new ideological framework of 'Sovereign Democracy' (Surkov 2006b;Averre 2007;Orlov 2008), an idea with strong affi nities to Carl Schmitt's ideas (Svetlichnaja and Heartfi eld 2010;Bowring 2013;Morris 2019). Surkov defi ned Sovereign Democracy as: a form of the political life of society, where the authorities [vlasti], their organs and actions are chosen, formed, and directed exclusively by the Russian nation in all its diversity and integrity with the aim of achieving the material well-being of all the citizens, social groups and peoples which make up [the Russian nation].…”

Section: Notesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Russia's New Authoritarianism

Lewis¹

2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In this book, David Lewis offers an original interpretation of the Russian political system that developed under Vladimir Putin as a new form of authoritarianism. Lewis argues that the Putinist worldview challenged liberal beliefs about concepts such as sovereignty, the state, and democracy, and instead promoted a set of illiberal norms and ideas that contributed to a global backlash against liberal politics. The book uses the political thought of Carl Schmitt, the Nazi jurist and anti-liberal political theorist, to explore political developments in Russia in the first two decades of the 21st century. Case-studies examine how ideas of sovereign decision-making and exceptionality undermined the rule of law in Russia, producing a system of politicised, selective justice. A striving for national unity degenerated into a search for external and internal enemies. Russia’s democratic institutions were gradually hollowed out as Russia developed a form of “illiberal democracy”. The second part of the book uses Schmitt’s theories of international relations to study Russian foreign policy, including a detailed case-study of the annexation of Crimea, a new interpretation of Russia’s search for a sphere of influence in the former Soviet space, and a study of messianic thinking in Russian policy in the Middle East. The book is a detailed study of contemporary Russian politics, but also draws parallels between developments in Russia and the global growth of right-wing populism and authoritarianism.

show abstract

“Sovereign Democracy” and International Law: Legitimation and Legal Ideology

Cited by 2 publications

References 0 publications

Stigma Dynamics: Russia and the Crisis of Liberal Ordering

Stigma Dynamics: Russia and the Crisis of Liberal Ordering

Russia's New Authoritarianism

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About