Analyzing the first hypothesis, I find that the division outlined by among other Bindman (2015) between economic and social rights, and civic and political rights, is highly relevant also in the case of environmental organizations. The organizations are careful in the way they pursue certain issues, and they underline the importance of having personal contacts in the sphere. The same discovery is made in analyzing the second hypothesis, where the divide is set between patriotic and unpatriotic contention. The relations are here found to depend somewhat on the Western affiliations and foreign funding, most notably through the implications of the law on foreign agents. Nevertheless, the interplay is shown to be much more complex and depends much more on interaction through formal structures and informal structures in an interdependent relationship between state and NGOs.
The analysis of the third hypothesis shows that the government makes use of the organizations, and that this relationship is far more important than the limitations implemented through the legislation surrounding NGOs. The data shows that the formal opportunities offered by the authorities, are both limited and encouraged. This paints a picture of a dualistic Russian state, offering formal opportunities to the NGOs for the governments benefit, but still trying to limit the full influence the organizations may provide. Furthermore, analyzing the fourth hypothesis, the data shows that there are existing formal opportunities for influence. The formal structures where NGOs are included, are to a certain extent utilized by the organizations. Even though the opinions differ as to what use some of the formal
structures have, the well-established organizations are shown to use the structures to their benefit. Organizations seeking influence, have also discovered the usefulness of establishing relationships and lay the foundations for becoming established partners.
The additional results discovered through extensive interviews also gives the impression of a sector that keeps renewing, and that seeks a larger goal in establishing a well-developed civil sphere outside of formal organizations. The mobilization of citizens to fight for their own constitutional rights gives hope for a sector under pressure, in addition to their formal opportunities. This is not necessarily the same contentious claims that could be seen through the protests previously mentioned in the introduction, but more of a manifestation of civil society activity outside formal organizations. Neither is it necessarily a sign of a struggle for democracy. But it might imply a sector that is more intent on cooperation to reach their goals,
69 and a sphere of civil society that is engaging and mobilizing rather than staying purely
professional and elitist.
The examples show that this unorganized civil society, through contact with the formal organizations, also learns to make use of the formal opportunities as they present themselves today, be it the legal system, petitions, or in addressing government officials directly. The conclusions drawn by for example Howard (2002) after the dissolution of the USSR was that Russian civil society remained weak, a conclusion that was supported by the organizational membership statistics. This development goes to show that membership statistics might not be sufficient measure for civil society development.
The analysis shows that the framework of consensual contestation and theory on hybrid regimes are fruitful theories for assessing the implications of governance for the hybrid regime that Russia has evolved into. As Cheskin and March highlight, this framework views social movements as “political claim-making within a specific…political regime” and not as a part of a “wider struggle for democratization” (Cheskin and March 2015, 265). The theory is advantageous in describing the complex interplay between NGOs and the Russian
government today, without making the assumption that civil society activity and contestation is purely a sign of struggle for democratic development.
70
Literature
Aasland, A., Nordlie, M. B., & Bogdanova, E. (2016). Encouraged but controlled: governance networks in Russian regions. East European Politics, 32(2), pp. 148-169.
doi:10.1080/21599165.2016.1167042
Andersen, S. S. (2006). Aktiv informanttrening. Norsk statsvitenskapelig tidsskrift, 22(3), pp.
278-298.
BEARR. (2016). Public Councils to review draft measures. Retrieved from The BEARR Trust: http://www.bearr.org/public-councils-to-review-draft-measures/
BEARR. (2017). Guidelines for NGOs on obtaining the status of provider of socially beneficial services. Retrieved from The BEARR Trust:
http://www.bearr.org/guidelines-for-ngos-on-obtaining-the-status-of-provider-of-socially-beneficial-services/
Bellona. (n.d.). About Bellona. Retrieved from Bellona.org: http://bellona.org/about-bellona Beyers, J., Braun, C., Marshall, D., & De Bruycker, I. (2014). Let's Talk! On the practice and
method of interviewing policy experts. Interest Groups and Advocacy, 3(2), pp. 174-187. doi:10.1057/iga.2014.11
Bindman, E. (2015). The state, civil society and social rights in contemporary Russia. East European Politics, 31(3), pp. 342-360. doi:10.1080/21599165.2015.1063488 Bleich, E., & Pekkanen, R. (2013). How to Report Interview Data. In L. Mosley, Interview
Research in Political Science (pp. 84-108). New York: Cornell University Press.
Bryman, A. (2012). Social Research Methods. New York: Oxford University Press.
Carothers, T. (2002). The End of the Transition Paradigm. Journal of Democracy, 13(1), pp.
5-21. doi:10.1353/jod.2002.0003
71 Center for Independent Social Research. (n.d.). About Us. Retrieved from Center for
Independent Social Research: https://cisr.ru/en/about/
Cheskin, A., & March, L. (2015). State-society relations in contemporary Russia: new forms of poltical and social contention. East European Politics, 31(3), pp. 261-273.
doi:10.1080/21599165.2015.1063487
Connor, W. D. (2003). Soviet Society, Public Attitudes and the Perils of Gorbachev's Reforms - The Social Context of the End of the USSR. Journal of Cold War Studies, 5(4), pp.
43-80. Retrieved from https://muse.jhu.edu/article/47927
CRNO. (2015). О нас. Retrieved from Центр развития некоммерческих организаций:
http://www.crno.ru/o-nas/o-nas1
Crotty, J., Hall, S. M., & Ljubownikow, S. (2014). Post-Soviet Civil Society Development in the Russian Federation: The Impact of the NGO Law. Europe-Asia Studies, 66(8), pp.
1253-1269. doi:10.1080/09668136.2014.941697
Dallin, A. (1992). Causes of the Collapse of the USSR. Post-Soviet Affairs, 8(4), pp. 279-302.
doi:10.1080/1060586X.1992.10641355
Davies, J. S., Holm-Hansen, J., Kononenko, V., & Røiseland, A. (2016, March 14). Network governance in Russia: an analytical framework. East European Politics, 32(2), pp.
131-147. doi:10.1080/21599165.2016.1168300
Digges, C. (2015a, March 20). Bellona Murmansk listed by Russian Justice Ministry as
‘foreign agent’. Retrieved from Bellona: http://bellona.org/news/russian-human- rights-issues/russian-ngo-law/2015-03-bellona-murmansk-listed-russian-justic-ministry-foreign-agent
Digges, C. (2015b, October 12). Two decades of legal harassment dissolve Bellona
Murmansk as a Russian NGO – but it will continue its work. Retrieved from Bellona:
http://bellona.org/news/russian-human-rights-issues/russian-ngo-law/2015-10-two- decades-of-legal-harassment-dissolve-bellona-murmansk-as-a-russian-ngo-but-it-will-continue-its-work
Digges, C. (2017, January 16). Environmental Rights Center Bellona called a ‘foreign agent’
by Russian government. Retrieved from Bellona:
http://bellona.org/news/russian-72
human-rights-issues/russian-ngo-law/2017-01-environmental-right-center-bellona-called-a-foreign-agent-casting-doubt-future-of-nuclear-cleanup-in-russia
Ecoyear. (2017). О Годе экологии в Российской Федерации. Retrieved from Ecoyear:
http://ecoyear.ru/about/
Federal Law On Public Associations. (n.d.). Federal Law NO. 82-FZ of May 19, 1995 On Public Associations. Retrieved from
http://www.legislationline.org/documents/action/popup/id/4374, Freedom in the World: Russia. (2016). Retrieved from Freedom House:
https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2016/russia Freedom in the World: Russia. (2017). Retrieved from Freedom House:
https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2016/russia
Gallagher, M. (2013). Capturing Meaning and Confronting Measurement. In L. Mosley, Interview Research in Political Science (pp. 181-195). New York: Cornell University Press.
Global Energy Statistical Yearbook 2016. (n.d.). Retrieved from Global Energy Statistical Yearbook: https://yearbook.enerdata.net/
Goncharov, D., & Shirikov, A. (2013). Public Administration in Russia. In S. Liebert, S. E.
Condrey, & D. Goncharov, Public Administration in Post-Communist Countries (pp.
23-42). Florida: CRC.
Greenpeace. (n.d. a). About Greenpeace. Retrieved from Greenpeace:
http://www.greenpeace.org/russia/en/about/
Greenpeace. (n.d. b). What we do: The issues we work on. Retrieved from Greenpeace:
http://www.greenpeace.org/russia/en/campaigns/
Hale, H. (2010). Eurasian polities as hybrid regimes: The case of Putin’s Russia. Journal of Eurasian Studies, 1(1), pp. 33-41. doi:10.1016/j.euras.2009.11.001
Hale, H. (2011a). Hybrid Regimes: When Democracy and Autocracy Mix. In N. J. Brown, The Dynamics of Democratization: Dictatorship, Development, and Diffusion (pp. 23-45). Maryland: The Johns Hopkins University Press.
73 Hale, H. E. (2011b). The Myth of Mass Russian Support for Autocracy: The Public Opinion
Foundations of a Hybrid Regime. Europe-Asia Studies, 63(8), pp. 1357-1375.
doi:10.1080/09668136.2011.601106
Hellevik, O. (2002). Forskningsmetode i sosiologi og statsvitenskap. Oslo:
Universitetsforlaget.
Helsingforskomiteen. (n.d. a). Om Helsingforskomiteen. Retrieved from nhc.no:
http://www.nhc.no/no/om_nhc/
Helsingforskomiteen. (n.d. b). Russland. Retrieved from Helsingforskomiteen:
http://www.nhc.no/no/land_og_regioner/europa/russland/
Hemment, J. (2012). Nashi, Youth Voluntairism, and Potemkin NGOs: Making Sense of Civil Society in Post-Soviet Russia. Slavic Review, 71(2), pp. 234-260.
doi:10.1017/S0037677900013607
Henderson, S. L. (2011). Civil Society in Russia: State-Society Relations in the Post-Yeltsin.
Problems of Post-Communism, 58(3), pp. 11-27. doi:10.2753/PPC1075-8216580302 Holm-Hansen, J. (2005). The Transferability of Policy Instruments: How new environmental
policy instruments. Oslo: NIBR. Retrieved from
http://www.hioa.no/extension/hioa/design/hioa/images/nibr/files/filer/2005-16.pdf Holm-Hansen, J. (2015). Public Awareness and Nuclear Safety in Russia. Oslo: Norsk
institutt for by- og regionsforskning. Retrieved from
http://www.hioa.no/extension/hioa/design/hioa/images/nibr/files/filer/2015-14.pdf Horvath, R. (2011). Putin's ‘Preventive Counter-Revolution': Post-Soviet Authoritarianism
and the Spectre of Velvet Revolution. Europe-Asia Studies, 63(1), pp. 1-25.
doi:10.1080/09668136.2011.534299
Howard, M. M. (2002, January). The Weakness of Post-Communist Civil Society. Journal of Democracy, 13(1), pp. 157-169. doi:10.1353/jod.2002.0008
Human Rights Watch. (2017). Russia: Government vs. Rights Groups. Retrieved from Human Rights Watch: https://www.hrw.org/russia-government-against-rights-groups-battle-chronicle
74
Höjdestrand, T. (2016). Social Welfare or Moral Warfare? : Popular Resistance against Children’s Rights and Juvenile Justice in Contemporary Russia. International Journal of Children's Rights, 4(24), pp. 826-850. doi:10.1163/15718182-02404007
ICNL. (2017). Civic Freedom Monitor: Russia. Retrieved from The International Center for Not-for-Profit Law: http://www.icnl.org/research/monitor/russia.html
IUCN. (2017). Year of Ecology in Russia. Retrieved from International Union for Conservation of Nature: https://www.iucn.org/news/eastern-europe-and-central-asia/201703/year-ecology-russia
Krastev, I. (2010). Twenty Years of Postcommunism: Deepening Dissatisfaction. Journal of Democracy, 1(21), pp. 113-119. doi:10.1353/jod.0.0149
Leech, B. L., Baumgartner, F. R., Berry, J. M., Hojnacki, M., & Kimball, D. C. (2013).
Lessons from the "Lobbying and Policy Change" Project. In L. Mosley, Interview Research in Political Science (pp. 209-224). New York: Cornell University Press.
Levitsky, S., & Way, L. A. (2002). The rise of competitive authoritarianism. Journal of Democracy, 13(2), pp. 51-66. doi:10.1353/jod.2002.0026
Linz, J. J., & Stepan, A. (1997). Toward Consolidated Democracies. In L. Diamond, F. M.
Plattner, Y.-h. Chu, & H.-m. Tien, Consolidating the Third Wave Democracies (pp.
14-33). Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press.
McAuley, M. (1992). Soviet Politics 1917-1991 . Oxford University press.
McFaul, M., & Stoner-Weiss, K. (2008). The Myth of the Authoritarian Model: How Putin's Crackdown Holds Russia Back. Foreign Affairs, 87(1), pp. 68-80. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/20020268
Mortensen, A., Pleitgen, F., Prior, R., & Rehbein, M. (2017, March 27). Report: Hundreds arrested at anti-corruption protests in Russia. CNN. Retrieved from edition.cnn.com:
http://edition.cnn.com/2017/03/26/world/russia-corruption-protests/
Naturvernforbundet. (2014). Opening Closed Rooms. Retrieved from
https://naturvernforbundet.no/getfile.php/1376115/Dokumenter/Rapporter%20og%20f aktaark/2014/10let_decom_kaa-skjerm.pdf
75 Naturvernforbundet. (2017). Pressure Towards Russian Environmental NGOs.
Naturvernforbundet. Retrieved from www.naturvernforbundet.no/civilsocietyreports Newton, K., & Van Deth, J. (2010). Foundations of Comparative Politics: Democracies of
the Modern World. New York: Cambridge University Press.
NGO Law Monitor: Russia. (2016). Retrieved from International Center for Not-for-Profit Law: http://www.icnl.org/research/monitor/russia.html
OEC: Exports. (2015). Retrieved from Observatory of Economic Complexity:
http://atlas.media.mit.edu/en/profile/country/rus/#Exports
Owen, K. (2015). "Consentful Contention" in a corporate state: human rights activists and public monitoring commissions in russia. East European Politics, 31(3), pp. 274-293.
doi:10.1080/21599165.2015.1023894
Paffenholz, T., & Spurk, C. (2006). Civil Society, Civic Engagement, and Peacebuilding.
Washington, DC: Social Development Department of the World Bank. Retrieved from http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTCPR/Resources/WP36_web.pdf
Petrov, N., Lipman, M., & Hale, H. E. (2014). Three dilemmas of hybrid regime governance:
Russia from Putin to Putin. Post-Soviet Affairs, 30(1), pp. 1-26.
doi:10.1080/1060586X.2013.825140
President Sovet. (n.d.). Совет при Президенте Российской Федерации по развитию гражданского общества и правам человека. Retrieved from President Sovet:
http://www.president-sovet.ru/
Presidential Councils. (n.d.). Retrieved from en.kremlin.ru:
http://en.kremlin.ru/structure/councils#institution-18
Putnam, R. D. (1993). Making Democracy Work: Civic Traditions in Modern Italy. New Jersey: Princeton University Press.
Putnam, R. D., & Goss, K. A. (2002). Introduction. In R. D. Putnam, Democracies in Flux:
The evolution of social capital in contemporary society (pp. 1-19). New York: Oxford University Press.
76
RAPSI. (2016). State Duma passes bill on support of socially beneficial NGOs. Retrieved from Russian Legal Information Agency:
http://www.rapsinews.com/legislation_news/20160624/276377903.html Remington, T. (2016). Politics in Russia. New York: Routledge.
ROSATOM. (2016). Public Council. Retrieved from rosatom.ru:
http://www.rosatom.ru/en/about-us/governance/public-council/
ROSATOM. (2016). ROSATOM: Public Council. Retrieved from ROSATOM:
http://www.rosatom.ru/en/about-us/governance/public-council/
ROSATOM. (n.d.). About Us. Retrieved from ROSATOM: http://www.rosatom.ru/en/about-us/
Russia Today. (2016). Putin declares 2017 Year of Ecology in Russia. Russia Today.
Retrieved January 2017, from https://www.rt.com/politics/328531-putin-declares-2017-year-of/
Russian Social Ecological Union. (n.d.). Организация: О нас. Retrieved from Russian Social Ecological Union: http://rusecounion.ru/organization#istory
Sandford, D. (2011, December 10). Russian election: Biggest protests since fall of USSR.
BBC. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-16122524
Schleifer, A., & Treisman, D. (2008). A Normal Country. Foreign Affairs, 2(83), pp. 20-38.
Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/20033900
Simon, R. (1982). Gramsci's Political Thought: An Introduction. London: Lawrence and Wishart.
Socio-Ecological Union. (n.d.). About: The Basement. Retrieved from Socio-Ecological Union: http://www.seu.ru/about/eng/osnovanie.htm
Tarasenko, A. (2015). Russian welfare reform and social NGOs: strategies for claim-making and service provision in the case of Saint Petersburg. East European Politics, 31(3), pp. 294-313. doi:10.1080/21599165.2015.1023895
77 Tarrow, S., & Tilly, C. (2009). Contentious Politics and Social Movements. The Oxford
Handbook of Comparative Politics, pp. 1-29.
doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199566020.003.0019
Turbine, V. (2015). Women's human rights in Russia: outmoded battlegrounds, or new sites of contentious politics? East European Politics, 31(3), ss. 326-341.
doi:10.1080/21599165.2015.1064395
van der Heijden, H.-A. (2014). The environmental movement. In H.-A. van der Heijden, Handbook of Political Citizenship and Social Movements (pp. 387-417). Cheltenham:
Edward Elgar Publishing Limited .
White, D. (2011). Dominant party systems: a framework for conceptualizing opposition strategies in Russia. Democratization, 18(3), pp. 655-681.
doi:10.1080/13510347.2011.563122
White, D. (2015). Political opposition in Russia: the challenges of mobilisation and the political–civil society nexus. East European Politics, 31(3), pp. 314-325.
doi:10.1080/21599165.2014.990628
Wolchik, S. L. (2012). Putinism Under Siege: Can There be a Color Revolution? Journal of Democracy, 23(3), pp. 63-70. doi:10.1353/jod.2012.0052
Yin, R. K. (2011). Qualitative Research from Start to Finish. New York: The Guilford Press.
Yin, R. K. (2012). Applications of Case Study Research. SAGE Publications: Los Angeles.
Президент России: События. (2016). Retrieved from Kremlin official website:
http://www.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/53602
78