Current Event: People’s Republic of China!

You know the drill by now, guys– you should use ONE of the sources linked below and choose a current event about the People’s Republic of China which has to do with current public policy, political debate, or governance. Read the article carefully, and then fill out the form below.

(Note: if you’ve had issues in the past with your article not submitting, please [1] check that your WiFi is stable, and [2] consider writing out your answers in a separate file, and then copy-pasting them into the form. That way if the information fails to go through, you still have a record of what you wrote and won’t have to do it twice.)

News Sources for the People’s Republic of China:

• Global Times
• People’s Daily Online
• Shanghai Daily
• China Daily
• The Economist

Current Event Form for Unit Four!

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Protected: Reading Packets for Unit Four!

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Unit Three Review!

Okay, guys! The study session will run live on YouTube from 5:30 to 7:30 PM on December 12th (that’s today), but if you can’t watch live, you can always catch up by watching the archived version located below:

There’s a chat function if you’re watching live, but if it misbehaves or you can’t watch live, send me your questions via Remind or Twitter.  Contact me @GallowayTeaches, or use the hashtag #AskMsGalloway, and I’ll see your questions, or use the text function on Remind.

 

See you soon!

Documentary Questions: Putin’s Way

As part of our continuing unit on the Russian political and governmental systems, we will be watching the 2015 Frontline documentary Putin’s Way, which chronicles Vladimir Putin’s rise to political power.  After watching the documentary, please choose ONE of the three discussion below, and answer it completely.  Justify your responses with evidence from our class discussions and the film.

1. How did the collapse of the Soviet Union and shaky rise of the Russian Federation lead to a political environment in which Vladimir Putin could rise to prominence? Describe, in detail, how Putin benefited from the weak political institutions during this period of transition.
2. The documentary makes an argument regarding the use of violence and crisis in terms of the acquisition of political power– consider the account of the 1999 apartment bombings, which were used to justify a new war in Chechnya, driving a rise in nationalism just prior to Putin’s first election as president.  What affect do you think this use of state force might have on the power, authority, and legitimacy of Russian leaders?
3. One of the commentators in the documentary refers to the Russian political system as one in which it’s “pay to play.”  What is meant by this expression?  How does the Russian political system under Putin rely on monetary transactions?  How do you think this affects political efficacy in Russia?

Please answer the question you choose in complete sentences, and have it ready to turn in at the start of our next class.

Video on Alexei Navalny; Also, What’s Up With Russia and Ukraine?

Hey!  If you’re in 2nd period, we may not have had time to get through all the material I would have liked to discuss today, due to the shortened schedule.  Therefore, here’s a couple of things I got to discuss with 1st period:

I. Short Video Feature on Alexei Navalny. (CBS News.  About 15 minutes, recorded before the March 2018 presidential election in Russia. This will help you get a better sense of who Navalny is, and what sort of structural opposition he faces.)

II. You Should Probably Be Watching The News About Russia and Ukraine.

Things are… interesting. Here’s the highlights:

• In 2014, Russia forcibly annexed Crimea, a Ukrainian peninsula that juts out into the Black Sea.
• Russia now says Crimea = Russia. The rest of the world disagrees— especially Ukraine. There’s a lot of tension between the two countries as a result.
• Over the weekend, the Russian navy attacked three Ukrainian vessels attempting to cross through waters in the Black Sea that both Russia and Ukraine claim. The Russian navy seized the vessels, as well as the crews.
• In response, Ukraine has declared martial law in their easternmost provinces (the areas closest to Russia), and is on heightened military alert.
• Russia plans to move missiles into Crimea.

Your last Harkness reading relates to Ukraine and Crimea, so these recent events?  They DEFINITELY should impact how you read those articles.

 

Russian Political History: Work for Thursday!

No matter whether you’re on the DC trip or not, EVERYONE needs to complete the following work.

Using your notes from either Tuesday’s lecture or Wednesday’s assignment, complete the following cross-matrix analysis and Venn diagram.  You will need to have your 3.2 reading packet (for the cross-matrix), AND your 2.2 reading packet on the UK (for the Venn diagram).  If you do not finish this work in class on Thursday, it is due the moment you walk in my classroom after Thanksgiving break.

Cross Matrix_Russian Political History

If you have questions, you can send me notes via Remind, but be aware that I may not answer immediately.

Russian Political History: Information Gathering

If you are in my “A” Day classes, or are on the DC trip with me: pay attention, because this is for you!  You will need to do the following:

1. Review the lecture notes on Russian political history.  Here they are: Russian Political History
2. You can also watch (and listen) to a couple of screencast lectures I made which go over them:
3. And you should read the relevant pages in your 3.2 packet on the subject.
4. Once you have done ALL of this, you may begin work on the following worksheet: Information Gathering_Russian Political History

Your completed Information Gathering sheet is due the moment you walk in the door of my classroom after Thanksgiving break, so you’d best get it done.

Current Event: Russian Federation

Your first current event for Unit Three will be due on either November 7th or 8th by the start of your class period. In order to do this, you will need to use one of the following publications:

• The Economist
• The Moscow Times
• Russia Times
• Sputnik International
• Interfax
• Pravda Report

BE AWARE THAT SEVERAL OF THOSE ARE RUSSIAN STATE-RUN MEDIA OUTLETS.  You can certainly use them, but you should DEFINITELY do your research and keep your eyes open for propaganda and suppression of dissent– that should be part of your analysis.

Find an article in one of those publications that is on a recent event or significant topic in the Russian Federation– preferably, one of interest to you. Read the article carefully (consider printing it out so that you can annotate it, perhaps), and the complete the form below. You will need to provide the URL to your article, so make sure you don’t lose it!

Current Event Form for Unit Three

Harkness Discussion Questions: Russian Federation

At the beginning of this unit, you should have drawn for the Harkness discussion for which you will need to write at least TWO high-level discussion questions.  (If you were absent that day or somehow missed drawing for your number, please contact me and I will assign you a reading.)

Please use the link below to submit your questions:

Harkness Discussion Questions for Unit Three

Freedom House: Models of Non-Democratic Governments

Today, you’re going to do some background work on models of non-democratic government using data from the 2018 Freedom House report on global freedom.

First, make sure you have the analysis form from class: Models of Nondemocratic Rule.

Using the 2018 Freedom House report on global freedom and the explanation of the NGO’s methodology, answer the first three questions on the analysis form.  Then, use your 3.1 reading packet (pgs. 19-28) to research the listed models of non-democratic forms of government.  Once you have defined each model of non-democratic government and described how it functions, use the information from Freedom House to identify at LEAST one current country which fits the description of each type of non-democratic model.