Event Summary
This "year of elections" is a crucial one for Russia. Barring extra-constitutional disruptions, Russians will elect a new Duma in December. In June or July 2000, Russians will vote for a new President. The Belfer Center''s Strengthening Democratic Institutions (SDI) Project is keeping a close eye on developments in Russia.
Russian Reformist Team Visits U.S.
As part of its Russian Political Party-Building Program, the SDI Project hosted three of the Yabloko Party''s leading pollsters on a week-long trip to Boston, Washington, DC, and Iowa for a series of working meetings with leading U.S. campaign practitioners. The program, funded by the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, took place on August 9Ã14.
The delegates from Yabloko, Russia''s strongest liberal reformist party, also gave a presentation at Harvard about their work related to the upcoming Russian elections of 1999Ã2000. They stressed the difficulties of party building in Russia''s chaotic and often hostile political environment. They noted that Yabloko has built a polling capacity to cover key cities throughout Russia and will capitalize on this to focus their message on the issues voters care most about.
Focus On: Russia''s Political Parties and Elections
The SDI Project plans a number of events devoted to Russia''s coming "year of elections." This year, it plans to host a delegation of economic specialists from Russia''s new political juggernaut, the Fatherland-All Russia movement, for a series of meetings with leading U.S. economists and campaign practitioners. SDI will also kick off a series of specialist workshops and public events on critical topics in the Russian elections, bringing in a number of key Russian participants. These events will include two intensive background and briefing sessions for local and national media in both Cambridge and Washington, DC.
Free! Monthly "Russian Election Watch" Bulletin
SDI has begun publication of a monthly bulletin on the Russian elections, Russian Election Watch, which is circulated to top policymakers, businesspeople, journalists and specialists. The bulletin provides concise information and incisive analysis during the Russian election season. Each month''s issue will include the latest polls, summaries of the most important events of the campaign, analysis from leading Russian political commentators, interpretations of key events from the top parties themselves, and more.
Russian Election Watch can be viewed on SDI''s website at http://www.ksg.harvard.edu/bcsia/sdi.
A free electronic subscription is also available by sending an email message to Emily_Goodhue@harvard.edu with "Subscribe Election Watch" in the subject line and your name, affiliation, email address, phone, fax, and mailing address in the body of the message.