Anna Bailey

Email address: anna.bailey@ucl.ac.uk

Working title of thesis: Vodka Nation? Alcohol problems and policy formation in contemporary Russia

Present degree status: PhD candidate

Start date of research: 1 October 2009

Supervisors: Main supervisor - Professor Alena Ledeneva; second supervisor - Dr Chris Gerry

Centres to which the thesis is affiliated: CEELBAS, Centre for Comparative Economics

Обзор методологии и основные вопросы исследования

Key research questions:
My main research question is: What are the determinants of federal alcohol policy in contemporary Russia? This involves analysing the role in policy formation played by various alcohol policy stakeholders, including government departments and agencies, business and lobbyists, and civil society groups. Elements of my research include:

• Explaining the initiative to lower alcohol consumption that began under President Medvedev in 2009.
• How the 'alcohol problem' is constructed as a 'social problem' in contemporary Russia.
• Explaining the formation of the Federal Agency for Regulation of the Alcohol Market (Rosalkogol´regulirovaniye) in 2009. Who lobbied for its formation? Whose interests does it represent?
• Assessing the role played by the state-controlled joint-stock alcohol company Rosspirtprom.
• The role of the Governmental Commission for Regulation of the Alcohol Market, chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Zubkov (who is also on the Rosspirtptom board of directors).
• What is the influence of lobbyists and vested interests? Is competition between vodka and beer manufacturers a significant determinant of federal alcohol policy?

Methodological approach:
My research framework uses a combination of political science and sociological methodologies. Main elements are as follows:

• The 'alcohol problem' as a socially-constructed 'social problem' (Gusfield, 1996).
• Policy formation resulting from the interaction between policy stakeholders, who have competing interests and thus definitions of 'the problem'.
• This includes competition between individual government departments and agencies, who try to shape policy so as to maximise their own power and prestige (Downs 1967).
• Concepts of 'state capture' and 'business capture' in the study of Russian economic policy (Yakovlev 2006).

Research methods:
I use a mixture of qualitative research methods, including:

• Analysis of government documents and legislation.
• Analysis of events provided by contemporary news articles (using the EastView database).
• In-depth semi-structured interviews with policy actors and experts.

This page last modified Monday 26 September 2011.