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North et al. (2009) have presented a new theory of economic institutions which explains property rights in 'limited access orders' as outcome of intra-elite political conflict. Property rights are explained as a means of governing violence in society via the distribution of rents among elites. However, this theory does not establish systematic linkages to North's earlier theoretical contributions on the role of informal institutions and cognition in explaining institutions. I suggest that a synthesis can be built by referring to central notions in Foucault's work on power, the state, and knowledge, especially, the concepts of biopolitics and of governmentality as a pattern of informal institutions. The paper sketches this synthesis and applies the theory on the evolution of property rights in Russia from Catherine the Great to Putin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a reconstruction of the Russian Orthodox Church's narrative on mission, including the evolution and most characteristic features of its content and context. The notion of mission employed in this article combines components of both messianism and missionism. In short, mission is understood as the conviction that a certain community (state/nation) is exceptional and that this exceptionality manifests itself in its special destiny (Russian: osoboe prednaznachenie). As such, it represents a specific component of the identity of a state. In contemporary Russia, mission is seen as a crucial attribute of civilizational distinctiveness and of a major power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The "German Darwin" Ernst Haeckel was influential not only in Germany, but in non-German-speaking countries as well. Due to the widespread use of German as a language of science in the Russian Empire along with growing Russian–German links in various scientific fields, Haeckel directly and indirectly influenced Russian intellectual landscape. The objective of the present paper is to investigate Haeckel's impact on Russian biology before the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917. We outline the transfer of Haeckelian ideas to Russia and its adaptation to a national research tradition. Haeckel's ideas influenced the most crucial Russian evolutionists such as brothers Alexander and Vladimir Kovalevsky, Ilya (Elias) Metschnikoff, Mikhail Menzbier (Menzbir), Karl Kessler, Andrei Famintzyn, and Konstantin Mereschkowsky. At the same time, Haeckel's speculative hypotheses and his attempts to convert Darwinism into a universal worldview by promoting monism found little support in biological circles of Russia. Russian biology grew as an empirical science having weak connections to "romantic philosophy" as German biology did. This, among others, explains the acceptance of Haeckel as a biologist and the rejection of Haeckel as a philosopher by crucial Russian evolutionists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides a detailed look at how creationism originated in the United States and then explores how this evangelical trend was exported to Russia by American missionaries following the fall of the USSR. The comparison between these two countries is particularly interesting since the rivalry between the US and the USSR during the race to space caused both countries to revamp their science education. Yet, while political interests led both governments to focus on science education, creationist activities were simultaneously focused on diminishing the coverage of evolution in science classrooms. Now, decades following Sputnik's trip to space, the urgency to strengthen scientific learning has waned, while creationists are still equally focused on removing scientific naturalism in favor of supernatural explanations for the origin of species. This paper thus offers an in-depth look at which groups are currently responsible for promoting creationist activities in the US and in Russia and which groups are working hard to keep supernatural doctrines out of science curriculum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author examines the evolution of relations among Church, state, and society in Russia over recent years in the light of comparisons with other predominantly Orthodox Christian countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A public policy scholar sets out to investigate the reasons behind the exceptionally high interest rates for mortgage loans in Russia. The article argues that this situation can be explained by examining Russian government policy making in the area of housing finance during the post-Soviet period. Following comparative literature, the process of policy development over time is argued to be determined by the interaction of such factors as policy legacies, policy ideas, institutional environment and actors' interests. The article demonstrates how the agency model of housing finance was institutionalised in policy during the 1990s. The initial appeal of this model to the interest of diverse actors at different levels of government is explained. The subsequent evolution of this model towards the formation of a ‘state-led model of housing finance’ over the recent decade is traced and its limitations in producing sufficient volumes of mortgage funding are highlighted. The analysis, in addition, demonstrates that alternative policy ideas with the potential to generate extra volumes of mortgage finance are also available in Russia within the relevant policy community. Their adoption in policy is, however, presently blocked by the interests of the top policy officials seeking to increase and maintain the central role of the Russian state in directing the country's economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine the new period of advancement of geography in the 21 century corresponding to the postnonclassical stage of advancement of science. The tendency toward interdisciplinary and problem-oriented research in contemporary geography is highlighted. The theoretical and practical significance of the evolution of geography at the postnonclassical period is demonstrated. Examples of contemporary geographical research corresponding to this period are given. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We can see three phases in the evolution of the post-Soviet Russian state: a phase of extreme state weakness with the enforcement function performed by organized criminal gangs, the era of "regional barons" presiding over regional administrative markets, and the most recent phase of a unified national administrative market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The phylogenetic relationships between Baikalian endemic green alga Draparnaldioides simplex C. Meyer et Skabitch., 1976 and holarctic taxa of green algae have been studied using the 18S rDNA gene fragment and internal transcribed ITS1 and ITS2 spacers of nuclear DNA. The Baikalian genus Draparnaldioides was shown to be a separate taxon. The level of genetic difference between the studied species and non-Baikalian taxa of sister groups of green algae is insignificant, which indicates the young age of the genus Draparnaldioides and its recent radiation from the common ancestor with genera Draparnaldia and Chaetophora. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The first part of this evolutionary study of the persistence of the autocratic/oligarchic variety of personal rule in Russia provides a historical overview, followed by two theories explaining why it persisted, interrupted by brief 'times of troubles,' for over 500 years. Edward Keenan, on the one hand, hypothesizes successful long-term adaptation to a demanding environment. Richard Hellie, on the other hand, develops a theory of service-class revolutions and a cyclical pattern based on the methods of Russian elites for overcoming relative backwardness. Neither theory takes a neo-Darwinian approach. The second part examines neo-Darwinian evolutionary approaches. In the cosmic perspective of Big History, the human species in its relatively brief existence has had an accelerating impact on other species and the earth's environment. Biologists modeling complex systems come to a similar conclusion. Agent-driven history, as modeled by demographer Noël Bonneuil, raises questions about the adequacy of the historian's traditional single-trajectory narrative approach to 'the time of human history' and also critiques the biases built into the mathematical models of many evolutionary thinkers. An evolutionary approach to human history does not restrict itself to organic replication, but takes into account populations of evolving human skills and also group projects that act as evolutionary forces as well as units of selection, and outlive generations of organic populations. The third part applies this approach to the Russian tradition of state power by showing how group projects operate as evolutionary forces in a variety of modern power systems. The 'parable of the tribes' avers that the aggressive agent in any given power system-ideological, economic, social, military, or political-dictates the dynamics of the system. The 'braided stream' approach shows, however sketchily here, how agent-driven modern power systems interact, coevolve, and produce hybrid forms. The Russian tradition is highlighted in this evolutionary context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The predominance of subjectivity in Pushkinʼs ‘Little House in Kolomna’ provides this poem with avant-gardist features: the poem does not have an addresser and an addressee who share a common code. Pushkinʼs poem brought about a whole “family” of imitations, which includes Timur Kibirovʼs ‘Crappers’. Contrary to ‘Little House in Kolomna’ and despite its postmodernistic poetic devices ‘Crappers’ has, however, an addresser, addressee and common code. From this point of view, Pushkinʼs poem is more avant-gardist than Kibirovʼs. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The paper discusses the evolution of Stromatoporoidea in the epicontinental sedimentary basin of the Siberian Platform and Taimyr during the Ordovician and Silurian. Specimens of the oldest genus, Priscastroma, were found in the middle of Middle Ordovician sediments. This genus is represented by the species P. gemina Khrom., which has two forms, A and B. Tracing the emergence of new genera over time, we identified two distinct branches in stromatoporoid evolution. The ancestor of the first branch is P. gemina f. A, which gave rise to the genus Cystostroma. The latter is the ancestor of two subbranches with predominant horizontal skeletal elements. The subbranches differ only in tissue microstructure. The genera Stromatocerium, Dermatostroma, and Aulacera display dense fibrous microstructure, whereas the genus Rosenella and its descendants display dense microstructure. The genus Lophiostroma, with a lamellar–fibrous tissue, may be a dead branch of evolution. The ancestor of the second branch is P. gemina f. B, which gave rise to the genus Labechia and its descendants. This branch has a dense tissue, with predominant vertical skeletal elements. Ordovician stromatoporoids from Siberia were compared with those from other basins of the world. Comparison shows that all the Ordovician genera from the epicontinental basin of the Siberian Platform and Taimyr originated here. Thus, this basin was one of the centers of stromatoporoid origin. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The author traces the historical evolution of the relationship between the army and society. He argues that the underlying cause of the poor performance of the Russian army is its failure to adapt to changes in the society around it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the application of the theory of evolution and progress for substantiating new approaches to the analysis of the present-day conflicts in Russia. It is stated that the said country will have to take part in the explicit and implicit confrontation by ensuring humanity's survival and development. By controlling information and intellectual potential are the only way to be victorious in the struggle being waged in the world.

This vesiculosus Biozone assemblage of chemically-isolated graptolites from the Orenburg District of Russia was obtained from limestones associated with pillow lavas of the Sakmara Formation of Silurian–Early Devonian age. It comprises 30 species, of which 24 are described. Nine are new, one is a new subspecies, and eight are left under open nomenclature. The assemblage is unique in its diversity of minute biserial graptolites referable to the genera ‘ Glyptograptus’, Normalograptus, Sudburigraptus, and Metaclimacograptus; and is unusual in that well-preserved graptolite faunas are rare at this stratigraphical level, which is fixed by the occurrence of Cystograptus vesiculosus (Nicholson) s.l. and Paraclimacograptus innotatus (Nicholson). The following new forms are described: ‘ Glyptograptus’ tamariscus praecursor subsp. nov., G. mazovoensis sp. nov., G. nikitini sp. nov., G. pavlinovi sp. nov., G. telarius sp. nov., G. zimai sp. nov., Normalograptus legrandi sp. nov., N. melchini sp. nov., N. sobolevskayae sp. nov., and Metaclimacograptus bjerreskovae sp. nov. Five evolutionary lineages are defined within the ‘ Glyptograptus’ tamariscus (Nicholson) plexus, modifying and extending the pioneer work of Packham (1962). The diverse ‘ Glyptograptus’ faunas are considered to be a replacement for the Normalograptus fauna which peaked in the late Ordovician and early Silurian. Metaclimacograptus, although reasonably diverse in its speciation, exhibits a conservative style of evolution with little fundamental change throughout the Llandovery. It is suggested that cortical bandages have species-specific dimensions and micro-features. Some problematical micro- and ultrastructural features are described, notably fibrillar textures, parallel to the fusellar margins, in several species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The creatures in Baikal and other ancient lakes could help researchers unravel fundamental mysteries about why some life forms speciate and others do not [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports that a Russian court will resume hearing testimony on February 21, 2007 in relation to the teaching of Darwinian evolution. Saint Petersburg, Russia-based public school number 148 11th grader Mariya Shraiber has sued the Russian Ministry of Education and Science, claiming that the school's biology textbook offends her religious sentiments because it does not allow for other theories, such as creationism. She also contends that the science in "The Origin of Species" is unproven and derived from Marxist-Leninist ideology.