The Making of Russian Political Traditions Essay

The Making of Russian Political Traditions - Essay Example It is obvious that features of such "driving forces" were specific for each empire, so these forces were essential for making political, economic, and even cultural "frames" of these empires. First of all, we need to juxtapose principal historic events of that time. The political and economic decline of Kiev in XII-XIII centuries led to strong regional developments (Keenan and Raeff, 2003). Rostov, the earliest princely centre in the north-east, was included in the princely rotation system for a long time. In the XII century, it became the patrimony of the younger branch of Vladimir II Monomakh's family. Under his son Yury Dolgoruky (1125-1157) and grandson Andrew I (1157-1174), the principality reached a high political and cultural development. In the XIII century, the principality of Moscow was created as an apanage (royal grant) within the grand principality of Vladimir. This new seat grew in importance when Michael Khorobrit, brother of Alexander Nevsky, conquered Vladimir (1248) and made himself prince of both centers. Daniel, Nevsky's son (1276-1303), was the progenitor of all the later Rurikid princes of Moscow. Yet, at that time the principality is very small and has insignificant political influence (Martin, 1995). The beginning of Moscow's rise to its later preeminence came during the reign of Daniel's son Ivan (1328-1341), who, by cooperating with khans of the Golden Horde, and also by his shrewd purchases (probably of tax-farming rights), greatly expanded the influence of his principality (Keenan and Raeff, 2003). We know that in time of the Mongol invasion many of the conquered cities made an unusual recovery and adjustment to the new relationships. Of course, some cities, such as Kiev, never fully recovered in Mongol times. However, new centers, such as Moscow and Tver, arose and flourished in Mongol times. The local princely dynasties continued unchanged in their traditional seats. Moreover, the northern Russian princes fell to quarreling and to maneuvering for their own advantage in the politics of the Golden Horde. In this period, rising of Muscovy was caused by "symbiosis" with the Golden Horde. However, why Muscovy was not "absorbed" by the Golden Horde Firstly, the Golden Horde was unstable as any multinational and highly heterogeneous empire, so its domination was not permanent. Then, this "symbiosis" was not comprehensive. Influence of the Golden Horde in the areas of religion and intellectual life was practically nonexistent. Limited contacts between the Slavic and Turkic populations, and the strong Orthodox clergy control in Muscovy were very favorable for surviving Russian culture. Comprehensive cooperation was only in the areas of the secular culture of the court and counting house. "Here, Slavs and Tatars elaborated together an international subculture whose language was Turkic and whose administrative techniques and chancellery culture were essentially those of the Golden Horde" (Keenan and Raeff, 2003). Severe and destructive conflicts between Muscovy and the Golden Horde appear only in the XIV century, when the Golden Horde was at the stage of decline. Conflicts between Dmitry Donskoy, grand prince of Moscow, and Mamai (1381), and also Tokhtamysh attacks on Moscow (Martin, 1995) signify the end of this "symbiosis" in the political sphere. Next period differs

Differential Reporting in Australia Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Differential Reporting in Australia - Essay Example There have been arguments and commentaries on the applicability of the proposed changes to the reporting requirements in Australia. The AASB is of the view that the differential accounting standards are required to ensure adequate financial reporting for not-for-profit and government entities. This paper analyses the cases for and against this statement in the light of the proposed changes to the reporting requirements as envisaged by the AASB. The Public Sector Accounting Standards Board of the Australian Accounting Research Foundation has issued the Statement of Accounting Concept (SAC) 1defining the 'reporting entity' concept. Accordingly the reporting entity concept covers the 'legal entity' enunciated by the legislation in the private sector and also a broader concept to cover the accountability of the elected representatives and appointed officials employed in the public sector. (Australian Accounting Research Foundation) The concept of the reporting entity is based on the information needs of the users of the financial statements and the nature and extent of the general purpose of the financial reports. "The concept requires that individual reporting entities be identified by reference to the existence of users who are dependent on general purpose financial reports for information for making and evaluating resource allocation decisions." (Australian Accounting Research Foundation) Hence the reporting entity is not d ependent on the sector classification whether private or public or the manner or legality on the basis of which the entity is created. The concept is purely based on the objective behind the general purpose reporting and the concept requires all the entities (with users dependent on the general purpose financial reports for information) to prepare the general purpose financial reports for the information of the users of such reports. The present situation is that almost all not - for - profit companies are having the option to choose the status of being 'non-reporting entities'. If such companies opt for not to be reporting entities they need to prepare only 'special purpose accounts'. (Chartered Secretaries Australia) The objective of the proposed change is to revise the differential reporting regime, so that the financial reporting by both the for-profit and not-for profit organizations are made more meaningful for the users. 2.1 Rationale behind Removal of Reporting Entity Concept: The Invitation to Comment on the proposed change in the reporting regime details the rationale behind attempting to the remove the reporting entity concept. Nowhere in the world except Australia, the concept 'reporting entity' is being used for the purpose of determination of the accounting standards and the disclosure requirements. Australia is the only country which uses the concept of reporting entity for the determination of the differential reporting purposes also. Since the concept is not being the one which has an international usage and recognition the AASB proposed to remove this concept from the application to determine the accounting st