Author: M. Steven Fish
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1139446851
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 466
Get Book Here
Book Description
Why has democracy failed to take root in Russia? After shedding the shackles of Soviet rule, some countries in the postcommunist region undertook lasting democratization. Yet Russia did not. Russia experienced dramatic political breakthroughs in the late 1980s and early 1990s, but it subsequently failed to maintain progress toward democracy. In this book, M. Steven Fish offers an explanation for the direction of regime change in post-Soviet Russia. Relying on cross-national comparative analysis as well as on in-depth field research in Russia, Fish shows that Russia's failure to democratize has three causes: too much economic reliance on oil, too little economic liberalization, and too weak a national legislature. Fish's explanation challenges others that have attributed Russia's political travails to history, political culture, or to 'shock therapy' in economic policy. The book offers a theoretically original and empirically rigorous explanation for one of the most pressing political problems of our time.
Author: Zoltan Barany
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 140082804X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 265
Get Book Here
Book Description
A rare, behind-the-scenes look at Russian military politics Why have Russian generals acquired an important political position since the Soviet Union's collapse while at the same time the effectiveness of their forces has deteriorated? Why have there been no radical defense reforms in Russia since the end of the cold war, even though they were high on the agenda of the country's new president in 2000? Democratic Breakdown and the Decline of the Russian Military explains these puzzles as it paints a comprehensive portrait of Russian military politics. Zoltan Barany identifies three formative moments that gave rise to the Russian dilemma. The first was Gorbachev's decision to invite military participation in Soviet politics. The second was when Yeltsin acquiesced to a new political system that gave generals a legitimate political presence. The third was when Putin not only failed to press for needed military reforms but elevated numerous high-ranking officers to prominent positions in the federal administration. Included here are Barany's insightful analysis of crisis management following the sinking of the Kursk submarine, a systematic comparison of the Soviet/Russian armed forces in 1985 and the present, and compelling accounts of the army's political role, the elusive defense reform, and the relationship between politicians and generals. Barany offers a rare look at the world of contemporary military politics in an increasingly authoritarian state. Destined to become a classic in post-Soviet studies, this book reminds us of the importance of the separation of powers as a means to safeguard democracy.
Author: M. Steven Fish
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Get Book Here
Book Description
Author: Dale Roy Herspring
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 9780742553934
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 254
Get Book Here
Book Description
A fifth edition of this book is now available. This thoroughly revised and updated edition of the classic text provides the most current and authoritative assessment of Russia available. Distinguished scholars offer a full-scale assessment of Putin's leadership, exploring the daunting domestic and international problems facing Russia today. Evaluating the regime's continued efforts to rebuild a country in shambles, the contributors consider a comprehensive array of economic, political, and social issues. In addition to updated core chapters, the book includes new essays on Putin's leadership, law, foreign policy, and the decline of democracy. The book concludes that Putin will continue to address his country's problems in an incremental and centralized manner as he moves toward his goal of restoring Russia to the status of a world power.
Author: Matthew Kroenig
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 0190080248
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 305
Get Book Here
Book Description
This book seeks to answer to a central international politics: why do great powers rise and fall? It provides an innovative argument about how domestic political institutions are the key to a state's ability to amass power and influence in the international system. This text also offers a sweeping historical analysis of democratic and autocratic competitors from ancient Greece through the Cold War. This book employs a unique framework to understand and analyze the state of today's competition between the democratic United States and its autocratic competitors, Russia and China.
Author: Anna Politkovskaya
Publisher: Macmillan
ISBN: 0805079300
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 290
Get Book Here
Book Description
This devastating appraisal is a searing portrait of a country in disarray and of the man at its helm, from "the bravest of Russian journalists" ("The New York Times").
Author: Roy Aleksandrovich Medvedev
Publisher: Columbia University Press
ISBN: 9780231106061
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 412
Get Book Here
Book Description
One of the world's best-known Russian scholars and a former consultant to both Gorbachev and Yeltsin analyzes the events that have transpired in the Russian federation since late August 1991, from the drastic liberalization of prices and "shock therapy" to the privatization of state owned property and Yeltsin's resignation and replacement by Vladimir Putin.
Author: Vladimir Gel'man
Publisher: University of Pittsburgh Press
ISBN: 0822980932
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 315
Get Book Here
Book Description
Russia today represents one of the major examples of the phenomenon of "electoral authoritarianism" which is characterized by adopting the trappings of democratic institutions (such as elections, political parties, and a legislature) and enlisting the service of the country's essentially authoritarian rulers. Why and how has the electoral authoritarian regime been consolidated in Russia? What are the mechanisms of its maintenance, and what is its likely future course? This book attempts to answer these basic questions. Vladimir Gel'man examines regime change in Russia from the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 to the present day, systematically presenting theoretical and comparative perspectives of the factors that affected regime changes and the authoritarian drift of the country. After the fall of the Soviet Union, Russia's national political elites aimed to achieve their goals by creating and enforcing of favorable "rules of the game" for themselves and maintaining informal winning coalitions of cliques around individual rulers. In the 1990s, these moves were only partially successful given the weakness of the Russian state and troubled post-socialist economy. In the 2000s, however, Vladimir Putin rescued the system thanks to the combination of economic growth and the revival of the state capacity he was able to implement by imposing a series of non-democratic reforms. In the 2010s, changing conditions in the country have presented new risks and challenges for the Putin regime that will play themselves out in the years to come.
Author: Andrei P. Tsygankov
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199336229
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 271
Get Book Here
Book Description
The Russian state presents a mystery to outside observers. Although Russia was the site of some of the last century's most radical upheavals, and although Russian governments are usually characterized by autocracy, corruption, and political decay, the central government has retained a remarkable hold on the vast country. Does its historical progress represent change, or continuity? How has the political culture molded the expectations and behavior of the Russian people over time? What features of the Russian state are the keys to understanding it? The Strong State in Russia provides a succinct account of Russia's "strong state" model by reviewing the external and internal contexts in each major period and tracing its evolution over time. Every era saw the emergence and growth of a strong state as well as a subsequent decline, but in each the contexts combined in unique ways to produce very different political outcomes. Tsygankov argues that while the Western perspective on Russia is limited, there is an alternative way of thinking about the nation and its problems. Despite focusing on the contemporary Russian state, the book situates it in a broader historical continuity and explains that the roots of its development can be found in the Tsar's autocratic system. Russia's strong state has evolved and survived throughout centuries, and that alone suggests its historical vitality and possible future revival. From this perspective, the central scholarly question is not whether Russia will recreate a strong state, but, rather, what kind of a strong state it will be, and under which circumstances it will likely function.
Author: Anders Åslund
Publisher: Peterson Institute
ISBN: 0881325376
Category : Capitalism
Languages : en
Pages : 389
Get Book Here
Book Description
