Institutions and Political Change in Russia

Institutions and Political Change in Russia PDF Author: N. Robinson
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 0333977947
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 246

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Book Description
For a decade Russia has been building a new political order. This collection of essays offers a progress report on this effort, recording the projects for institutional reform, their successes and their many failures. Institutions covered include the presidency, the State Duma, regional government, the judiciary, the 'power ministries', the foreign policy and economic policy making establishments. Other chapters examine popular attitudes towards institutions and the crises of state-society relations in Russia.

Institutions and Political Change in Russia

Institutions and Political Change in Russia PDF Author: N. Robinson
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 0333977947
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 246

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Book Description
For a decade Russia has been building a new political order. This collection of essays offers a progress report on this effort, recording the projects for institutional reform, their successes and their many failures. Institutions covered include the presidency, the State Duma, regional government, the judiciary, the 'power ministries', the foreign policy and economic policy making establishments. Other chapters examine popular attitudes towards institutions and the crises of state-society relations in Russia.

Russia's Unfinished Revolution

Russia's Unfinished Revolution PDF Author: Michael McFaul
Publisher: Cornell University Press
ISBN: 9780801439001
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 408

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Book Description
For centuries, dictators ruled Russia. Tsars and Communist Party chiefs were in charge for so long some analysts claimed Russians had a cultural predisposition for authoritarian leaders. Yet, as a result of reforms initiated by Mikhail Gorbachev, new political institutions have emerged that now require election of political leaders and rule by constitutional procedures. Michael McFaul—described by the New York Times as "one of the leading Russia experts in the United States"—traces Russia's tumultuous political history from Gorbachev's rise to power in 1985 through the 1999 resignation of Boris Yeltsin in favor of Vladimir Putin. McFaul divides his account of the post-Soviet country into three periods: the Gorbachev era (1985-1991), the First Russian Republic (1991–1993), and the Second Russian Republic (1993–present). The first two were, he believes, failures—failed institutional emergence or failed transitions to democracy. By contrast, new democratic institutions did emerge in the third era, though not the institutions of a liberal democracy. McFaul contends that any explanation for Russia's successes in shifting to democracy must also account for its failures. The Russian/Soviet case, he says, reveals the importance of forging social pacts; the efforts of Russian elites to form alliances failed, leading to two violent confrontations and a protracted transition from communism to democracy. McFaul spent a great deal of time in Moscow in the 1990s and witnessed firsthand many of the events he describes. This experience, combined with frequent visits since and unparalleled access to senior Russian policymakers and politicians, has resulted in an astonishingly well-informed account. Russia's Unfinished Revolution is a comprehensive history of Russia during this crucial period.

Russia's Unfinished Revolution

Russia's Unfinished Revolution PDF Author: Michael McFaul
Publisher: Cornell University Press
ISBN: 0801456967
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 797

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Book Description
For centuries, dictators ruled Russia. Tsars and Communist Party chiefs were in charge for so long some analysts claimed Russians had a cultural predisposition for authoritarian leaders. Yet, as a result of reforms initiated by Mikhail Gorbachev, new political institutions have emerged that now require election of political leaders and rule by constitutional procedures. Michael McFaul traces Russia's tumultuous political history from Gorbachev's rise to power in 1985 through the 1999 resignation of Boris Yeltsin in favor of Vladimir Putin. McFaul divides his account of the post-Soviet country into three periods: the Gorbachev era (1985-1991), the First Russian Republic (1991-1993), and the Second Russian Republic (1993-present). The first two were, he believes, failures—failed institutional emergence or failed transitions to democracy. By contrast, new democratic institutions did emerge in the third era, though not the institutions of a liberal democracy. McFaul contends that any explanation for Russia's successes in shifting to democracy must also account for its failures. The Russian/Soviet case, he says, reveals the importance of forging social pacts; the efforts of Russian elites to form alliances failed, leading to two violent confrontations and a protracted transition from communism to democracy. McFaul spent a great deal of time in Moscow in the 1990s and witnessed firsthand many of the events he describes. This experience, combined with frequent visits since and unparalleled access to senior Russian policymakers and politicians, has resulted in an astonishingly well-informed account. Russia's Unfinished Revolution is a comprehensive history of Russia during this crucial period.

Dynamics of Russian Politics

Dynamics of Russian Politics PDF Author: Peter Reddaway
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 9780742526464
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 544

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Book Description
Who rules Russia? This question is generated by President Vladimir Putin's most ambitious reform program to date--his attempt since 2000 to reshape the Russian federation, centralize much of the power lost by the Kremlin to the eighty-nine regional governors during the 1990s, and strengthen his weak grip on Russia's institutions and political elite. In The Dynamics of Russian Politics Russian and Western authors from the fields of political science, economics, ethnology, law, and journalism examine the reform's impact on key areas of Russian life, including big business, law enforcement, corruption, political party development, health care, local government, small business, and ethnic relations. Volume I presents the historical context and an overview of the reforms, then tracks how Putin's plans were implemented and resisted across each of the seven new federal okrugs, or megaregions, into which he divided Russia. In particular, the authors analyze the goals and contrasting political styles of his seven commissars and how their often-concealed struggles with the more independent and determined governors played out. Volume II examines the impact of these reforms on Russia's main political institutions; the increasingly assertive business community; and the defense, police, and security ministries. It also analyzes how the reforms have affected such key policy areas as local government, health care, political party development, the battle against corruption, small business, ethnic relations, and the ongoing Chechen war. Together, the two volumes simultaneously reveal that Putin's successes have been much more limited and ambiguous than is widely believed in the West while offering detailed and nuanced answers to the difficult but crucial question: Who rules Russia?

Shaping the Economic Space in Russia: Decision Making Processes, Institutions and Adjustment to Change in the El'tsin Era

Shaping the Economic Space in Russia: Decision Making Processes, Institutions and Adjustment to Change in the El'tsin Era PDF Author: Stefanie Harter
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351755870
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 356

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Book Description
This title was first published in 2000: As the El'tsin era has now drawn to a close, numerous questions remain unanswered regarding the course of Russia's post-Communist traditions. El'tsin's exit from the presidential stage provides an opportunity to assess the achievements of Russia's multi-faceted reforms, to explain the factors that have most shaped the reform process, and to identify the trends that are likely to continue under a presidential successor. This volume embodies such an effort. Its contents are the product of a conference held in May 1999 at the Federal Institute for East European and International Studies in Cologne, Germany. The institute convened an international group of scholars, representing a variety of academic approaches to the study of transition economies in general, and Russia in particular. The title of this volume has been taken from the overarching theme of the conference. The goal was determine the extent to which pre-existing structures and norms of economic and political life have been fundamentally altered by the El'tsin administration's reform campaigns and how these factors themselves have influenced the reform process.

Building The Russian State

Building The Russian State PDF Author: Valerie Sperling
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 0429981589
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 222

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Book Description
Has the Russian state managed to lay the institutional groundwork for long-term stability and democratic governance? In Building the Russian State , Valerie Sperling assemblies a group of cutting-edge scholars to critically assess the crises in Russia's transitional institutions. Part I of the book shows that Russia's political elites are less focused on serving public interests than on enriching themselves, and examines how these elites are ruling Russia. Part II focuses on the growth of organized crime, the decay of the military, the precariousness of the Russian Federation, the weakness of the labor movement, the corruption of the courts, the challenges facing international reformers, and the authoritarianism of the super-presidential political system. By focusing on the challenges, failures, and occasional successes of the Russian political system, this volume offers upper-level undergraduates and other scholars valuable insight into post-Soviet politics, state-building, and transitions to democracy.

Authoritarian Russia

Authoritarian Russia PDF Author: Vladimir Gel'man
Publisher: University of Pittsburgh Press
ISBN: 0822980932
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 315

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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.

Elusive Russia

Elusive Russia PDF Author: Katlijn Malfliet
Publisher: Leuven University Press
ISBN: 9058676080
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 91

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Book Description
Since President Putin came to power, Russia''s domestic political process underwent continuous changes. Up till now it remains unclear whether Russia is on the road towards becoming a fullfledged democracy or if it is diverting from this path.Elusive Russia brings together the views of four leading Russia experts on Russian state identity and institutional reform. Marie Mendras, Luke March, Irina Busygina and Andrei Zakharov share their original approaches on some key components of today''s russian politics and bring their own perspective to the complex and ongoing process of Russia''s nation.

Authoritarian Modernization in Russia

Authoritarian Modernization in Russia PDF Author: Vladimir Gel'man
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 131717707X
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 227

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Book Description
Post-Communist Russia is an instance of the phenomenon of authoritarian modernization project, which is perceived as a set of policies intended to achieve a high level of economic development, while political freedoms remain beyond the current modernization agenda or are postponed to a distant future. Why did Russia (unlike many countries of post-Communist Europe) pursue authoritarian modernization after the Soviet collapse? What is the ideational agenda behind this project and why does it dominate Russia’s post-Communist political landscape? What are the mechanisms of political governance, which maintain this project and how have they adopted and absorbed various democratic institutions and practices? Why has this project brought such diverse results in various policy arenas, and why have the consequences of certain policies become so controversial? Why, despite so many controversies, shortcomings and flaws, has this project remained attractive in the eyes of a large proportion of the Russian elite and ordinary citizens? This volume intended to place some of these questions on the research agenda and propose several answers, encouraging further discussions about the logic and mechanisms of the authoritarian modernization project in post-Communist Russia and its effects on Russia’s politics, economy, and society.

The Politics of Institutional Choice

The Politics of Institutional Choice PDF Author: Steven S. Smith
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 9780691057378
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 200

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Book Description
Events in Russia since the late 1980s have created a rare opportunity to watch the birth of democratic institutions close at hand. Here Steven Smith and Thomas Remington provide the first intensive, theoretically grounded examination of the early development of the State Duma, the lower house of the Russian Federation's parliament created by the 1993 constitution. They offer an integrated account of the choices made by the newly elected members of the Duma in establishing basic operating arrangements: an agenda-setting governing body, a standing committee system, an electoral law, and a party system. Not only do these decisions promise to have lasting consequences for the post-communist Russian regime, but they also enable the authors to test assumptions about politicians' goals from the standpoint of institutional theory. Smith and Remington challenge in particular the notion, derived from American contexts, that politicians pursue a single, overarching goal in the creation of institutions. They argue that politicians have multiple political goals--career, policy, and partisan--that drive their choices. Among Duma members, the authors detect many cross currents of interests, generated by the mixed electoral system, which combines both single-member districts and proportional representation, and by sharp policy divisions and an emerging party system. Elected officials may shift from concentrating on one goal to emphasizing another, but political contexts can help determine their behavior. This book brings a fresh perspective to numerous theories by incorporating first-hand accounts of major institutional choices and placing developments in their actual context.