Political Elites And The New Russia Book in PDF, ePub and Kindle version is available to download in english. Read online anytime anywhere directly from your device. Click on the download button below to get a free pdf file of Political Elites And The New Russia book. This book definitely worth reading, it is an incredibly well-written.
Political Elites and the New Russia by Anton Steen Pdf
Political Elite and the New Russia convincingly argues that although reforms in Russia have been initiated by those close to the President, in fact local and national elites have been the crucial strategic actors in reshaping Russia's economy, democratising its political system and decentralising its administration. This book analyses the role of elites under Yeltsin and Putin, discussing the extent to which they form a coherent political culture, and how far this culture has been in step with, or at odds with, the reform policies of the Kremlin leadership.
Elites and Democratic Development in Russia by Vladimir Gel'man,Anton Steen Pdf
The transformation from Communist rule towards democratic development in Russia cannot be fully understood without taking the elites into full consideration. Elites and Democratic Development in Russia examines how elites support and challenge democracy and why they are crucial to Russian democracy in particular. In this innovative volume, twelve respected scholars investigate how elites have affected the transition from Communist rule towards democratic development in Russia. They discuss how the elites' degree of integration on national and regional levels may constitute the main condition for the consolidation of the emerging political regime and interpret the complex post-communist elite patterns of behaviour and attitudes into a theoretical framework of elitist democracy. This book will appeal to those interested in democratization, elites, post-Soviet Russia and post-communist studies.
Elites and Democratic Development in Russia by Vladimir Gel'man,Anton Steen Pdf
Investigates how elites have affected democratic development in Russia and how they influence the consolidation of the emerging political regime and post-communist patterns of behaviour and attitudes.
Elites and Leadership in Russian Politics by Graeme Gill Pdf
The fall of the Communist regime in the USSR and Russia's search for a democratic and prosperous market-based future is one of the most compelling episodes of the end of the twentieth century. A central part in this drama is being played by political elites. These essays, written by some of the leading scholars in the field, analyse various aspects of the role being played by elites and leaders in Russian politics. Among the issues dealt with are: the origins of the Russian elites, including the issue of continuity with the Soviet past; the relationship between political and economic elites; the means taken by elites to structure politics and their relations; the dynamic of elite politics, and the nature of post-communism. These essays deal with many of the crucial questions facing Russia today.
Assessments of Russia's future possess a lamentable tendency to oscillate between enthusiastic optimism about the development of free market democracy or brooding pessimism concerning the vitality of Russia's absolutist heritage, without providing many durable insights. 1 The goal of this essay is to undertake a more penetrating analysis of a paradox of state power that lies at the heart of future Russian politics. One of the distinguishing features of post-Soviet transition unquestionably has been the political elite's remarkable autonomy of power: as the institutional infrastructure of the old regime collapsed, political elites concentrated on economic reform that later came to resemble economic plunder, leaving an institutional void in many areas of government policy. Russia became, in the words of Robert Jackson, a "quasi-state": endowed with juridical statehood, yet lacking the political will, institutional capacity, and organized authority to protect human rights and provide socioeconomic welfare. 2 The debacle in Chechnya added the shocking realization of the degeneration of Russian military capacity. In contrast to "normal" societies where political power is circumscribed by an institutional framework and the rule of law, the void of the transformation period provided Russian elites a rare opportunity to exercise their power unfettered by such constraints. The result has been to produce a "weak" Russian state in which institutional development occurs only at the whim of the political elite. An oligarchic capitalism has taken hold in Moscow, yet the political calculus remains paramount, state institutions underdeveloped, and the current elite-reformist credentials notwithstanding-lives beyond the reach of the law. This is a curious and perplexing outcome, for Russia has managed not only to endure, but to score some very important reform victories on the path to transformation. How can one explain the apparent paradox of a "weak" state undertaking policies more durable political systems could not implement? Viewed from a comparative perspective, the paradox disappears as Russia's experience bears striking similarities to other developing societies. In essence, the crises of governance and Russian elites' "reform" responses reflect the pattern of political development-or maldevelopment- present in many African states. In the absence of normal state building, Russia's political elites, like their African counterparts, undertook to construct a parallel political authority-a shadow state 3-whose defining characteristic is a corrupt fusion between government and private sector elites that stunts institutional development, survives through predation on productive processes in society, and compels the majority of the population to withdraw from the sphere of legitimate commerce and political activity. The recent attention Russian elites and international financial institutions have directed toward building state capacity has made little progress in the Russian case; nor should this be expected given the current elite's philosophy of governance. According to First Deputy Prime Minister Anatolii Chubais,4 "consolidation of power means establishing a tough dictatorship within the systems of state power . . . . To establish democracy in society requires a dictatorship within the state."5 Parallel to this haunting echo of Leninist zeal has been an approach to budget reform that is a polar opposite of the vision encouraged by the World Bank in its 1997 World Development Report. While the Bank has urged the creation of transparent state institutions that provide, among other things, investment in basic social services and infrastructure, and a comprehensive social safety net, Yeltsin, Chubais, and Boris Nemtsov have lobbied for a 1997 budget that inflicts maximum damage on the Russian government's ability to pursue these objectives.
Russia's Stillborn Democracy? by Graeme Gill,Roger D. Markwick Pdf
The decade and a half since Gorbachev came to power has been a tumultuous time for Russia. It has seen the expectations raised by perestroika dashed, the collapse of the Soviet superpower, and the emergence of a new Russian state claiming to base itself on democratic, market principles. It has seen a political system shattered by a president turning tanks against the parliament, and then that president configuring the new political structure to give himself overwhelming power. These upheavals took place against a backdrop of social dislocations as the Russian people were ravaged by the effects of economic shock therapy. This book explains how these momentous changes came about, and in particular why political elites were able to fashion the new political system largely independent of the wishes of the populace at large. It was this relationship between powerful elites and weak civil society forces which has led to Russian democracy under Yeltsin being still born.
Building The Russian State by Valerie Sperling Pdf
This study critically assesses the condition of Russia's political, economic, social, legal, and military institutions and questions the capacity of the institutions to perform the duties of a state in the modern world. Has the Russian state managed to lay the institutional groundwork for long-term stability and democratic governance? The consensus of the contributors to this book is grim. The courts have grown increasingly complex, but their ability to enhance and support democracy has remained limited. State economic institutions have been unable to collect taxes, pay government workers, fund the healthcare system, pay its soldiers, or retain value in its currency. Political mechanisms for resolving center-periphery conflicts remain ineffective, and Russia's political institutions seem less focused on serving public interests than on enriching the power of those in power.
Russia's Stillborn Democracy? by Graeme J. Gill,Graeme Gill,Roger D. Markwick Pdf
The decade and a half since Gorbachev came to power has been a tumultuous time for Russia. It has seen the expectations raised by perestroika dashed, the collapse of the Soviet superpower, and the emergence of a new Russian state claiming to base itself on democratic, market principles. It has seen a political system shattered by a president turning tanks against the parliament, and then that president configuring the new political structure to give himself overwhelming power. Theseupheavals took place against a backdrop of social dislocations as the Russian people were ravaged by the effects of economic shock therapy.This book explains how these momentous changes came about, and in particular why political elites were able to fashion the new political system largely independent of the wishes of the populace at large. It was this relationship between powerful elites and weak civil society forces which has led to Russian democracy under Yeltsin being still born.
Russian Modernization by Markku Kivinen,Brendan G. Humphreys Pdf
Building on an original interpretation of social theory and an interdisciplinary approach, this book creates a new paradigm in the Russian studies. Taking a fresh view of Russia’s multiple experiences of modernization, it seeks to explain the Putin era in a completely new way. This book explores the paradoxical and contradictory aspects of Russia, analyzing the energy-dependent economy and hybrid political regime, but also religion, welfare, and culture, and their often complex interrelations. Written by a community of both Western and Russian scholars, this book re-affirms the value of social science when confronting a society that has undergone enormous and costly systematic changes. The Russian elites see modernization narrowly as economic and technological competitiveness. The contributors to this volume see contemporary Russia facing a series of antinomies, which are macro-level dilemmas that cannot be abolished, either by philosophical mediation or by immediate political decisions. As such, they are the tension fields that constitute choices for various competing agencies. This book will be of interest to scholars and students of Russian studies, transition studies, sociology, social policy, political science, energy policy, cultural studies, and stratification studies. Professionals involved in energy, ecology, and security policy will also find this publication a rich source.
Gorbachev, Yeltsin, and Putin by Archie Brown,Lilia Shevtsova Pdf
This volume analyzes various aspects of the political leadership during the collapse of the Soviet Union and formation of a new Russia. Comparing the rule of Mikhail Gorbachev, Boris Yeltsin, and Vladimir Putin, the book reflects upon their goals, governing style, and sources of influence—as well as factors that influenced their activities and complicated them too. Contents Introduction Archie Brown Transformational Leaders Compared: Mikhail Gorbachev and Boris Yeltsin Archie Brown Evaluating Gorbachev and Yeltsin as Leaders George W. Breslauer From Yeltsin to Putin: The Evolution of Presidential Power Lilia Shevtsova Political Leadership and the Center-Periphery Struggle: Putin's Administrative Reforms Eugene Huskey Conclusion Lilia Shevtsova
Moscow in Movement is the first exhaustive study of social movements, protest, and the state-society relationship in Vladimir Putin's Russia. Beginning in 2005 and running through the summer of 2013, the book traces the evolution of the relationship between citizens and their state through a series of in-depth case studies, explaining how Russians mobilized to defend human and civil rights, the environment, and individual and group interests: a process that culminated in the dramatic election protests of 2011–2012 and their aftermath. To understand where this surprising mobilization came from, and what it might mean for Russia's political future, the author looks beyond blanket arguments about the impact of low levels of trust, the weight of the Soviet legacy, or authoritarian repression, and finds an active and boisterous citizenry that nevertheless struggles to gain traction against a ruling elite that would prefer to ignore them. On a broader level, the core argument of this volume is that political elites, by structuring the political arena, exert a decisive influence on the patterns of collective behavior that make up civil society—and the author seeks to test this theory by applying it to observable facts in historical and comparative perspective. Moscow in Movement will be of interest to anyone looking for a bottom-up, citizens' eye view of recent Russian history, and especially to scholars and students of contemporary Russian politics and society, comparative politics, and sociology.
This volume analyzes the changing power relations in the Russian regions and in their relationship with the centre. It considers Russian federalism and the changes that Putin has introduced, and the distribution of power at the regional level. The result is a rich survey of the state of federal relations in Russia.
Corruption, fake news, and the "informational autocracy" sustaining Putin in power After fading into the background for many years following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia suddenly has emerged as a new threat—at least in the minds of many Westerners. But Western assumptions about Russia, and in particular about political decision-making in Russia, tend to be out of date or just plain wrong. Under the leadership of Vladimir Putin since 2000, Russia is neither a somewhat reduced version of the Soviet Union nor a classic police state. Corruption is prevalent at all levels of government and business, but Russia's leaders pursue broader and more complex goals than one would expect in a typical kleptocracy, such as those in many developing countries. Nor does Russia fit the standard political science model of a "competitive authoritarian" regime; its parliament, political parties, and other political bodies are neither fakes to fool the West nor forums for bargaining among the elites. The result of a two-year collaboration between top Russian experts and Western political scholars, Autocracy explores the complex roles of Russia's presidency, security services, parliament, media and other actors. The authors argue that Putin has created an “informational autocracy,” which relies more on media manipulation than on the comprehensive repression of traditional dictatorships. The fake news, hackers, and trolls that featured in Russia’s foreign policy during the 2016 U.S. presidential election are also favored tools of Putin’s domestic regime—along with internet restrictions, state television, and copious in-house surveys. While these tactics have been successful in the short run, the regime that depends on them already shows signs of age: over-centralization, a narrowing of information flows, and a reliance on informal fixers to bypass the bureaucracy. The regime's challenge will be to continue to block social modernization without undermining the leadership’s own capabilities.
