Developments in Russian Politics 9 (Developments in Politics)

✍ Scribed by Richard Sakwa (editor), Henry E. Hale (editor), Stephen White (editor)

• Publisher: Springer
• Year: 2018
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 410
• Edition: 9th ed. 2019
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

The 9^th iteration of this go-to textbook on contemporary Russian politics offers comprehensive and critical discussion of the country’s most recent developments, providing substantive coverage of the key areas in domestic and foreign Russian politics. Ranging from established topics such as executive leadership, parties and elections, to newer issues of national identity, protest, and Russia and Greater Eurasia, it reflects the changing nature of Russian politics in a globalising world defined by ever-shifting balances of power.

Building on the success of previous versions, Developments in Russian Politics 9 is an established text for modules on Russian politics. Its chapters can also be used as standalone or supplementary reading at various points throughout courses on comparative government and politics. Accessibly written, and compiled by an international team of specialists, it will appeal to both undergraduate and postgraduate students from across the world.

✦ Table of Contents

Cover
Half Title
Title Page
Copyright
Contents
List of Figures and Tables
Preface
Notes on Contributors
List of Abbreviations
1. Politics in Russia
The Soviet system
Perestroika: from rationalisation to disintegration
Post-communist Russia: the Yeltsin years
Putin: the politics of stability
Challenges of democratisation
Conclusion
2. Presidency and Executive
Putin and the legacy of a strong executive
Institutions of the federal executive
The Putin team
The continued Putin presidency
3. Political Parties
Political parties and Russia’s stalled democratization: 1991–2003
The emergence of a dominant party system
United Russia as the dominant party
United Russia and the electorate
Opposition in Russia
Conclusion
4. Parliamentary Politics in Russia
History
Federal Assembly
The law-making process and outputs
Recent parliamentary developments
Conclusion
5. National Identity and the Contested Nation
The contested identity of the Russian Federation
Stabilising Russia’s national narrative knots
Nationalist movements
The interplay of state nationhood and non-state nationalism
Conclusion
6. Protest, Civil Society and Informal Politics
Political protest and contentious politics in Russian history
Putin and protest
The protest cycle of 2011–12
Protest, civil society and politics since 2012
Protest, civil society and the presidential election of 2018
Conclusion
7. Russia, Media and Audiences
Television
Radio
Newspapers
The internet
RT: Russia projected abroad
The critical importance of scale
Cognitive processing and state messages
8. Assessing the Rule of Law in Russia
The heritage of Soviet law
The institutional structure of the Russian legal system
The Russian legal system in action
Russians’ expectations of the legal system
Prospects for the rule of law in Russia
9. A Federal State?
Putin’s vertical of power
Interactions between governors and the president
Federal agencies in the regions and the problem of decentralisation
10. Managing the Economy
Russia’s recent economic performance
The domestic sources of stagnation
Recent economic policy in Russia
The future: reform for the sake of faster growth?
11. Inequality and Social Policy in Russia
The challenge of social policy
Rising inequality
Evolution of the social welfare system
Income inequality and access to social services
The challenge of policy reform
12. Russian Foreign Policy
The making of Russian foreign policy
Russia’s foreign policy priorities
Russian foreign policy: from integration to confrontation with the West
Russia’s foreign policy dilemmas
Conclusion: explaining Russian foreign policy
13. Security, the Military and Politics
Yeltsin, security and the military
Putin, security and politics
Putin, the military and politics
A Russian military resurgence?
Conclusion
14. Russia and its Neighbours
A diverse region
Pushing and pulling
Conflicts heat up and freeze
Integration gets serious
Conclusion
15. The Continuing Evolution of Russia’s Political System
A social context of patronalism
Power networks in Russian politics
The emergence of Russia’s single-pyramid system
The problem of presidential succession
Tightening the political machine
Dilemmas of governance facing Putin
Putin’s appeal
Putin’s strong-hand rule: more subtle than brutal
So, what kind of regime is Russia and what lies ahead?
Guide to Further Reading
Glossary
References
Index