Download or read book Governments and Politics in Russia and the Post Soviet Region written by Vicki L. Hesli and published by Houghton Mifflin. This book was released on 2007 with total page 508 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Publisher description.
Download or read book Post Soviet Political Order written by Barnett Rubin and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2002-11-01 with total page 210 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Post-Soviet Political Order asks what is shaping the institutional pattern of the post-Soviet political order, what the new order will be like, what patterns of conflict are emerging, and what can be done about stabilising the region. In considering these questions the contributors converge on four common themes: * the institutional legacy of empire * the social processes unleashed by imperial collapse * patterns of bargaining within and between states to resolve conflicts arising out of the imperial collapse * the impact of the wider international setting on the pattern of post-imperial politics Focusing on the former Soviet Union and Eastern European countries, the contributors show how strong state institutions are essential if conflict and political instability are to be avoided.
Download or read book The Politics of Sub National Authoritarianism in Russia written by Cameron Ross and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-02-24 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: By the end of the 2000s Russia had become an increasingly authoritarian state, which was characterised by the following features: outrageously unfair and fraudulent elections, the existence of weak and impotent political parties, a heavily censored (often self-censored) media, weak rubber-stamping legislatures at the national and sub-national levels, politically subordinated courts, the arbitrary use of the economic powers of the state, and widespread corruption. However, this picture would be incomplete without taking into account the sub-national dimension of these subversive institutions and practices across the regions of the Russian Federation. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, sub-national political developments in Russia became highly diversified and the political map of Russia’s regions became multi-faceted. The period of 2000s demonstrated a drive on the part of the Kremlin to re-centralise politics and governance to the demise of newly-emerging democratic institutions at both the national and sub-national levels. Yet, federalism and regionalism remain key elements of the research agenda in Russian politics, and the overall political map of Russia’s regions is far from being monotonic. Rather, it is similar to a complex multi-piece puzzle, which can only be put together through skilful crafting. The 12 chapters in this collection are oriented towards the generation of more theoretically and empirically solid inferences and provide critical evaluations of the multiple deficiencies in Russia’s sub-national authoritarianism, including: principal-agent problems in the relations between the layers of the ’power vertical’, unresolved issues of regime legitimacy that have resulted from manipulative electoral practices, and the inefficient performance of regional and local governments. The volume brings together a team of international experts on Russian regional politics which includes top scholars from Britain, Canada, Russia and the USA.
Download or read book Revealing Schemes written by Scott Radnitz and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2021-05-18 with total page 244 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Conspiracy theories are not just outlandish ideas. They can also be political weapons. Conspiracy theories have come to play an increasingly prominent role in political systems around the world. In Revealing Schemes, Scott Radnitz moves beyond psychological explanations for why people believe conspiracy theories to explore the politics surrounding them, placing two questions at the center of his account: What leads regimes to promote conspiracy claims? And what effects do those claims have on politics and society? Focusing on the former Soviet Uniona region of the world where such theories have long thrivedhe shows that incumbent politicians tend to make conspiracy claims to demonstrate their knowledge and authority at moments of uncertainty and threat. They emerge more often where there is serious political competition rather than unbridled autocracy and in response to events that challenge a regime's ability to rule. Yet conspiracy theories can also be habit-forming and persist as part of an official narrative even where immediate threats have subsideda strategy intended to strengthen regimes, but that may inadvertently undermine them. Revealing Schemes explores the causes, consequences, and contradictions of conspiracism in politics with an original collection of over 1,500 conspiracy claims from across the post-Soviet region, two national surveys, and 12 focus groups. At a time of heightened distrust in democratic institutions and rising illiberal populism around the world, understanding how conspiracy theories operate in a region where democracy came lateor never arrivedcan be instructive for concerned citizens everywhere.
Download or read book The Politics of Local Government in Russia written by Alfred B. Evans and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2004 with total page 316 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: According to the Constitution of the Russian Federation, adopted in 1993, local autonomy is one of the fundamental principles of the constitutional system. The Politics of Local Government in Russia aims to provide a dedicated and comprehensive discussion of the pursuit of local self-government in contemporary Russia where "local" refers to the third tier of government beyond federal and regional governments. Some of the ablest scholars in the field focus on the existing institutional and social climate for municipal and district level government in Russia while placing recent reforms in a comparative and historical perspective.
Download or read book Journal of Soviet and Post Soviet Politics and Society written by Julie Makarychev, Andrey Umland, Andreas Fedor and published by BoD – Books on Demand. This book was released on 2020-10-20 with total page 360 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Special Sections: Russian Foreign Policy Towards the “Near Abroad” and Russia's Annexiation of Crimea II This special section deals with Russia’s post-Maidan foreign policy towards the so-called “near abroad,” or the former Soviet states. This is an important and timely topic, as Russia’s policy perspectives have changed dramatically since 2013/2014, as have those of its neighbors. The Kremlin today is paradoxically following an aggressive “realist” agenda that seeks to clearly delineate its sphere of influence in Europe and Eurasia while simultaneously attempting to promote “soft-power” and a historical-civilizational justification for its recent actions in Ukraine (and elsewhere). The result is an often perplexing amalgam of policy positions that are difficult to disentangle. The contributors to this special issue are all regional specialists based either in Europe or the United States.
Download or read book Building an Authoritarian Polity written by Graeme Gill and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2015-11-12 with total page 241 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Argues that post-Soviet Russia was never on a democratic trajectory because dominant elites always fostered the building of an authoritarian polity.
Download or read book Building The Russian State written by Valerie Sperling and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2018-02-13 with total page 222 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book Post Soviet Conflict Potentials written by Cindy Wittke and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2022-08-18 with total page 119 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Instead of resurrecting old images and nourishing new narratives about a ‘New Cold War’, Post-Soviet Conflict Potentials features politically and legally oriented critical investigations into conflict potentials and dynamics in the post-Soviet region and beyond. Contributions coming from the disciplinary perspectives of international relations, international law, and comparative political science are linked to investigations dealing with international, transnational, regional and local levels of the dynamics between conflict and cooperation in the region. Despite the diversity of perspectives, the authors of this volume take a shared critical view on an alleged ‘New Cold War’ as their point of departure, observing that contemporary post-Soviet conflict potentials are produced through various discursive practices ranging from intentional choices of belligerent language to unintentional misinterpretations. The chapters in this volume seek to shed light on conflict potentials from different angles as well as on processes that increase or decrease the probability of political and violent conflicts in the post-Soviet region. Together, the authors offer individual and shared outside-the-box approaches to the study of conflict dynamics and potentials in the post-Soviet space. The book draws connections to conflict potentials on the cross-regional and global levels, providing varied perspectives on what can be learned in and from the post-Soviet region. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of Europe-Asia Studies.
Download or read book Public Administration in Post Communist Countries written by Saltanat Liebert and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2017-09-25 with total page 379 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Although it has been more than 20 years since Communism crumbled in Central and Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union, many scholars and politicians still wonder what the lifting of the Iron Curtain has really meant for these former Communist countries. And, because these countries were largely closed off to the world for so long, there has yet to be an all-inclusive study on their administrative systems—until now. In Public Administration in Post-Communist Countries: Former Soviet Union, Central and Eastern Europe, and Mongolia, expert contributors supply a comprehensive overview and analysis of public administration in their respective post-Communist countries. They illustrate each country’s transformation from an authoritarian system of governance into a modern, market-based, and in some cases, democratic government. The book covers the countries that were officially part of the Soviet Union (Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, Estonia, Lithuania, Georgia, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan); those that were theoretically independent but were subject to Soviet-dominated Communist rule (Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, and Poland); as well as a satellite republic that was under significant Soviet influence (Mongolia). Each chapter includes a brief introduction to the specific country, an overview of politics and administration, and discussions on key aspects of public management and administration—including human resource management, public budgeting, financial management, corruption, accountability, political and economic reform, civil society, and prospects for future development in the region. The book concludes by identifying common themes and trends and pinpointing similarities and differences to supply you with a broad comparative perspective.
Download or read book Presidents Oligarchs and Bureaucrats written by Margarete Klein and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-04-08 with total page 277 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Over the last decade the "transition paradigm", which is based on the conviction that authoritarian political systems would over time necessarily develop into democracies, has been subjected to serious criticism. The complex political and societal developments in the post-Soviet region in particular have exposed flaws in the claim that a shift from authoritarianism to democracy is inevitable. Using case studies from the post-Soviet region, a broad range of international contributors present an original and innovative contribution to the debate. They explore the character of post-Soviet regimes and review the political transformations they have experienced since the end of the Cold War. Through a combination of theoretical approaches and detailed, empirical analysis the authors highlight the difficulties and benefits of applying the concepts of hybrid regimes, competitive authoritarianism and neopatrimonialism to the countries of the post-Soviet space. Through this in-depth approach the authors demonstrate how "Presidents, Oligarchs and Bureaucrats" in the region lead their countries, examine the sources of their legitimacy and their relationship to the societies they govern and advance the general theoretical debate on regime change and transition paths.
Download or read book Religion State and Politics in the Soviet Union and Successor States written by John Anderson and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 1994-09-22 with total page 260 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Provides a systematic and accessible overview of church-state relations in the Soviet Union. This text explores the shaping of Soviet religious policy from the death of Stalin until the collapse of communism, and considers the place of religion in the post
Download or read book Russia EU and the Post Soviet Democratic Failure written by Bidzina Lebanidze and published by Springer. This book was released on 2019-05-22 with total page 329 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: By studying the influence of the two main external actors in post-Soviet space, the EU and Russia, this study contributes to the increasing body of literature that studies the causes of democratic recession and authoritarian backlash in post-Soviet states and the role of regional actors in these processes. Empirically, the study finds the EU to be both a democracy-promoting and democracy-hindering actor in post-Soviet states. Russia’s impact, on the other hand, is far more negative than the literature on democratization and autocracy promotion typically suggests. It negatively affects both the quality of democracy of post-Soviet states and limits the EU's options for promoting democracy in its neighborhood.
Download or read book Making and Breaking Democratic Transitions written by Vladimir Gel'man and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2005-01-12 with total page 324 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Focusing on the vastly different outcomes of post-Soviet regime transitions, this study explores why some societies have become more democratic and some have not. Based on in-depth comparative analyses, the book assesses political developments in six of Russia's regions (Saratov, Nizhnii Novgorod, Volgograd, Ryazan', Ul'yanovsk, and Tver' oblasts) since 1988.
Download or read book Russian Politics and Society written by Richard Sakwa and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2002-09-11 with total page 561 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sakwa's Russian Politics and Society is the most comprehensive study of Russia's post-communist political development. It has, since its first publication in 1993, become an indispensable guide for all those who need to know about the current political scene in Russia, about the country's political stability and about the future of democracy under its post-communist leadership. This is the ideal introductory textbook: it covers all the key issues; it is clearly written; and it includes the most up-to-date material available. For this third edition, Sakwa has updated the text throughout to include details of Yeltsin's second term and the impact on Russian politics of the rise of his successor, Vladimir Putin. It also contains a substantially expanded bibliography and appendices showing election results, chronology, social and demographic figures and recent census data.
Download or read book Resisting the State written by Kathryn Stoner-Weiss and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2006-06-19 with total page 160 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Why do new, democratizing states often find it so difficult to actually govern? Why do they so often fail to provide their beleaguered populations with better access to public goods and services? Using original and unusual data, this book uses post-communist Russia as a case in examining what the author calls this broader 'weak state syndrome' in many developing countries. Through interviews with over 800 Russian bureaucrats in 72 of Russia's 89 provinces, and a highly original database on patterns of regional government non-compliance to federal law and policy, the book demonstrates that resistance to Russian central authority not so much ethnically based (as others have argued) as much as generated by the will of powerful and wealthy regional political and economic actors seeking to protect assets they had acquired through Russia's troubled transition out of communism.
Download or read book Presidents Oligarchs and Bureaucrats written by Susan Stewart and published by Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.. This book was released on 2012 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Using case studies from the post-Soviet region, a broad range of international contributors present an original and innovative contribution to the debate. They explore the character of post-Soviet regimes and review the political transformations they have experienced since the end of the Cold War. Through a combination of theoretical approaches and detailed, empirical analysis the authors highlight the difficulties and benefits of applying the concepts of hybrid regimes, competitive authoritarianism and neopatrimonialism to the countries of the post-Soviet space.
