Владимир Гельман
Biographic Data
| ID | 4158849 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Владимир Гельман |
| GIVEN NAMES | Владимир |
| FAMILY NAME | Гельман |
| SIGNATURE | ГЕЛЬМАН В |
| AFFILIATIONS | European University at Saint Petersburg |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-3935-3893 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 45 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 532 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 45 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1995 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 14 |
In Search of the Roots of Failure: Reassessing Russian Politics in the 1990s
The ongoing discussion about Russian politics in the 1990s revolves around narratives of democratization (which seemingly ended in the 2000s under Vladimir Putin’s leadership) and neoliberal market reforms (which seemingly paved the way for the country’s authoritarian drift). However, it is time to reassess the Russian experience of the 1990s from a different perspective. In this article, I argue that the political and institutional foundations o…
Escape from Political Freedom. The Constitutional Crisis of 1993 and Russia’s Political Trajectory
The constitutional crisis of 1993 was one of the major turning points in the failed democratization of Russia and subsequent turn of the country towards personalist authoritarianism. The October 1993 conflict, as the crisis is commonly called in Russia, was driven by a strategic choice of priorities by Russia’s political leadership during the post-Communist “triple transition”. After the overthrow of the Communist regime in August 1991, Russian e…
The Invention of Legacy
According to elite and mass surveys, the late-Soviet sociopolitical and economic order was largely perceived as the only viable alternative to domestic political and economic status quo in Russia before 2022. Political elites invested significant efforts and funds into deliberative promotion of a complex of ideational legacies through different tools (including cinematography). This complex, labeled a “Good Soviet Union,” is an imagined sociopoli…
Exogenous shock and Russian studies
The Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 was a major exogenous shock, which greatly affected the scholarly field of Russian studies. Not only did some previous theoretical lenses and analytic approaches become outdated, but the intellectual and institutional infrastructure of scholarship in Russian studies also faced major challenges. In a sense, these changes were similar to the effects of the exogenous shock of the Soviet collapse on sc…
Constitution, Authoritarianism, and Bad Governance: The Case of Russia
Among many arguments for constitutional changes presented in the wake of the 2020 campaign for the popular vote in Russia, there was the idea that “cementing” Russia’s political landscape for the sake of the regime’s durability would serve as a tool for improvement of quality of governance. This argument, in a way, followed the essential point of Mancur Olson describing many autocrats across the globe as “roving bandits” with their short-term tim…
Exceptions and Rules: Success Stories and Bad Governance in Russia
This essay is focused on the analysis of several success stories of state-directed developmental projects and programmes in Russia, which are designed and implemented amid conditions of bad governance. I argue that these success stories do not serve as exceptions to the general rules of bad governance but rather confirm its overall tendencies. The prioritisation of state support for successful projects and programmes is related to conspicuous con…
Exploring Varieties of Governance in Russia: In Search of Theoretical Frameworks
It is a given that the quality of governance makes a difference. It determines the developmental trajectories of states and it influences the everyday lives of their citizens. Why are some countrie
The Politics of Fear: How the Russian Regime Confronts Its Opponents
The article attempts to analyze the mechanisms of political control used by the Kremlin vis-à-vis its rivals. Russian authorities had opted the politics of fear, which include overt intimidation and public discrediting of the regime's critics, and selective persecution and open harassment of opposition activists and/or supporters. This approach to political control to some degree reproduced similar mechanisms that had enabled regime survival in t…
Do elites matter in Russian foreign policy? The gap between self-perception and influence
This article analyzes the findings of the Survey of Russian Elites from the perspective of Russian elites’ perceptions of their individual and group influence on Russian foreign policy. In the current Russian elite structure, state enterprise managers, executive branch officials, and military/security officers are far more influential than members of other sub-groups when it comes to foreign policy. However, the survey results show that despite b…
Politics versus Policy: Technocratic Traps of Russia’s Policy Reforms
A number of policy reforms in post-Soviet Russia have been conducted within the framework of the technocratic model. Policy proposals have been developed and to some extent implemented by certain teams of professionals appointed by legitimate political leaders. The leaders, in turn, have tended to monopolize policy adoption and evaluation and to insulate the substance of reforms from public opinion. This article is devoted to a critical reassessm…
Introduction: Rethinking structure and agency in post-Soviet regime dynamics
Bringing actors back in: Political choices and sources of post-Soviet regime dynamics
One might summarize the state of the field of research into contemporary Russian politics as a dismal consensus: most observers believe that durable authoritarianism has consolidated itself, and there is very little chance of democratization in the foreseeable future. However, political regime changes are often launched and developed overtime as side effects of moves made by political actors, and their outcomes are not predetermined. This article…
Political foundations of bad governance in post-Soviet Eurasia: Towards a Research Agenda
Why are some countries governed much more poorly than one might expect judging by their degree of socio-economic development? In particular, why are most countries of post-Soviet Eurasia, according to numerous international evaluations of quality of state governance, similar to underdeveloped Third World countries and lagging behind their post-Communist counterparts in Eastern Europe? This article presents some arguments regarding the factors and…
The Politics of Fear: How Russia’s Rulers Counter their Rivals
This article attempts to analyze the mechanisms of political control used by the Kremlin vis-à-vis its rivals. Russian authorities had opted the politics of fear, which include overt intimidation and public discrediting of the regime’s critics, and selective persecution and open harassment of opposition activists and/or supporters. This approach to political control to some degree reproduced similar mechanisms that had enabled regime survival in …
European Political Science at the Beginning of the 21st Century
Opportunities and Constraints of Authoritarian Modernisation: Russian Policy Reforms in the 2000s
The essay explores why some socio-economic reforms are successful and others are not and why and how the political regime and its institutions affect policy outcomes and the implementation of a ‘narrow’ programme of authoritarian modernisation, characterised by the achievement of socio-economic growth without full-scale democratisation. It reconsiders the Russian experience of policy reforms in the 2000s as a case of authoritarian modernisation i…
The vicious circle of post-Soviet neopatrimonialism in Russia
Since the collapse of Communism, Russia and some other post-Soviet states have attempted to pursue socioeconomic reforms while relying upon the political institutions of neopatrimonialism. This politico-economic order was established to serve the interests of ruling groups and establish the major features of states, political regimes, and market economies. It provided numerous negative incentives for governing the economy and the state due to the…
Authoritarian Russia: Analyzing Post-Soviet Regime Changes
Political Opposition in Russia: A Troubled Transformation
In the mid-2000s, the decline of opposition politics in Russia was so sharp and undisputed that the title of an article I wrote at the time, ‘Political Opposition in Russia: A Dying Species?’ (Gel
Political Science in Russia: Scholarship without Research
After several decades of institutionalization of political science as a scholarly discipline in Russia, its quantitative output is quite impressive. This article offers a critical reconsideration of its substantive impact on scholarship in political science – and considers why that output has not been so impressive in terms of increasing knowledge about politics, both in Russia and beyond. It presents an overview of the state of Russian political…
Cracks in the Wall: Challenges to Electoral Authoritarianism in Russia
In 2011-2012, the opposition successfully capitalized on the regime's miscalculations to undermine the status quo from within, despite Putin's return to power and its own inability so far to overthrow the regime
Subversive institutions, informal governance, and contemporary Russian politics
The article presents an analysis of “informal institutionalization” in post-Communist Russia in theoretical and comparative perspective. It is devoted to critical analysis of existing explanations of the dominance of subversive institutions – that is, those rules, norms, and practices that at first sight partly resemble institutions of modern democracy, good governance and rule of law, but in fact inhibit them. While “pessimists” focus on cultura…
Local Regimes, Sub-national Governance and the ‘Power Vertical’ in Contemporary Russia
The emergence of local regimes, 1 or relatively stable patterns of sub-national governance, became an important logical consequence of the turbulent political and economic changes in Russia's regio
Regime Changes despite Legitimacy Crises: Exit, Voice, and Loyalty in Post-Communist Russia
Why do some countries undergo regime changes despite legitimacy crises, while in others de-legitimation dramatically challenges democratic and non-democratic regimes? Post-Communist transformation in Russia can be viewed as a “natural experiment” in legitimacy's changing role during regime change. The de-legitimation of the Soviet political regime greatly contributed to the overthrow of Communist rule. However, although the post-Communism system …
From the Frying Pan into the Fire: The Dynamics of Post-Soviet Regimes in Comparative Perspective
The vicious circle of post-Soviet neopatrimonialism in Russia
Since the collapse of Communism, Russia and some other post-Soviet states have attempted to pursue socioeconomic reforms while relying upon the political institutions of neopatrimonialism. This politico-economic order was established to serve the interests of ruling groups and establish the major features of states, political regimes, and market economies. It provided numerous negative incentives for governing the economy and the state due to the…
Local Regimes, Sub-national Governance and the ‘Power Vertical’ in Contemporary Russia
The emergence of local regimes, 1 or relatively stable patterns of sub-national governance, became an important logical consequence of the turbulent political and economic changes in Russia's regio
Party Politics in Russia: From Competition to Hierarchy
In the 1990s, political parties in Russia suffered from their under-development. By contrast, in the 2000s they became major actors in the electoral and parliamentary arenas, both at the national a
From ‘feckless pluralism’ to ‘dominant power politics’? The transformation of Russia's party system
The transformation of Russia's party system demonstrates a trend towards a decrease in party competition since the establishment of the party of power, United Russia, which claims to have become the dominant party. These developments are unique among post-Soviet countries, which merely attempted to create personalist, rather than party-based, monopolies of ruling elites. Why have Russia's elites opted to build a party-based monopoly and what are …
Authoritarian Versus Democratic Diffusions: Explaining Institutional Choices in Russia's Local Government
Two political scientists address questions posed by the puzzling survival of the institution of elected city mayors in Russia despite the efforts of the national government to abolish it. Based on datasets not only of local government reforms across all the regions but also of the regional component of European Union aid, statistical analysis is used to challenge dominant approaches to democratic institution building and diffusion theories are ap…
Political Opposition in Russia: A Dying Species
A specialist on Russian politics examines the evolution of political opposition in Russia from 1989 to 2005. The article specifies and employs a framework that focuses on the structure of the political elite and the political opportunity structure that it provides to oppositional forces. The framework is tested in brief case studies of three oppositional forces: communists, liberals, and democrats. Prospects for the future of political opposition…
Political Opposition in Russia: A Troubled Transformation
In the mid-2000s, the decline of opposition politics in Russia was so sharp and undisputed that the title of an article I wrote at the time, ‘Political Opposition in Russia: A Dying Species?’ (Gel
Opportunities and Constraints of Authoritarian Modernisation: Russian Policy Reforms in the 2000s
The essay explores why some socio-economic reforms are successful and others are not and why and how the political regime and its institutions affect policy outcomes and the implementation of a ‘narrow’ programme of authoritarian modernisation, characterised by the achievement of socio-economic growth without full-scale democratisation. It reconsiders the Russian experience of policy reforms in the 2000s as a case of authoritarian modernisation i…
The unrule of law in the making: The politics of informal institution building in Russia
‘INFORMAL INSTITUTIONALISATION’ (O’Donnell, 1996), or the prevalence of informal rules and norms over the formal institutions of political regimes (Merkel & Croissant, 2000), is a typical outcome of various post-authoritarian transitions (Helmke & Levitsky, 2003), including post-Soviet ones. The dominance of informal institutions which create obstacles to the rule of law is a major distinction between Russia (and other post-Soviet regimes) and mo…
Second Europe-Asia Lecture: Regime Transition, Uncertainty and Prospects for Democratisation: The Politics of Russia's Regions in a Comparative Perspective
(1999). SECOND EUROPE-ASIA LECTURE: Regime Transition, Uncertainty and Prospects for Democratisation: The Politics of Russia's Regions in a Comparative Perspective. Europe-Asia Studies: Vol. 51, No. 6, pp. 939-956
Cracks in the Wall: Challenges to Electoral Authoritarianism in Russia
In 2011-2012, the opposition successfully capitalized on the regime's miscalculations to undermine the status quo from within, despite Putin's return to power and its own inability so far to overthrow the regime
Political foundations of bad governance in post-Soviet Eurasia: Towards a Research Agenda
Why are some countries governed much more poorly than one might expect judging by their degree of socio-economic development? In particular, why are most countries of post-Soviet Eurasia, according to numerous international evaluations of quality of state governance, similar to underdeveloped Third World countries and lagging behind their post-Communist counterparts in Eastern Europe? This article presents some arguments regarding the factors and…
Out of the Frying Pan, into the Fire? Post-Soviet Regime Changes in Comparative Perspective
Why do some countries become democracies, while others move from one nondemocratic regime to another? Post-communist transformations in the countries of the former Soviet Union could be viewed as a “natural experiment” in regime change: the politics of post-Soviet states demonstrate a great diversity. In this article, I present a partial theory of post-Soviet regime change and attempt to explain the outcomes of elite conflicts in post-Soviet stat…
Regime Changes despite Legitimacy Crises: Exit, Voice, and Loyalty in Post-Communist Russia
Why do some countries undergo regime changes despite legitimacy crises, while in others de-legitimation dramatically challenges democratic and non-democratic regimes? Post-Communist transformation in Russia can be viewed as a “natural experiment” in legitimacy's changing role during regime change. The de-legitimation of the Soviet political regime greatly contributed to the overthrow of Communist rule. However, although the post-Communism system …
Post-Soviet Transitions and Democratization: Towards Theory-Building
Conventional models of 'transitions to democracy' are incomplete and insufficient for the analysis of the regime changes in Russia and other post-Soviet societies, which go beyond the usual textbook cases. This article reconsiders conceptual frameworks for the analysis of democracy and democratization in the light of the experience of post-Soviet political developments. The distinction between types of predominant political institutions (formal v…
Do elites matter in Russian foreign policy? The gap between self-perception and influence
This article analyzes the findings of the Survey of Russian Elites from the perspective of Russian elites’ perceptions of their individual and group influence on Russian foreign policy. In the current Russian elite structure, state enterprise managers, executive branch officials, and military/security officers are far more influential than members of other sub-groups when it comes to foreign policy. However, the survey results show that despite b…
Exogenous shock and Russian studies
The Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 was a major exogenous shock, which greatly affected the scholarly field of Russian studies. Not only did some previous theoretical lenses and analytic approaches become outdated, but the intellectual and institutional infrastructure of scholarship in Russian studies also faced major challenges. In a sense, these changes were similar to the effects of the exogenous shock of the Soviet collapse on sc…
Bringing actors back in: Political choices and sources of post-Soviet regime dynamics
One might summarize the state of the field of research into contemporary Russian politics as a dismal consensus: most observers believe that durable authoritarianism has consolidated itself, and there is very little chance of democratization in the foreseeable future. However, political regime changes are often launched and developed overtime as side effects of moves made by political actors, and their outcomes are not predetermined. This article…
The Politics of Fear: How Russia’s Rulers Counter their Rivals
This article attempts to analyze the mechanisms of political control used by the Kremlin vis-à-vis its rivals. Russian authorities had opted the politics of fear, which include overt intimidation and public discrediting of the regime’s critics, and selective persecution and open harassment of opposition activists and/or supporters. This approach to political control to some degree reproduced similar mechanisms that had enabled regime survival in …
Regional party system formation in Russia: The deviant case of Sverdlovsk oblast
The level of organizational development achieved by competitive political parties in Sverdlovsk oblast is higher than in many other regions of Russia. In cross‐regional comparative perspective, the deviant case of Sverdlovsk oblast suggests that, for a political system lacking a recent history of competitive political parties, establishing free elections can promote the development and institutionalization of a party system in the following polit…
Subversive institutions, informal governance, and contemporary Russian politics
The article presents an analysis of “informal institutionalization” in post-Communist Russia in theoretical and comparative perspective. It is devoted to critical analysis of existing explanations of the dominance of subversive institutions – that is, those rules, norms, and practices that at first sight partly resemble institutions of modern democracy, good governance and rule of law, but in fact inhibit them. While “pessimists” focus on cultura…
Exceptions and Rules: Success Stories and Bad Governance in Russia
This essay is focused on the analysis of several success stories of state-directed developmental projects and programmes in Russia, which are designed and implemented amid conditions of bad governance. I argue that these success stories do not serve as exceptions to the general rules of bad governance but rather confirm its overall tendencies. The prioritisation of state support for successful projects and programmes is related to conspicuous con…
Exploring Varieties of Governance in Russia: In Search of Theoretical Frameworks
It is a given that the quality of governance makes a difference. It determines the developmental trajectories of states and it influences the everyday lives of their citizens. Why are some countrie
In search of local autonomy: The politics of big cities in Russia's transition
Despite a series of local government reforms in the 1990s, Russia's localities still lack serious autonomy. Only big cities maintain hopes for the emergence of local autonomy and local democracy. City politics has produced multiple conflicts between regional and local authorities; however, regional-local relations merely reflect fundamental center-periphery controversies on a smaller territorial scale. While big cities and their metropolitan area…
Studies of political elites in Russia: Issues and alternatives☆
Studies of political elites have emerged rapidly in post-Communist Russia. This state-of-theart article reflects on various developments in the field, analyzes research projects and frameworks, and focuses on two major issues of elite research: stratification studies and transition studies. The formation of an academic community in this field is close to completion. Russian scholars commonly accept different theoretical and methodological approac…
Sub‐national politics in reply to: Russia in the post‐communist transition period: A view from Moscow
Regional party system formation in Russia: The deviant case of Sverdlovsk oblast
The level of organizational development achieved by competitive political parties in Sverdlovsk oblast is higher than in many other regions of Russia. In cross‐regional comparative perspective, the deviant case of Sverdlovsk oblast suggests that, for a political system lacking a recent history of competitive political parties, establishing free elections can promote the development and institutionalization of a party system in the following polit…
Second Europe-Asia Lecture: Regime Transition, Uncertainty and Prospects for Democratisation: The Politics of Russia's Regions in a Comparative Perspective
(1999). SECOND EUROPE-ASIA LECTURE: Regime Transition, Uncertainty and Prospects for Democratisation: The Politics of Russia's Regions in a Comparative Perspective. Europe-Asia Studies: Vol. 51, No. 6, pp. 939-956
Daniel S. Treisman , After the Deluge. Regional Crises and Political Consolidation in Russia
(2000). Daniel S. Treisman , After the Deluge. Regional Crises and Political Consolidation in Russia. Europe-Asia Studies: Vol. 52, No. 6, pp. 1165-1167
Studies of political elites in Russia: Issues and alternatives☆
Studies of political elites have emerged rapidly in post-Communist Russia. This state-of-theart article reflects on various developments in the field, analyzes research projects and frameworks, and focuses on two major issues of elite research: stratification studies and transition studies. The formation of an academic community in this field is close to completion. Russian scholars commonly accept different theoretical and methodological approac…
Post-Soviet Transitions and Democratization: Towards Theory-Building
Conventional models of 'transitions to democracy' are incomplete and insufficient for the analysis of the regime changes in Russia and other post-Soviet societies, which go beyond the usual textbook cases. This article reconsiders conceptual frameworks for the analysis of democracy and democratization in the light of the experience of post-Soviet political developments. The distinction between types of predominant political institutions (formal v…
In search of local autonomy: The politics of big cities in Russia's transition
Despite a series of local government reforms in the 1990s, Russia's localities still lack serious autonomy. Only big cities maintain hopes for the emergence of local autonomy and local democracy. City politics has produced multiple conflicts between regional and local authorities; however, regional-local relations merely reflect fundamental center-periphery controversies on a smaller territorial scale. While big cities and their metropolitan area…
Political Opposition in Russia: A Vanishing Species
Р’ статьРμ анализируются причины поражРμРЅРёСЏ РІ С...РѕРґРμ СЌР»Рμкторального цикла 2003 – 2004 РіРѕРґРѕРІ РІСЃРμС... политичРμСЃРєРёС... СЃРёР», РІ тоРNo или РёРЅРѕРNo РјРμСЂРμ РїСЂРμС‚РμндовавшиС... РЅР° роль оппозиции политичРμСЃРєРѕРјСѓ СЂРμжиму Рё/или политичРμСЃРєРѕРјСѓ РєСѓСЂСЃСѓ РїСЂРμР·РёРґРμнта Рё правитРμльства. РџРѕ Р·Р°…
The unrule of law in the making: The politics of informal institution building in Russia
‘INFORMAL INSTITUTIONALISATION’ (O’Donnell, 1996), or the prevalence of informal rules and norms over the formal institutions of political regimes (Merkel & Croissant, 2000), is a typical outcome of various post-authoritarian transitions (Helmke & Levitsky, 2003), including post-Soviet ones. The dominance of informal institutions which create obstacles to the rule of law is a major distinction between Russia (and other post-Soviet regimes) and mo…
We in the World — the World in Us”: 50 Years of the Integration of Our Country’s Political Science into the World One (Virtual Round Table)
В этом номере мы знакомим читателей с материалами виртуального круглого стола, проведенного редакцией в октябре-ноябре 2005 г. Перед участниками были поставлены следующие вопросы: Чем стали для отечественной политологии 50 лет интеграции в мировую науку? Что удалось воспринять и освоить за эти годы? Какой вклад внесли в мировую политическую науку отечественные политологи? Какие достижения отечественной политологии отвечают мировому уровню? Чем об…
Lessons of Ukrainian
Р’ статьРμ РїСЂРμдпринята попытка рассмотрРμть события, развРμрнувшиРμСЃСЏ РЅР° УкраинРμ РІ РґРμкабрРμ 2004 Рі., СЃРєРІРѕР·СЊ РїСЂРёР·РјСѓ РјРѕРґРμли трансформации политичРμСЃРєРёС... СЂРμжимов, разработанноРNo автором РЅР° матРμриалРμ сравнитРμльного РёСЃСЃР»Рμдования СЂРѕСЃСЃРёРNoСЃРєРёС... СЂРμРіРёРѕРЅРѕРІ. РћР±СЃСѓ…
Political Opposition in Russia: A Dying Species
A specialist on Russian politics examines the evolution of political opposition in Russia from 1989 to 2005. The article specifies and employs a framework that focuses on the structure of the political elite and the political opportunity structure that it provides to oppositional forces. The framework is tested in brief case studies of three oppositional forces: communists, liberals, and democrats. Prospects for the future of political opposition…
Leviathan's Come-Back? (Policy of Recentralization in Contemporary Russia)
Р’ статьРμ РїСЂРμдставлРμРЅ РІСЃРμсторонниРNo анализ политики СЂРμС†Рμтрализации, начатоРNo РІ 2000 Рі. администрациРμРNo Р’.Путина Рё направлРμРЅРЅРѕРNo РЅР° восстановлРμРЅРёРμ контроля С„РμРґРμральныС... органов власти над важнРμРNoшими рычагами управлРμРЅРёСЏ страноРNo. ТщатРμльно проаналЅ
From ‘feckless pluralism’ to ‘dominant power politics’? The transformation of Russia's party system
The transformation of Russia's party system demonstrates a trend towards a decrease in party competition since the establishment of the party of power, United Russia, which claims to have become the dominant party. These developments are unique among post-Soviet countries, which merely attempted to create personalist, rather than party-based, monopolies of ruling elites. Why have Russia's elites opted to build a party-based monopoly and what are …
Le retour du Léviathan: La politique de recentralisation en Russie depuis 2000
The Return of the Leviathan: Re-centralization Policy in Russia since 2000 During a television appearance on September 13,2004, Russian president Vladimir Putin announced a series of political reforms including the cancellation of elections for representatives of the executive branch of government in the regions of the Russian Federation. This return to the appointment of governors concludes the re-centralization policy initiated in 2000, in resp…
Out of the Frying Pan into the Fire? (Post-Soviet Regime Dynamics in Comparative Perspective)
Почему одни страны становятся демократиями, а в других на смену одним недемократическим режимам приходят другие? Рассматривая политические трансформации в постсоветских странах как «естественный эксперимент» режимных изменений, автор предлагает оригинальный подход к анализу изменений режимов на постсоветском пространстве. Согласно его гипотезе, различие вариантов таких изменений обусловлено сценариями межэлитных конфликтов, которые (сценарии), в …
Political Diffusions under the Conditions of a Spatially Mixed Regime: Institution-building and Election of City Mayors in Russia
From the Frying Pan into the Fire: The Dynamics of Post-Soviet Regimes in Comparative Perspective
Party Politics in Russia: From Competition to Hierarchy
In the 1990s, political parties in Russia suffered from their under-development. By contrast, in the 2000s they became major actors in the electoral and parliamentary arenas, both at the national a
Authoritarian Versus Democratic Diffusions: Explaining Institutional Choices in Russia's Local Government
Two political scientists address questions posed by the puzzling survival of the institution of elected city mayors in Russia despite the efforts of the national government to abolish it. Based on datasets not only of local government reforms across all the regions but also of the regional component of European Union aid, statistical analysis is used to challenge dominant approaches to democratic institution building and diffusion theories are ap…
Out of the Frying Pan, into the Fire? Post-Soviet Regime Changes in Comparative Perspective
Why do some countries become democracies, while others move from one nondemocratic regime to another? Post-communist transformations in the countries of the former Soviet Union could be viewed as a “natural experiment” in regime change: the politics of post-Soviet states demonstrate a great diversity. In this article, I present a partial theory of post-Soviet regime change and attempt to explain the outcomes of elite conflicts in post-Soviet stat…
Regime Changes despite Legitimacy Crises: Exit, Voice, and Loyalty in Post-Communist Russia
Why do some countries undergo regime changes despite legitimacy crises, while in others de-legitimation dramatically challenges democratic and non-democratic regimes? Post-Communist transformation in Russia can be viewed as a “natural experiment” in legitimacy's changing role during regime change. The de-legitimation of the Soviet political regime greatly contributed to the overthrow of Communist rule. However, although the post-Communism system …
Local Regimes, Sub-national Governance and the ‘Power Vertical’ in Contemporary Russia
The emergence of local regimes, 1 or relatively stable patterns of sub-national governance, became an important logical consequence of the turbulent political and economic changes in Russia's regio
Subversive institutions, informal governance, and contemporary Russian politics
The article presents an analysis of “informal institutionalization” in post-Communist Russia in theoretical and comparative perspective. It is devoted to critical analysis of existing explanations of the dominance of subversive institutions – that is, those rules, norms, and practices that at first sight partly resemble institutions of modern democracy, good governance and rule of law, but in fact inhibit them. While “pessimists” focus on cultura…
Cracks in the Wall: Challenges to Electoral Authoritarianism in Russia
In 2011-2012, the opposition successfully capitalized on the regime's miscalculations to undermine the status quo from within, despite Putin's return to power and its own inability so far to overthrow the regime
Political science (45 works) · Political economy (38 works) · Politics (38 works) · Law (34 works) · Law (32 works) · Economics (31 works) · Sociology (29 works) · Russia and Soviet political economy (21 works) · Economic system (20 works) · Political Conflict and Governance (20 works)