Table of Contents

Part 1: The Fall of Communism and the Rebirth of Russia  1. Soviet communism and its dissolution 1.1 The Soviet system 1.2 Perestroika 1.3 The emergence of Russia 1.4 Popular insurgency and regime decay  2. The disintegration of the USSR  2.1 The August coup  2.2 The disintegration of the USSR  2.3 Problems of state building  3. Phoney democracy, 1991-1993  3.1 Phoney democracy – the road to October 1993  3.2 Genesis of a tragedy  3.3 The troubled path to the constitution  Part 2: Political Institutions and Processes  4. Constitutionalism and the law 4.1 The 1993 constitution 4.2 The Constitutional Court 4.3 The legal system and its reform 4.4 Law and constitutionalism  5. Crime, corruption and security 5.1 Crime and the mafia 5.2 Corruption, meta-corruption and anti-corruption 5.3 The security apparatus and politics 5.4 Human and civil rights  6. The executive 6.1 The presidency 6.2 The government 6.3 Prime ministers and their policies 6.4 Public administration: from nomenklatura to civil service?  7. Party development 7.1 Stages of party development 7.2 Normative framework of party development 7.3 The party system today 7.4 Problems of social representation  8. Electoral politics 8.1 Founding elections and electoral management .2 The electoral system and its reform 8.3 The experience of elections 8.4 Direct democracy: referendums 8.5 Electoral engagement  9. The legislature 9.1 The State Duma 9.2 The Federation Council 9.3 Parliamentarianism and Russian politics  Part 3: Nationalism, Federalism and Regionalism  10. National identity and state building 10.1 From empire to state 10.2 Russian nationalism and national identity 10.3 State building: borders and citizenship  11. Federalism and the new state 11.1 Ethno-federalism and its legacy 11.2 Russian federalism  12. Segmented regionalism and the new federalism 12.1 Segmented regionalism 12.2 Putin’s ‘new federalism’ 12.3 Segmented regionalism and asymmetrical federalism  Part 4: Economy and Society  13. Russian capitalism 13.1 The road to the market 13.2 The Russian economy today 13.3 Evaluation of market reform 14. Society and social movements 14.1 Social structure and dynamics 14.2 Welfare and incomes 14.3 Social movements 14.4 Para-constitutionalism and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) 15. Cultural transformation 15.1 The media 15.2 Culture and the intelligentsia 15.3 Religion and the state 15.4 Political culture and public opinion 15.5 Crisis of values  Part 5: Foreign, Security and Neighbourhood Policy 16. Foreign policy 16.1 The development of Russian foreign policy 16.2 The structure of policy-making 16.3 The debate over foreign policy 16.4 Russia and the world  17. Defence and security policy  17.1 The end of the Soviet armed forces 17.2 The great retreat 17.3 Military and security doctrines 17.4 Nuclear politics and non-proliferation 17.5 Military reform 17.6 Civil-military relations 17.7 New security paradigms  18. Commonwealth, community and fragmentation 18.1 The Commonwealth of Independent States 18.2 Regional organisations 18.3 Minorities and Russians abroad  Part 6: Dilemmas of Democratisation  19. Problems of transition 19.1 The challenge of history 19.2 Transitional justice 19.3 Models of transition 20. Democracy in Russia 21. Problems of democracy 22. Regime politics 23. Leadership and regime change 24. A struggling democracy?  Appendix The Russian constitution  Select bibliography  Index

About the Author

University of Kent at Canterbury, UK

Reviews

'Dr. Richard Sakwa's textbook on Russian politics is a lucid and well informed survey of the subject. It skillfully relates comparative theoretical generalizations to the reality of contemporary Russian affairs and places the political sphere in its social and economic context. The book is objective and balanced in its treatment of controversial questions about developments in Russia under Putin. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who seeks an introduction to Russian politics.' - "Alfred B. Evans, Jr., California State University, Fresno, USA" 'The 4th edition of Sakwa's "Russian Politics and Society" confirms it as the book providing the best coverage of the field. It analyses the structures and contradictory processes in the political system, foreign policy, economy and society under Yeltsin and Putin and is unmatched for postgraduates and undergraduates alike.' - "Peter Duncan, University College London, UK"