The Crisis of Russian Democracy

The Crisis of Russian Democracy PDF Author: Richard Sakwa
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1139494910
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 417

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Book Description
The view that Russia has taken a decisive shift towards authoritarianism may be premature, but there is no doubt that its democracy is in crisis. In this original and dynamic analysis of the fundamental processes shaping contemporary Russian politics, Richard Sakwa applies a new model based on the concept of Russia as a dual state. Russia's constitutional state is challenged by an administrative regime that subverts the rule of law and genuine electoral competitiveness. This has created a situation of permanent stalemate: the country is unable to move towards genuine pluralist democracy but, equally, its shift towards full-scale authoritarianism is inhibited. Sakwa argues that the dual state could be transcended either by strengthening the democratic state or by the consolidation of the arbitrary power of the administrative system. The future of the country remains open.

The Crisis of Russian Democracy

The Crisis of Russian Democracy PDF Author: Richard Sakwa
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1139494910
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 417

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Book Description
The view that Russia has taken a decisive shift towards authoritarianism may be premature, but there is no doubt that its democracy is in crisis. In this original and dynamic analysis of the fundamental processes shaping contemporary Russian politics, Richard Sakwa applies a new model based on the concept of Russia as a dual state. Russia's constitutional state is challenged by an administrative regime that subverts the rule of law and genuine electoral competitiveness. This has created a situation of permanent stalemate: the country is unable to move towards genuine pluralist democracy but, equally, its shift towards full-scale authoritarianism is inhibited. Sakwa argues that the dual state could be transcended either by strengthening the democratic state or by the consolidation of the arbitrary power of the administrative system. The future of the country remains open.

Building The Russian State

Building The Russian State PDF Author: Valerie Sperling
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 0429981589
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 288

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Book Description
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.

The Crisis in Russia

The Crisis in Russia PDF Author: Arthur Ransome
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Communism
Languages : en
Pages : 170

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Book Description


Russian Politics

Russian Politics PDF Author: Zoltan D. Barany
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521805124
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 284

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Book Description
First published in 2001, this book assesses five crucial political arenas during the Yeltsin era.

Democratic Breakdown and the Decline of the Russian Military

Democratic Breakdown and the Decline of the Russian Military PDF Author: Zoltan Barany
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 140082804X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 265

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Book Description
A rare, behind-the-scenes look at Russian military politics Why have Russian generals acquired an important political position since the Soviet Union's collapse while at the same time the effectiveness of their forces has deteriorated? Why have there been no radical defense reforms in Russia since the end of the cold war, even though they were high on the agenda of the country's new president in 2000? Democratic Breakdown and the Decline of the Russian Military explains these puzzles as it paints a comprehensive portrait of Russian military politics. Zoltan Barany identifies three formative moments that gave rise to the Russian dilemma. The first was Gorbachev's decision to invite military participation in Soviet politics. The second was when Yeltsin acquiesced to a new political system that gave generals a legitimate political presence. The third was when Putin not only failed to press for needed military reforms but elevated numerous high-ranking officers to prominent positions in the federal administration. Included here are Barany's insightful analysis of crisis management following the sinking of the Kursk submarine, a systematic comparison of the Soviet/Russian armed forces in 1985 and the present, and compelling accounts of the army's political role, the elusive defense reform, and the relationship between politicians and generals. Barany offers a rare look at the world of contemporary military politics in an increasingly authoritarian state. Destined to become a classic in post-Soviet studies, this book reminds us of the importance of the separation of powers as a means to safeguard democracy.

Ill Winds

Ill Winds PDF Author: Larry Diamond
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0525560645
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 386

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Book Description
*Shortlisted for the 2020 Arthur Ross Book Award* From America’s leading scholar of democracy, a personal, passionate call to action against the rising authoritarianism that challenges our world order—and the very value of liberty Larry Diamond has made it his life's work to secure democracy's future by understanding its past and by advising dissidents fighting autocracy around the world. Deeply attuned to the cycles of democratic expansion and decay that determine the fates of nations, he watched with mounting unease as illiberal rulers rose in Hungary, Poland, Turkey, the Philippines, and beyond, while China and Russia grew increasingly bold and bullying. Then, with Trump's election at home, the global retreat from freedom spread from democracy's margins to its heart. Ill Winds' core argument is stark: the defense and advancement of democratic ideals relies on U.S. global leadership. If we do not reclaim our traditional place as the keystone of democracy, today's authoritarian swell could become a tsunami, providing an opening for Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping, and their admirers to turn the twenty-first century into a dark time of despotism. We are at a hinge in history, between a new era of tyranny and an age of democratic renewal. Free governments can defend their values; free citizens can exercise their rights. We can make the internet safe for liberal democracy, exploit the soft, kleptocratic underbelly of dictatorships, and revive America's degraded democracy. Ill Winds offers concrete, deeply informed suggestions to fight polarization, reduce the influence of money in politics, and make every vote count. In 2020, freedom's last line of defense still remains "We the people."

The Crisis of Russian Autocracy

The Crisis of Russian Autocracy PDF Author: Andrew M. Verner
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780691047737
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 372

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Book Description
Two men loom large in the waning days of the Russian empire: Lenin and Nicholas II--the former by force of his personality and ideas, the latter by virtue of his inherited dominion over one-sixth of the earth. Yet, although the victor has commanded scholarly attention commensurate with his historical importance, the loser has not. Nicholas was the linchpin of the autocratic system, but his key role has been largely ignored except for some dismissive or hagiographic treatments. Andrew Verner redresses this neglect by providing both a fascinating psychological biography of the ruler and a probing analysis of his part in the revolutionary crisis of 1905. The drama of 1905, described by Lenin as the dress rehearsal for 1917, compelled Nicholas to make unprecedented concessions: a national legislature and political liberties that, as one historical school would have it, opened the door for constitutional democracy in Russia. Drawing extensively on unpublished documents and diaries found in the Romanov family and government archives in the USSR, this provocative work traces the formation of Nicholas's character amidst the conflicting theories and practices of autocracy. Verner demonstrates how autocratic ideology and structure interacted with the tsar's personality as he responded, or failed to respond, to the revolutionary storm, forever dooming Russia's constitutional promise.

Between Dictatorship and Democracy

Between Dictatorship and Democracy PDF Author: Michael McFaul
Publisher: Carnegie Endowment
ISBN: 0870032909
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 378

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Book Description
For hundreds of years, dictators have ruled Russia. Do they still? In the late 1980s, Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev launched a series of political reforms that eventually allowed for competitive elections, the emergence of an independent press, the formation of political parties, and the sprouting of civil society. After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, these proto-democratic institutions endured in an independent Russia. But did the processes unleashed by Gorbachev and continued under Russian President Boris Yeltsin lead eventually to liberal democracy in Russia? If not, what kind of political regime did take hold in post-Soviet Russia? And how has Vladimir Putin's rise to power influenced the course of democratic consolidation or the lack thereof? Between Dictatorship and Democracy seeks to give a comprehensive answer to these fundamental questions about the nature of Russian politics.

Russian Politics in Transition

Russian Politics in Transition PDF Author: Nikolai Biryukov
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 0429756607
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 329

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Book Description
First published in 1997 and written by two distinguished Russian scholars, this book examines the problems and prospects of democratic transition in Russia since the disintegration of the Soviet Union. Specifically, it offers a compelling evaluation of the rise and fall of the 1990 Russian parliament. The problems of transforming what had been a regional assembly into a national parliament are analysed in the context of the failure of perestroika, the difficulties of generating pluralist politics, the strength of presidential power and the tensions between ideologies of reform, on the one hand, and the realities of economic crisis, on the other. The analysis allows them to evaluate the role of political upheaval and conflicts of legitimacy in Russian democratization. The book is divided into three sections. The first offers a theory of transition to modern democracy. This provides the framework for the second section, an account of the first parliament after the 1990 elections, its conflicts with presidential power and the reform agenda of the government and, finally, its fall. The third section examines three particular problems which were decisive in producing the crisis of Russian parliamentarianism and democratization: voting behaviour in a non-party parliamentary setting and its relationship to conflicts between legislature and executive; populism and representation; and the role of democratic values and procedures in the legislative process. Drawing on their unrivalled knowledge of issues, events and actors, Nikolai Biryukov and Victor Sergeyev gather and interpret much new evidence to explore their subject. In a path-breaking study, the authors draw on a variety of sources and traditions to produce an original theory of the problems of political stability set up by democratic transition in Russia.

Comparative Politics and Crisis of Governance

Comparative Politics and Crisis of Governance PDF Author: Sudhir Kumar
Publisher:
ISBN: 9789380177663
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Democracy as a political system, its creation and evolution and implications on the people and the states has been the dominant subject matter of the comparative politics in the last five decades. The litmus test of such explanations has been the societies undergoing political transition, switching over from authoritarian political systems to democratic ones. This book is an attempt to critically analyze the theories which have come up in the case of post-Soviet states political transition began after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The book argues that democratization should be seen as a broader phenomenon with the objective of building an equal and just social order. Secondly, the dilemma of explaining democracy in theory and in practice can be better explained with the analysis of the nature of state i.e. who governs and how. Thirdly, the nature of any state should be measured on the principles of democratic governance. Here three major indicators of democratic governance have been selected: participation, transparency, and accountability. Analysing Russia within this research framework the book argues that despite having all the capabilities to be a strong state the Russian state has been facing acute crisis of governance being reflected in violent separatist movements, violation of constitutional laws and increasing crime rate. A major reason behind the crisis of governance in Russia is the lack of application of principles of democratic governance at various levels of transition: from the constitution making process to implementation of welfare and other public policies."