Overview

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. The authors consider the influence of Soviet governance systems on the emergence of cleavages and new actors in the post-Soviet period. They also analyze the impact of institutional changes on regional regimes and the success or failure of formal institutions as a framework for political competitiveness. Placing their detailed field data within the larger comparative and theoretical context of political transitions, the authors are able to explain the mixed outcomes of post-communist regime change in Russia and other post-Soviet nations. With its innovative model of path-contingent democratization and its new typology of political regimes and regime transitions, this book will be essential reading for all scholars of democracy.

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9780742525610

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Gel'man tweaks the existing theories to bring them into better line with Russian reality and provides a useful frameworker for telling the story of political change during the last 15 years. The case studies are the most coherent histories of the regions that have come along yet.

Vladimir Gel man and his colleagues add enormous depth to our picture of Russia 's troubled transition by systematically comparing dynamics and results across the regions of the country. This study tells us all more, not only about the Russian experience, but about regime change in the contemporary world.--Timothy Colton

Author Information

Vladimir Gel'man is associate professor, faculty of political sciences and sociology, European University at St. Petersburg. Sergei Ryzhenkov is deputy head of the Center for Modern Politics Studies, Moscow. Michael Brie is head of the foreign department of the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation, Berlin. Vladimir Avdonin is professor at the Center for European Politics and Law, Ryazan' State Pedagogical University. Boris Ovchinnikov is a leading expert at the International Institute for Humanities and Political Studies, Moscow. Igor Semenov is an independent political analyst and consultant in Saratov.

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