Institutions, Ideas and Leadership in Russian Politics

What roles have institutions, ideas and leadership played in shaping Russia's post-Soviet transformation? This volume brings together eight specially commissioned essays by leading scholars to explore the interactions between these three critical factors in shaping Russia's development from Mikhail Gorbachev to Vladimir Putin. The contributors explore such diverse areas as party formation, the emergence of representative institutions, the governance of Russian regions, the rule of law, nationalities policy and foreign relations, reaching some surprising conclusions. While some scholars have questioned the degree to which Russia's polity was institutionalised at all, and others have written of its 'de-institutionalisation' under Vladimir Putin, the authors gathered here present a much more complex and variegated picture of Russia's recent institutional development. They also return attention to the role of ideas, often overlooked in debates about the relative importance of institutions and leadership. The result is a stimulating and thought-provoking collection that challenges some of the emerging conventional wisdom about contemporary Russia.