Publication

This case study examines state development in Russia, with an emphasis on the reform measures enacted during the presidency of Vladimir Putin and the relationship between state and society. The author examines the process of Russian state development and concludes that it has strengthened bureaucratic and security organs, disempowered political institutions, hidden political processes, depolitized the public sphere and subordinated the economy to the state. The author argues that the historical propensity for centralized state control of society has been maintained, modernized and consolidated under Vladimir Putin, who has adopted an approach that is typical of well-ordered police states. As a consequence, independent modes of expression and self-identification have been curtailed, however, the official modes, which include religion and nationalism, have given rise to extreme mistrust of the West and xenophobic violence.