No. 118: Russia's Evolving Political System

Author(s): Vladimir Gel'man, Dmitry Oreshkin, Andrew Jarrell, Dmitry Maslov
Editor(s): Stephen Aris, Aglaya Snetkov, Matthias Neumann, Robert Orttung, Jeronim Perovic, Heiko Pleines, Hans-Henning Schröder
Series: Russian Analytical Digest (RAD)
Issue: 118
Publisher(s): Center for Security Studies (CSS), ETH Zurich; Research Centre for East European Studies, University of Bremen; Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies, George Washington University
Publication Year: 2012

This edition focuses on the impact of the growth of political protest and opposition to the Putin regime upon Russia's political system. In the first article, Gel'man examines the rise of the opposition and the decline of the ruling regime's dominance, focusing on the key role of political actors, their resources and strategies of political struggle. In the second article, Oreshkin argues that the protest movement is slowly moving from the capitals into the provinces, and that it is only a question of time before it gains the strength necessary to create significant political change, and that the upcoming local elections will provide greater clarity on this. In the third article, Jarrell focuses on local politics, outlining that although the Russian middle class is losing interest in the protest movement, young people are not returning to apathy and are finding hope in local politics and activism. In the final article, Maslov considers the effectiveness of the reforms introduced to improve the efficiency of governance in Russia, noting that recent political developments have renewed discussion about the internal contradictions in the proposed approach to modernizing the state.

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