Democracy, Civic Culture and Small Business in Russia's Regions : Social Processes in Comparative Historical Perspective

This book adopts a novel analytical approach to understanding how Russia's stalled democratisation is related to the incomplete liberalisation of the economy. Based on extensive original comparative study of Russia’s regions, the book explores the precise channels of interaction that create the mutuality of property rights, entrepreneurship, rule of law, norms of citizenship and liberal democracy. It demonstrates that the extent of democratisation varies across regions, and that this variation is connected to the extent of liberalisation of the economy. Moreover, it argues that the key factor in producing this linkage is the relative prominence of small business owners and their supporters in articulating their interests vis-à-vis regional and local administrations, especially through the institutionalisation of networks and business associations. The book develops its key theses by means of detailed analysis of the experiences of four case study regions. Overall, the book provides a major contribution to understanding the path of democratisation in Russia. Cover 1 Title 10 Copyright 11 Dedication 12 Contents 14 Preface 17 List of abbreviations and terms 19 1 Small business owners and regional democracy 22 The empirical puzzle 22 A nexus of conceptual ladders 29 Modernization theory 30 Civil society, interest groups and the civic outcome 31 Comparative historical analysis 37 Conclusions and plan of the book 40 2 Small business owners and regional democracy: quantitative analysis 47 Small business in Russia: scope, trends, context 47 Regression analysis 54 Conclusions 69 3 Elaborated process mapping and case selection 73 Factor analysis, antecedent conditions, business associations as civic actors 73 The rationale for case selection 89 The case study regions in broad comparison 93 Conclusions and case study structure 94 4 The Samara region: a tale of two cities 100 Economic geography and business history – antecedent structural conditions 100 Impulse: the democratic breakthrough and its institutionalization 103 Comparative overview of small business development 108 Business associations and small business advocacy – bonding and bridging ‘civic-ness’ 109 Business associations’ dialogue with regional and city administrations – contributions to the openness of policy formulation 116 Entrepreneurs in regional and municipal political office – contributions to the dispersion of regional and local political authority 121 Business, society and the press in the Samara region 123 Civic memory: entrepreneurs and the ‘usable’ past – ideational antecedent conditions 124 The region and the model – conclusions 126 5 The Smolensk region: small business and the uses of adversity 135 Economic geography and business history – antecedent structural conditions 136 Impulse: the democratic breakthrough and its institutionalization 138 Comparative overview of small business development 141 Business associations and small business advocacy – bonding and bridging ‘civic-ness’ 143 Business associations’ dialogue with regional and municipal administrations – contributions to the openness of policy formulation 149 Entrepreneurs in regional and municipal politics and administrations – contributions to the dispersion of regional and local political authority 155 Business, society and the press in the Smolensk region 157 Civic memory: entrepreneurs and the ‘usable’ past – ideational antecedent conditions 159 The region and the model – conclusions 160 6 The Rostov region: limits of patrimonial exchange 169 Economic geography and business history – antecedent structural conditions 170 Impulse: the democratic interlude and the Chub ‘restoration’ 172 Comparative overview of small business development 174 Business associations and small business – bonding and bridging ‘civic-ness’ 178 Business associations’ dialogue with regional administrations – contributions to the openness of policy formulation 186 Entrepreneurs in regional political office – contributions to the dispersion of regional and local political authority 189 Business, society and the press in the Rostov region 190 Civic memory: entrepreneurs and the ‘usable past’ – ideational antecedent conditions 193 The region and the model – conclusions 193 7 The Perm region: entrepreneurship and elite transformation 199 Economic geography and business history – antecedent structural conditions 200 Impulse: the democratic breakthrough and its institutionalization 201 Comparative overview of small business development 204 Business associations and small business advocacy – bonding and bridging ‘civic-ness’ 207 Business associations’ dialogue with regional and city administrations – contributions to the openness of policy formulation 217 Entrepreneurs in regional political office – contributions to the dispersion of regional and local political authority 219 Business, society and the press in the Perm region 223 Civic memory: entrepreneurs and the ‘usable’ past – ideational antecedent conditions 225 The region and the model – conclusions 226 8 Concluding arguments 233 Processes linking small firm prevalence and democratization 233 Business associations as civic actors 235 Structured case comparison 238 Climbing the conceptual ladder 244 Index 250 Social Processes in Comparative Historical Perspective