Politics and the Ruling Group in Putin's Russia (Studies in Central and Eastern Europe)

Russian Politics Is Post-communist, But There Is Little Consensus About The Nature Of The Political System That Has Emerged During The Putin Presidency. The Chapters Of This International Collection Focus On The Issues Of Interpretation That Arise From The Political System As A Whole, But Also On Individual Institutions Such As The Presidency And The Security Police, Which Some Have Seen As Dominant. Attention Is Paid To The Socioeconomic Dimension Of Political Power, The Major Organised Interests, And The Industrial Magnates That Have Become Known As The 'oligarchs' And The Place They Occupy In Public Opinion, The Media, And Contemporary Culture. Putin Has Certainly Enjoyed A Remarkable Level Of Popularity Over His Eight Years Of Office; But The Authors Of This Collection, From Various Viewpoints, Suggest The Ruling Group As A Whole May Face An Uncertain Future.--book Cover. What Kind Of Political Regime Does Russia Have? / Hans-henning Schröder -- The Presidentialization Of A Semi-presidential Regime : The Case Of Russia / Oleg Zaznaev -- The Russian Federal Security Service Under President Putin / Eberhard Schneider -- The Inherent Instability Of The Ruling Elite / Hillel Ticktin -- Interest Groups And Economic Reform In Contemporary Russia : Before And After Yukos / Andrei Yakovlev -- The Oligarchs In Russian Mass Consciousness / Alexander Chepurenko -- Are Russia's Oligarchs Scapegoats? : Some Empirical Evidence From The Russian Press / Jakob Fruchtmann -- Unintentional Humour In Oligarkh And Antikiller, Or How New Are The New Russians? / Andrei Rogachevsky. Edited By Stephen White. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Russian politics is post-communist, but there is little consensus about the nature of the political system that has emerged during the Putin presidency. The chapters of this international collection focus on the issues of interpretation that arise from the political system as a whole, but also on individual institutions such as the presidency and the security police, which some have seen as dominant. Attention is paid to the socioeconomic dimension of political power, the major organised interests, and the industrial magnates that have become known as the 1oligarchs2 and the place they occupy in public opinion, the media, and contemporary culture. Putin has certainly enjoyed a remarkable level of popularity over his eight years of office; but the authors of this collection, from various viewpoints, suggest the ruling group as a whole may face an uncertain future Front Matter....Pages i-xvi What Kind of Political Regime Does Russia Have?....Pages 1-26 The Presidentialization of a Semi-Presidential Regime: the Case of Russia....Pages 27-41 The Russian Federal Security Service under President Putin....Pages 42-62 The Inherent Instability of the Ruling Elite....Pages 63-86 Interest Groups and Economic Reform in Contemporary Russia: Before and After Yukos....Pages 87-119 The ‘Oligarchs’ in Russian Mass Consciousness....Pages 120-137 Are Russia’s Oligarchs Scapegoats? Some Empirical Evidence from the Russian Press....Pages 138-156 Unintentional Humour in Oligarkh and Antikiller, or How New Are the ‘New Russians’?....Pages 157-171 Back Matter....Pages 172-173 What kind of political regime does Russia have? / Hans-Henning Schroeder The presidentialization of a semi-presidential regime : the case of Russia / Oleg Zaznaev The Russian Federal Security Service under President Putin / Eberhard Schneider The inherent instability of the ruling elite / Hillel Ticktin Interest groups and economic reform in contemporary Russia : before and after Yukos / Andrei Yakovlev The "oligarchs" in Russian mass consciousness / Alexander Chepurenko Are Russia's oligarchs scapegoats? Some empirical evidence from the Russian press / Jakob Fruchtmann Unintentional humour in Oligarkh and Antikiller, or how new are the "new Russians?" / Andrei Rogachevsky. There is little consensus about the nature of the political system that has emerged during the Putin presidency. This collection considers the issues arising in this connection, focusing more closely on institutions such as the presidency and the security police, and on the socioeconomic dimensions of political power.