As Russia tries to establish the foundations of a stable and productive market-based economic system, it must determine the importance of the state to its prospects. What kind of political order corresponds to the challenges that Russia faces in the post-Soviet period? This analysis argues that geography matters a great deal and the state remains central in compensating for the austere implications of economic geography for Russia's economic prospects under market circumstances.
Author(s): Allen C. Lynch
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Year: 2005
Language: English
Commentary: 45600
Pages: 290
Cover......Page 1
Half-title......Page 3
Title......Page 5
Copyright......Page 6
Dedication......Page 7
Contents......Page 9
Acknowledgments......Page 13
I. On the Importance of the State in the Russian Setting......Page 15
II. The Argument of the Book......Page 24
III. The Organization of the Book......Page 30
I. The Argument......Page 32
II. Specification of Terms......Page 34
III. A European Pattern of Political Development......Page 35
IV. Conditions Governing Russian Success......Page 38
V. The Distinctiveness of Russia's Patrimonial Absolutism......Page 45
VI. The Facts of Life......Page 50
VII. Implications......Page 51
VIII. Costs of Security and Costs of Production......Page 55
I. Introduction......Page 61
II. The Argument......Page 63
III. Economic Legacies: Isolation and Relative Backwardness......Page 65
IV. Militarization of the Economy......Page 66
V. Social Legacies: Fragmentation and Exhaustion......Page 68
VI. Social Organization and Political Regime......Page 72
VII. Tidal Waves of Violence......Page 80
VIII. Positive Legacies......Page 84
IX. The Legacy of Soviet Collapse: Stealing the State......Page 87
X. Russia's Path-Dependent Matrix......Page 96
I. Introduction......Page 99
II. Worst-Case Scenarios Failed To Occur......Page 100
III. Another Russian Experiment......Page 101
IV. The Russian Macroeconomy......Page 102
V. Paths Taken and Not......Page 106
VI. Social Aspects......Page 113
A. Degree of Social Inequality......Page 114
B. Regional Inequalities......Page 115
C. Compression of the Wage Structure......Page 116
D. Decomposition of the Soviet Middle Class......Page 117
F. Sharp Decline in Public Health......Page 118
H. Increase in Suicide Rate......Page 120
VII. Russia’s Silent Scream......Page 121
VIII. How Do Russians Get By at All?......Page 122
IX. The Military......Page 125
X. The Condition of Russian Science......Page 131
XI. The Rise of Post-Soviet Russian Crime......Page 135
XII. Conclusion......Page 141
I. Introduction......Page 142
II. General Prerequisites of Democracy......Page 145
III. Specific Tensions in Postcommunist Reform Processes......Page 146
IV. The Early Course of Reform......Page 148
V. Foreign Reinforcements......Page 151
A. The Constitution......Page 154
B. The Parliament......Page 157
VII. Russia’s Electoral History......Page 160
VIII. The “Pays Reel”: The System of Presidential Authority......Page 166
IX. From Yeltsin to Putin......Page 169
X. Putin and the Consolidation of Russia’s Neopatrimonial System......Page 173
XI. Conclusion......Page 177
I. Introduction......Page 180
II. Institutions and Values......Page 184
III. Russia in the Postcommunist Context......Page 187
IV. Conclusions on Russia Compared to East-Central Europe......Page 197
V. Russia Compared to the G-7 World......Page 200
A. Weimar Germany......Page 203
B. Communist China......Page 204
C. The Postcolonial World......Page 206
VII. Conclusion......Page 207
I. Introduction......Page 209
II. Structural or Conjunctural Factors in Russia’s Favor?......Page 212
III. Infrastructure, Asset Depreciation, and Direct Capital Investment......Page 215
V. The Influence of Late-Soviet Developments on Post-Soviet Prospects......Page 219
VI. Long-Term Consequences of Russia’s Decade-Long Depression......Page 222
VII. After the Crash......Page 224
VIII. Enabling Conditions of Russian Recovery:
Politics versus Geography?......Page 234
IX. Conclusions......Page 248
I. Summing Up......Page 253
Point 1. The Continuing Preeminence of Security......Page 257
Point 2. The Continuing Centrality of the State in Russian Political Development......Page 258
Point 4. Russia as an Enclave Economy......Page 259
Point 6. The Fragility of Russian Stability......Page 260
Point 7. The Priority of Domestic Affairs in Foreign Policy......Page 261
Point 9. Russia Might Not Recover......Page 262
Point 10. A Narrow Foundation of State Authority......Page 265
Point 11. A Pragmatic Nationalist Consensus in Foreign Policy......Page 266
Point 12. A Russian Implosion Is Not Inevitable But Cannot Be Excluded......Page 267
II. Newspapers......Page 271
IV. Serial Publications: Scholarly Journals......Page 272
V. Literature: Books, and Such......Page 273
VI. Literature: Selected Articles and Book Chapters......Page 280
Index......Page 283
