The State after Communism: Governance in the New Russia

by Timothy J. Colton Harvard University, Linda J. Cook, Gerald M. Easter, Timothy Frye Columbia University, Yoshiko M. Herrera

Overview

The Soviet dictatorship was a strong state, committed to dominating and transforming society in the name of a utopian ideology. When the communist regime crumbled and the post-Soviet countries committed to democracy, most observers took for granted that their state structures would be effective agents of the popular will. Russia's experience demonstrates that this assumption was overly optimistic. This book, based on a major collaborative research project with American and Russian scholars, shows that state capacity, strength, and coherence were highly problematic after communism, which had major consequences for particular functions of government and for the entire process of regime change. Eleven respected contributors examine governance in post-Soviet Russia in comparative context, investigating the roots, characteristics, and consequences of the crisis as a whole and its manifestations in the specific realms of tax collection, statistics, federalism, social policy, regulation of the banks, currency exchange, energy policy, and parliamentary oversight of the bureaucracy.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780742539426
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	08/11/2006
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	334
Product dimensions:	6.04(w) x 9.02(h) x 0.94(d)

About the Author

Timothy J. Colton is professor of government and Russian studies and director of the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies at Harvard University.
Stephen Holmes is professor of law at New York University School of Law.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Introduction: Governance and Postcommunist Politics Chapter 2 Building Fiscal Capacity Chapter 3 The Transformation of State Statistics Chapter 4 Resistance to the Central State in the Periphery Chapter 5 State Capacity and Pension Provision Chapter 6 Governing the Banking Sector Chapter 7 Evaluating Exchange Rate Management Chapter 8 The Paradox of Energy Sector Reform Chapter 9 Democratization, Separation of Powers, and State Capacity Chapter 10 Conclusion: The State of the State in Putin's Russia

Editorial Reviews

An interesting, challenging book. Highly recommended.

Choice Reviews

The State After Communism is a laudable effort to understand this pehnomenon, aiming to correct the earlier neglect and to "bring the state back in" to scholarly analyses of contemporary Russia....an insightful, useful set of studies on the emerging Russian state.

Canadian Slavonic Papers

This book offers a long-awaited and much-needed assessment of the current condition of the Russian state from a distinguished group of leading American scholars of Russian affairs. The volume of essays will be required reading for any serious student of Russia who wants to understand the complexities of how the country is governed today, years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, and to get a sense of the direction of the Russian state in the future.

Fiona Hill

This book offers a long-awaited and much-needed assessment of the current condition of the Russian state from a distinguished group of leading American scholars of Russian affairs. The volume of essays will be required reading for any serious student of Russia who wants to understand the complexities of how the country is governed today, years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, and to get a sense of the direction of the Russian state in the future.--Fiona Hill, The Brookings Institution

An interesting, challenging book. Highly recommended.--CHOICE

The State After Communism is a laudable effort to understand this pehnomenon, aiming to correct the earlier neglect and to "bring the state back in" to scholarly analyses of contemporary Russia....an insightful, useful set of studies on the emerging Russian state.--Canadian Slavonic Papers, March-June 2010

From the Publisher

An interesting, challenging book. Highly recommended.

CHOICE

The State After Communism is a laudable effort to understand this pehnomenon, aiming to correct the earlier neglect and to "bring the state back in" to scholarly analyses of contemporary Russia....an insightful, useful set of studies on the emerging Russian state.

March-June 2010 Canadian Slavonic Papers

An interesting, challenging book. Highly recommended.

Choice