Russian Politics: A Very Short Introduction
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9780197516027
Publication Date: 10/31/2024
Russia is rarely out of the news. This has been particularly true since it launched the largest war in Europe since World War II when it invaded Ukraine in 2022. Yet Russian politics can be difficult to understand. It is powerfully shaped by large, impersonal forces such as geography, and Russia's place in the international political and economic system. At the same time, Russia's formal political institutions, such as the Constitution and electoral procedures, are relatively weak and manipulable compared to those of stable, established democracies. Under these circumstances, powerful leaders such as Mikhail Gorbachev, Boris Yeltsin, and Vladimir Putin represent a source of potential dynamism and change.
This Very Short Introduction provides a guide to understanding Russian Politics that goes beyond the headlines, offering a vivid account of the key forces driving Russian politics. It places Russia in a global context while explaining its internal political development. Several major themes run through the book, including the primacy of the state over society, the role of the so-called "West," which has represented a source of inspiration, of threat, and of competition for generations of Russians, and the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. The Soviet collapse brought about dramatic change across multiple spheres, from the nature of the political and economic system to the country's borders and who counted as a citizen. To this day, Russia is still working its way through the consequences of these transformations.
This Very Short Introduction provides a guide to understanding Russian Politics that goes beyond the headlines, offering a vivid account of the key forces driving Russian politics. It places Russia in a global context while explaining its internal political development. Several major themes run through the book, including the primacy of the state over society, the role of the so-called "West," which has represented a source of inspiration, of threat, and of competition for generations of Russians, and the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. The Soviet collapse brought about dramatic change across multiple spheres, from the nature of the political and economic system to the country's borders and who counted as a citizen. To this day, Russia is still working its way through the consequences of these transformations.
Choose options
Russian Politics: A Very Short Introduction
Sale price$12.99
New Releases
Pride and Pleasure: The Schuyler Sisters in an Age of Revolution
Amanda Vaill
Hardcover
Sale price$36.00
Shattered Dreams, Infinite Hope: A Tragic Vision of the Civil Rights Movement
Brandon M. Terry
Hardcover
Sale price$35.00
Motherland: A Feminist History of Modern Russia, from Revolution to Autocracy
Julia Ioffe
Hardcover
Sale price$35.00
















