This perceptive Advanced Introduction provides a contemporary analysis of Russia's political system, political institutions and its place on the global stage. Richard Sakwa deftly explores Russia's emergence as an independent state, examining the structure of its existing political and economic system, its transformation following the constitutional reform of 2020, and the immediate and long-term consequences of the Russia-Ukraine war.

This perceptive Advanced Introduction provides a contemporary analysis of Russia’s political system, political institutions and its place on the global stage. Richard Sakwa deftly explores Russia’s emergence as an independent state, examining the structure of its existing political and economic system, its transformation following the constitutional reform of 2020, and the immediate and long-term consequences of the Russia-Ukraine war.

In Developments in Russian Politics 9 an international team of experts provide a comprehensive and critical discussion of the country's most recent developments, offering substantive coverage of the key areas in domestic and foreign Russian politics.

Corruption, fake news, and the "informational autocracy" sustaining Putin in power After fading into the background for many years following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia suddenly has emerged as a new threat—at least in the minds of many Westerners. But Western assumptions about Russia, and in particular about political decision-making in Russia, tend to be out of date or just plain wrong. Under the leadership of Vladimir Putin since 2000, Russia is neither a somewhat reduced version of the Soviet Union nor a classic police state. Corruption is prevalent at all levels of government and business, but Russia's leaders pursue broader and more complex goals than one would expect in a typical kleptocracy, such as those in many developing countries. Nor does Russia fit the standard political science model of a "competitive authoritarian" regime; its parliament, political parties, and other political bodies are neither fakes to fool the West nor forums for bargaining among the elites. The result of a two-year collaboration between top Russian experts and Western political scholars, Autocracy explores the complex roles of Russia's presidency, security services, parliament, media and other actors. The authors argue that Putin has created an “informational autocracy,” which relies more on media manipulation than on the comprehensive repression of traditional dictatorships. The fake news, hackers, and trolls that featured in Russia’s foreign policy during the 2016 U.S. presidential election are also favored tools of Putin’s domestic regime—along with internet restrictions, state television, and copious in-house surveys. While these tactics have been successful in the short run, the regime that depends on them already shows signs of age: over-centralization, a narrowing of information flows, and a reliance on informal fixers to bypass the bureaucracy. The regime's challenge will be to continue to block social modernization without undermining the leadership’s own capabilities.

An introduction to the history, culture, and politics of the worlds largest country, from the earliest written accounts of the Russian people to today.

This insightful Advanced Introduction provides a comprehensive overview of the organisation, regulation and structure of political parties today. Richard S. Katz discusses the essential role that political parties play in modern democracies, with politics taking place within and among parties. Analysing the significant diversity found between political parties, Katz illustrates the profound impact that the legal definition and organisation of parties can have on a democratic system.

In Cultural and Political Imaginaries in Putin’s Russia scholars scrutinise developments in official symbolical, cultural and social policies as well as the contradictory trajectories of important cultural, social and intellectual trends in Russian society after the year 2000. Engaging experts on Russia from several academic fields, the book offers case studies on the vicissitudes of cultural policies, political ideologies and imperial visions, on memory politics on the grassroot as well as official levels, and on the links between political and national imaginaries and popular culture in fields as diverse as fashion design and pro-natalist advertising. Contributors are Niklas Bernsand, Lena Jonson, Ekaterina Kalinina, Natalija Majsova, Olga Malinova, Alena Minchenia, Elena Morenkova-Perrier, Elena Rakhimova-Sommers, Andrei Rogatchevski, Tomas Sniegon, Igor Torbakov, Barbara Törnquist-Plewa, and Yuliya Yurchuk.