The 10th edition of this go-to-text offers critical discussion of contemporary Russian politics and its fundamental principles. It covers established topics such as executive leadership, parties and elections, and also newer issues of national identity, protest, and Russia and Greater Eurasia. Taking a bottom-up approach, Developments in Russian Politics analyses the political system in which Putin’s influence can be understood and covers frequently overlooked topics like informal economy, climate change, and gender. The book is organised around the informal politics of hybrid regimes and authoritarianism and accounts for how Russian history impacts contemporary politics in counterintuitive ways, addressing notions of hybrid warfare, disinformation, and election meddling. The chapters have a modular quality, and are designed to correspond to course teaching. Compiled by an international team of specialists and offering key questions, further reading suggestions and a list of up-to-date repositories of video material, the edition will appeal to undergraduate and postgraduate students a from across the world. Key features - Offers critical discussion of contemporary issues in Russian politics - Written by an international team of leading experts - All chapters thoroughly revised for coverage of newer developments in national identity, protest, and Russia and Greater Eurasia

Who rules Russia? This question is generated by President Vladimir Putin's most ambitious reform program to date-his attempt since 2000 to reshape the Russian federation, centralize much of the power lost by the Kremlin to the eighty-nine regional governors during the 1990s, and strengthen his weak grip on Russia's institutions and political elite. In The Dynamics of Russian Politics Russian and Western authors from the fields of political science, economics, ethnology, law, and journalism examine the reform's impact on key areas of Russian life, including big business, law enforcement, corruption, political party development, health care, local government, small business, and ethnic relations. Volume I presents the historical context and an overview of the reforms, then tracks how Putin's plans were implemented and resisted across each of the seven new federal okrugs, or megaregions, into which he divided Russia. In particular, the authors analyze the goals and contrasting political styles of his seven commissars and how their often-concealed struggles with the more independent and determined governors played out. Volume II examines the impact of these reforms on Russia's main political institutions; the increasingly assertive business community; and the defense, police, and security ministries. It also analyzes how the reforms have affected such key policy areas as local government, health care, political party development, the battle against corruption, small business, ethnic relations, and the ongoing Chechen war. Together, the two volumes simultaneously reveal that Putin's successes have been much more limited and ambiguous than is widely believed in the West while offering detailed and nuanced answers to the difficult but crucial question: Who rules Russia?