Why Not Parties in Russia?: Democracy, Federalism, and the State
Cambridge University Press, 1/31/2008
EAN 9780521718035, ISBN10: 0521718031
Paperback, 288 pages, 23 x 15.1 x 1.6 cm
Language: English
Russia poses a major puzzle for theorists of party development. Whereas virtually every classic work takes political parties to be inevitable and essential to democracy, Russia has been dominated by non-partisan politicians ever since communism collapsed. This book mobilizes public opinion surveys, interviews with leading Russian politicians, careful tracking of multiple campaigns, and analysis of national and regional voting patterns to show why Russia stands out. Russia's historically influenced combination of federalism and super-presidentialism, coupled with a post-communist redistribution of resources to regional political machines and oligarchic financial-industrial groups, produced and sustained powerful party-substitutes that have largely squeezed Russia's real parties out, damaging Russia's democratic development.
1. Electoral markets and Russia's political smorgasboard
2. Party entrepreneurship in Russia's electoral market, 1989–2004
3. How much party is in the party system?
4. Electoral markets and party substitutes in Russia
origins and impact
5. Parties and party substitutes
determining the balance
6. Conclusion
the market model and theories of parties, national integration, and transitions from authoritarian rule.