Can Democracy Take Root in Post-Soviet Russia?

Reviews / Votes

Altogether a splendid contribution to Russian studies and an invaluable text for advanced courses on contemporary and recent Russia. -- Robert C. Tucker, Princeton University It is not often that social science theories stand up so well thirty years on in circumstances unimaginable at their birth. The power of congruence theory is remarkable. -- Robert Putnam, Harvard University An ambitious but persuasive study of political culture in post-communist Russia, rooted in the comparative literature. It is only now that we are able to take stock of the dramatic changes-but also some stubborn continuities-in Russia and Eastern Europe, and this set of related papers by a group of leading scholars in the field is the best attempt that has so far been made to do so. I will be directing my students to this book, and using it a lot myself. -- Stephen White, University of Glasgow Combines theoretical and technical sophistication and area depth with a patient recognition of the magnitude and complexity of the undertaking. The authors have won the strongest claim among contemporary scholars to a 'watching brief' of the historic Russian democratization drama. They have turned it into an 'experiment' promising to yield significant knowledge, insofar as human ingenuity is capable of drawing lawful observations from the study of human affairs. -- Gabriel A. Almond, Stanford University * From The Foreword * All of the contributors do an excellent job of intergrating theory with current transition process in Russia. -- K. Brennan, Quachita Baptist University * CHOICE, November 1998 * An unusually thoughtful and well-integrated collection of essays on regime change in present-day Russia. Slices through the usual boundary between state-centered and society-centered interpretations of post-authoritarian transitions. -- Timothy J. Colton, Harvard University The theoretical framework presented in the bulk of this fine book is well constructed and persuasive. -- Jeffrey W. Hahn * Slavic Review * The course of work that begins with Can Democracy Take Root in Post-Soviet Russia? will illuminate many interesting questions. Indeed, it already has since the book contains engaging enquiries into aspects of Russian political culture (Bova), the use of opinion surveys to study Russia (Ahl & Fleron, Reisinger), and the twists and turns of state-society relations in Russia (Hoffmann). -- Neil Robinson, University of Limerick * Europe-Asia Studies * This book is the of a projected quatrain....If the first volume is any judge, we are in for a treat. This is American political science at its very best. -- Richard Sakwa * The Slavonic and East European Review * A welcome attempt to marry comparative politics and the study of post-soviet Russia. -- Kathryn Stoner-Weiss, Princeton University * The Russian Review * Provocative and insightful. . . . The essays represent a pioneering effort to make sense of the postcommunist Russian democratization experience in terms of comparative social science theory. . . . An intellectually stimulating volume that will be of great interest to comparativists, area specialists, and students alike. -- Stephen E. Hanson, University of Washington * The Journal of Politics *