The Politics of Local Government in Russia

Reviews / Votes

The essays in this volume start with the understanding that the project of post-Soviet municipal reform in Russia has failed. There is a sharp contrast between the stated principles of local autonomy and democracy and the realities of impoverished municipalities with ruling 'political machines' in Russia. The individual papers explore two dimensions of this failure. Three essays focus on the possibility of building local politics based on the past experience of the tsarist local government reforms of thelate 19th century. Seven essays focus on various aspects of local government in contemporary Russia: the role of the central and regional governments in limiting the development of local autonomy and democratization; local budget crises caused by transferof responsibilities from higher levels of government and enterprises, without an appropriate tax base; the unique challenges in local government in 'company towns;' the special case of Moscow. A concluding chapter describes Vladimir Putin's proposed reforms of local government and assesses their potential impact, concluding that the degree of independence of local governments will decrease as the national executive leadership consolidates its control over the hierarchy of administration. Recommended. Upp -- D. V. Schwartz, University of Toronto * Choice Reviews * The Politics of Local Government in Russia is a valuable contribution to the study of contemporary Russian politics. -- Bryon J. Moraski, University of Florida The fundamental question driving The Politics of Local Government in Russia is 'Why have ideas of local autonomy and local democracy...failed to take root successfully in Russian soil?' The editors bring together a number of esteemed scholars to answer this question, each of whom delve into different pieces of the puzzle. . . . A valuable contribution to the study of contemporary Russian politics. Its focus on how local governments evolve in a post-authoritarian context also makes it important to the broader field of comparative democratization. -- Bryon J. Moraski, University of Florida * The Russian Review * The Politics of Local Government in Russia makes a positive contribution to the understanding of this multi-dimensional subject and is necessary reading for scholars of Russian local government.( -- W. T. Westwater, University of Birmingham * Seer * A timely and useful addition to the market. -- Derek S. Hutcheson * Europe-Asia Studies * The essays in this volume start with the understanding that the project of post-Soviet municipal reform in Russia has failed. There is a sharp contrast between the stated principles of local autonomy and democracy and the realities of impoverished municipalities with ruling 'political machines' in Russia. The individual papers explore two dimensions of this failure. Three essays focus on the possibility of building local politics based on the past experience of the tsarist local government reforms of the late 19th century. Seven essays focus on various aspects of local government in contemporary Russia: the role of the central and regional governments in limiting the development of local autonomy and democratization; local budget crises caused by transfer of responsibilities from higher levels of government and enterprises, without an appropriate tax base; the unique challenges in local government in 'company towns;' the special case of Moscow. A concluding chapter describes Vladimir Putin's proposed reforms of local government and assesses their potential impact, concluding that the degree of independence of local governments will decrease as the national executive leadership consolidates its control over the hierarchy of administration. Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above. -- D. V. Schwartz, University of Toronto * Choice Reviews *