Russia's Liberal Project

Russia's Liberal Project analyzes the demise of Communism in Soviet Russia and the effort to establish a liberal democracy in post-Communist Russia as part of a single decade-long project of institutionalizing political liberalism. This project involves the formation of a civil society, the consolidation of a multiparty parliamentary system, the construction of an effective state structure built on liberal principles, and the formation of a post-Communist political culture.

Revealing the dynamic among these four components of the project, Weigle shows that, in the absence of a well-connected civil society, an effective political party system, and a liberal political culture, the Russian state was charged with establishing the foundations of a post-Communist liberal democracy. Although liberal institutions have been tentatively established, the weak social and cultural supports for the state-led transition threaten the future success of Russia's liberal project.