The politics of bad governance in contemporary Russia /

The politics of bad governance in contemporary Russia /

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Bibliographic Details
Author / Creator:Gelʹman, Vladimir, 1965- author
Imprint:Ann Arbor, Michigan : University of Michigan Press, [2022]
©2022
Description:1 online resource (xv, 212 pages) : illustrations
Language:English
Subject:
Political corruption -- Russia (Federation)
Economic policy.
Political corruption.
Politics and government.
Russia (Federation) -- Politics and government -- 1991-
Russia (Federation) -- Economic policy -- 1991-
Russia (Federation)
Format: E-Resource Book
URL for this record:http://pi.lib.uchicago.edu/1001/cat/bib/13460451
Hidden Bibliographic Details
Other authors / contributors:Michigan Publishing (University of Michigan), publisher.
ISBN:9780472902989
0472902989
9780472075621
9780472055623
Notes:Includes bibliographical references (pages 160-212).
Open access
Sponsored by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
Description based on information from the publisher.
Summary:In this book, Vladimir Gel'man considers bad governance as a distinctive politico-economic order that is based on a set of formal and informal rules, norms, and practices quite different from those of good governance. Some countries are governed badly intentionally because the political leaders of these countries establish and maintain rules, norms, and practices that serve their own self-interests. Gel'man considers bad governance as a primarily agency-driven rather than structure-induced phenomenon. He addresses the issue of causes and mechanisms of bad governance in Russia and beyond from a different scholarly optics, which is based on a more general rationale of state-building, political regime dynamics, and policy-making. He argues that although these days, bad governance is almost universally perceived as an anomaly, at least in developed countries, in fact human history is largely a history of ineffective and corrupt governments, while the rule of law and decent state regulatory quality are relatively recent matters of modern history, when they emerged as side effects of state-building. Indeed, the picture is quite the opposite: bad governance is the norm, while good governance is an exception. The problem is that most rulers, especially if their time horizons are short and the external constraints on their behavior are not especially binding, tend to govern their domains in a predatory way because of the prevalence of short-term over long-term incentives. Contemporary Russia may be considered as a prime example of this phenomenon. Using an analysis of case studies of political and policy changes in Russia after the Soviet collapse, Gel'man discusses the logic of building and maintenance of politico-economic order of bad governance in Russia and paths of its possible transformation in a theoretical and comparative perspective.
Standard no.:10.3998/mpub.11621795
Review by Choice Review

Gel'man (European Univ., St. Petersburg, Russia) makes a persuasive argument that the main characteristic of the post-Soviet Russian political system is "bad governance." This means that the system is weak in government effectiveness, regulation quality, rule of law, and control of corruption. Instead of those positive qualities, the hallmarks of rule on contemporary Russia are ruling groups formed on old legacies, the strength of power verticals, and the constant pursuit by insider elites of "rent extraction." Case studies show a mixture of results: tax reform after 2000 had its successes, and educational reform, with its new Unified State Exam in 2001, was a partial success. However, efforts at modernization disappeared with the departure of Medvedev from the presidency in 2012 and, especially, with the 2014 war in Crimea and the new priority on "geopolitical adventures." As a result, Russian policy was a clear disaster during the COVID-19 crisis because the Kremlin emphasized its fear of "political disequilibrium" rather than concern about the number of lives lost. Overall, the picture of Russian policy and governance in this excellent and well-researched book is gloomy. Summing Up: Recommended. Advanced undergraduates through faculty and professionals. --James W. Peterson, emeritus, Valdosta State University

Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review

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