Russia is rarely out of the news. This has been particularly true since it launched the largest war in Europe since World War II when it invaded Ukraine in 2022. Yet Russian politics can be difficult to understand. It is powerfully shaped by large, impersonal forces such as geography, and Russia's place in the international political and economic system. At the same time, Russia's formal political institutions, such as the Constitution and electoral procedures, are relatively weak and manipulable compared to those of stable, established democracies. Under these circumstances, powerful leaders such as Mikhail Gorbachev, Boris Yeltsin, and Vladimir Putin represent a source of potential dynamism and change.

This Very Short Introduction provides a guide to understanding Russian Politics that goes beyond the headlines, offering a vivid account of the key forces driving Russian politics. It places Russia in a global context while explaining its internal political development. Several major themes run through the book, including the primacy of the state over society, the role of the so-called "West," which has represented a source of inspiration, of threat, and of competition for generations of Russians, and the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. The Soviet collapse brought about dramatic change across multiple spheres, from the nature of the political and economic system to the country's borders and who counted as a citizen. To this day, Russia is still working its way through the consequences of these transformations.

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Features

• Gives a concise yet comprehensive and up-to-date overview of Russian politics
• Provides the historical background and context to make the internal story of Russian politics easily comprehensible
• Explains the primacy of the state, the importance of the "West," and the impact of the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union

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List of illustrations
Introduction
1. Governing the world's largest country
2. Power, status, and greatness
3. Playing economic catch-up
4. The failed experiment of democratic constitutionalism
5. Eternal state, changing society
6. Tsars and courtiers
References
Further Reading
Index

Brian D. Taylor, Professor of Political Science and Director of the Moynihan Institute of Global Affairs, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University

Brian D. Taylor is Professor of Political Science and Director of the Moynihan Institute of Global Affairs in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University. He is the author of several books on Russian politics, including The Code of Putinism and State Building in Putin's Russia: Policing and Coercion after Communism.