Периферийный авторитаризм: Как и куда пришла Россия

The key to understanding Russia’s present political system is a simple notion that it is neither a whim of history brought about by an individual will of Russia’s current leader nor an accidental deviation from the presumably natural path of building Western-style political institutions and practices. Indeed, the last two decades in Russian history did contain some important choices, which the country made, either consciously or unconsciously. Essentially, however, it was a prolonged but consistent process of authoritarian bureaucracy consolidating its self-perpetuating grip on political and economic power in the country. That is the gist and the essence of this book.

True enough, the entrenching power of centralized bureaucracy in Russia according to its ages-old tradition is embodied in the Kremlin, and the man who reigns in it at a particular moment, whatever his name may be. That gives Russian autocracy a distinct personal touch, with the man presiding over the state machine defining the style and agenda of bureaucratic rule. Nevertheless, the real power vests with the bureaucracy itself, which may be shaped and used for arbitrary ends though within limits, and able to resist the strongest pressures when its vital power instincts are infringed upon.

That is the reason why this book, which I hope tells a lot about “Putin’s Russia”, may appear too brief on Putin himself. Despite the nearly mystical power that both his loyalists and many of his opponents ascribe to him, he is essentially an integral part of Russia’s present political system, its product and explanation. His mindset is that of a typical member of Russia’s privileged bureaucratic class slightly influenced by peculiar secret-service fancies. A going theory that he by his personal will turned back the tide of 1990s and transmuted a young Russian democracy into a dictatorial state is nothing but a myth. In fact the opposite may be true: his power is a reflection and a direct continuation of the system of government and trends which materialized in 1990s.