Presidents, Oligarchs and Bureaucrats: Forms of Rule in the Post-Soviet Space"Over the last decade the 'transition paradigm', which is based on the conviction that authoritarian political systems would over time necessarily develop into democracies, has been subjected to serious criticism. The complex political and societal developments in the post-Soviet region in particular have exposed flaws in the claim that a shift from authoritarianism to democracy is inevitable. Using case studies from the post-Soviet region, a broad range of international contributors present an original and innovative contribution to the debate. They explore the character of post-Soviet regimes and review the political transformations they have experienced since the end of the Cold War. Through a combination of theoretical approaches and detailed, empirical analysis the authors highlight the difficulties and benefits of applying the concepts of hybrid regimes, competitive authoritarianism and neopatrimonialism to the countries of the post-Soviet space. Through this in-depth approach the authors demonstrate how Presidents, Oligarchs and Bureaucrats in the region lead their countries, examine the sources of their legitimacy and their relationship to the societies they govern and advance the general theoretical debate on regime change and transition paths."--Publisher's description. |
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20 April accessed actors administration Akipress analysis approach Asian authority autocracy Available behaviour Cambridge cent Central Asia civil clientelism clientelistic Communist Comparative Politics competitive authoritarian regimes concept consolidation constitutional corruption decision-making defective democracy democratic domination economic edited Electoral Authoritarianism empirical Erdmann Eurasia Daily Monitor Europe-Asia Studies example fascism formal Freedom House Geiss Gel’man Georgia grey zone hybrid regimes illiberal democracy incumbents International Jawad Kazakhstan Kuchma Kyrgyzstan leaders legitimacy Levitsky Linz major Marat Medvedev Merkel ministers modern Mommsen Nazarbaev neopatrimonialism networks observers officials oligarchs Online opposition parties Orange Revolution parliament parliamentary elections patrimonial perestroika political parties political regime political system post-Soviet space president public opinion Putin reform regime types regional role Rose Revolution Saakashvili Shevardnadze SNA regimes social society Soviet Union stability strategy structures Studies subnational authoritarianism totalitarianism transition paradigm Tulip Revolution Ukraine uneven playing field United Russia University Press