Russian politics and society ‘It should be on the shelf of anyone seeking to make heads or tails of the…problems of Yeltsin’s Russia.’ Guardian ‘The most comprehensive and detailed analysis and assessment of post-Soviet Russian politics to be found in a single volume… No student can afford to miss it.’ Peter Shearman, Journal of Area Studies Richard Sakwa’s Russian Politics and Society is the most comprehensive study of Russia’s post- communist political development. It has, since its first publication in 1993, become an indispensable guide for all those who need to know about the current political scene in Russia, about the country’s political stability and about the future of democracy under its post-communist leadership. This is the ideal introductory textbook: it covers all the key issues; it is clearly written; and it includes the most up-to-date material currently available. For this second edition, Richard Sakwa has updated the text throughout and restructured its presentation so as to emphasize the ongoing struggle for stability in Russia over the last five years. This edition includes: – the full text of the constitution of 1993 – new material on recent elections, the new parliament (State Duma and Federation Council), the development of the presidency and an evaluation of the country’s political evolution during the 1990s – up-to-date details on the development of a federal system and on local government – a thoroughly updated bibliography This new and revised edition consolidates the reputation of Russian Politics and Society as the single most comprehensive standard textbook on post-Soviet Russia. Richard Sakwa is Professor of Russian and European Politics at the University of Kent at Canterbury. He is the author of Soviet Politics: An Introduction and of Gorbachev and His Reforms, 1985–1900; in addition, he has edited Ruslan Khasbulatov’s The Struggle for Russia. Russian politics and society Second edition Richard Sakwa London and New York First published 1993 by Routledge 11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE 29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001 This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2002. Second enlarged and revised edition published 1996 by Routledge 11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001 © 1993, 1996 Richard Sakwa All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book has been requested. ISBN 0-203-20813-7 Master e-book ISBN ISBN 0-203-20816-1 (Adobe eReader Format) ISBN 0-415-15483-9 (hbk) ISBN 0-415-12160-4 (pbk) Contents List of figures ix List of tables x Preface to the second edition xi Acknowledgements xiv Note on style, spelling and transliteration xv Glossary of terms, acronyms and acrostics xvi Part I The fall of communism and the rebirth of Russia 1 The fall of communism 3 The failure of perestroika 3 The August coup 14 The disintegration of the USSR 16 The end of Soviet politics 25 2 The rebirth of Russia 30 The Russian state 30 The politics of transition 38 Post-communist politics 41 The new political order 45 Part II Political institutions and processes 3 Constitutionalism and the law 53 The new constitutional order 53 The Constitutional Court 64 Law and the state 65 Legal reform and the judicial system 68 Crime and the mafia 70 The security apparatus 72 Decommunisation 74 4 Party development 77 Phases of party formation 77 Features of party development 91 Parties and the multiparty system 96 vi Contents 5 Electoral politics 101 The experience of elections 101 Elections and the Russian political system 113 6 Remaking the state: the legislature 116 Problems of state-building 116 Parliament: take one 117 Parliament: take two 130 Parliamentarianism and Russian politics 136 7 Remaking the state: the executive 138 The presidency 138 The government 148 The state remade 154 8 The politics of pluralism 156 Russian pluralism 156 A nomenklatura revolution? 158 The regime system 164 Personalities and regime 166 The Yeltsin presidency 168 Part IIIFederalism, nationalism and regionalism 9Federalism and the state175 The ethno-federal legacy175 Towards a new federalism183 10Nationalism and Russia191 Nationalism in the democratic revolution191 The Russian nation and nationalism197 The Chechen war and the republics of Russia204 11Regional and local politics210 The organisation of power210 Regional politics and reform214 The regions in Russian politics220 Local self-government223 The unity of the state227 Part IVEconomy and society 12Transforming the economy231 The road to the market231 Shock therapy and beyond233 Privatisation and entrepreneurship240 Agriculture245 Evaluation of Russian economic reform249 Contents vii 13 Social transformation 255 Social structure 255 Demography and welfare 257 Wages and unemployment 260 Labour and trade unions 263 Gender politics 265 The environment and democratisation 268 Part V Foreign policies 14 Foreign policy 275 The development of Russian foreign policy 275 The structure of policy-making 281 The debate over foreign policy 285 Russia and the world 291 Becoming a ‘normal Great Power’? 297 15 Defence and security policy 300 The end of the Soviet armed forces 300 The great retreat 302 Defence conversion 304 The nuclear legacy 305 Military reform and doctrine 307 Security policy and Nato expansion 312 Civil-military relations 316 16 Commonwealth and community 321 Problems of state and nation-building 321 The Commonwealth of Independent States 325 Borders and citizenship 339 Minorities and Russians abroad 344 Migration and refugees 346 The failure of community? 348 Part VI The struggle for democracy 17 Problems of transition 353 The challenge of history 353 Models of transition 357 18 Democracy in Russia 365 Democracy and the Russian state 365 The prospects for democracy 370 A struggling democracy? 374 Appendix 1 Chronology 380 Appendix 2 Election results since 1989 389 viii Contents Appendix 3 The Russian Constitution 395 Notes 430 Select bibliography 469 Index 494 Figures Figure 1 The USSR in 1991 18 Figure 2 The Russian Federation 35 Figure 3 Russia and its republics 178 Figure 4(a) The regions and republics of European Russia 180 Figure 4(b) The regions and republics of European Russia 181 Figure 5 The North Caucasus 205 Figure 6 Siberia and the Russian Far East 216 Figure 7 Central and Eastern Europe 295 Figure 8 Member states of the CIS327 Figure 9 Ukraine 328 Figure 10 Transcaucasus 329 Figure 11 Central Asia 330 Tables Table 1 Population of the USSR in 1989 19 Table 2 National composition of the Russian Federation in 1989 32 Table 3 The republics of Russia 34 Table 4 Non-republic ethno-federal components of the Russian Federation 37 Table 5 The class structure of post-communist Russia 163 Table 6 Population of USSR, Russia and some Russian republics 257 Table 7 Births, deaths and natural movement of Russian population 258 Table 8 Employment in the state and non-state sectors 261 Table 9 Territory and population of former Soviet republics, 1 January 1990 322 Table 10 Nationalities in the republics in 1989 (per cent) 340 Table 11 Ethnic Russians and Russian-speakers in Soviet Republics outside Russia in 1989 345 Preface to the second edition The rebirth of Russia! How quickly these words have become worn and stale. Not so very long ago they reflected the aspirations of a people apparently toiling under the burden of an alien ideology, which suppressed democratic aspirations and separated the country from international life. Today these early hopes are easily mocked as democracy itself appears to be a cover for self- serving politicians, the decay of public morals, and, from the Russian perspective, the repugnant self-interest of the international order that the country was once so keen to join. Some three years have passed since the publication of the first edition and much indeed has changed. The speeding up of history noted in the earlier edition still shows no sign of abating. Russian politics retain their capacity to surprise; crisis appears to be the normal condition of Russian affairs. Whereas earlier there appeared to be some discernible reason and direction to Russia’s hurtling troika, we are now a little less sure. Having never shared the much-maligned ‘euphoria’ attending the fall of communism, I nevertheless felt that Russia enjoyed a unique and perfectly realistic opportunity not simply to join the international community but also to establish a political order which respected human dignity and international norms of associational life, including the rudiments of democracy, while making its own unique contribution to the resolution of problems of social and international organisation. I still believe this to be the case, but the context and time-scale have had to be modified. Russian history is characterised by relatively clearly defined phases, and today a seventh Russia is emerging whose features we are just beginning to perceive and which will take its place alongside the previous six. The first was Kievan Rus’, lasting until the Mongol invasions destroyed the achievements of this period and isolated the country from the rest of the world, a separation whose consequences are still felt. The Mongol occupation from roughly 1240 to 1480 gradually gave way to the reconstitution of the state, this time based on Moscow; and to this day the degree of rupture between Muscovite Russia and the older Kievan civilisation is a matter of considerable historical (and political) controversy.