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Elections Without Order: Russia's Challenge to Vladimir Putin.

Article Excerpt
Elections Without Order: Russia's Challenge to Vladimir Putin Richard Rose and Neil Munro Melbourne, Cambridge University Press, 2002, 262 pp. ISBN 0521016444 (pbk) $55.00

Soviet communism collapsed in 1991 and since then, observers have been watching closely for signs that the communist system has been replaced by a liberal democracy--complete with competing parties, rule of law and a measure of independence between the spheres of society, economy and the state. This book is one of many that contributes to answering that question. For the most part it does so in an old fashioned political science manner, resting astute analysis on large amounts of serial, and mostly quantitative, data.

In the time since Soviet collapse Russia, like the other post-communist countries, has been deemed to be in transition. In itself this is a hopeful phrase, assuming that the transition will one day be completed and that its trajectory is in a positive direction. The formerly communist Central European nations, along with the Baltic states, are now seen as having completed transition, with EU membership serving as a clear endpoint. No such process has been the case, or an option, for Russia.

The 1990s saw a wild capitalism arrive in Russia, flaunting itself within an era of declining economy and mass privatisations. For many Russians it was the time of "great grabbing". A small group of ultra rich emerged alongside a population rapidly impoverished, and kept afloat only by left over provisions of communism, such as near universal housing. Those...

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