Book Description
What went wrong in Russia? A group of leading young scholars answer this question through a theoretically informed, in-depth analysis of the Yeltsin era. They challenge explanations that stress the constraints of history and concentrate instead on the importance of elite decisions and political institutions. The authors agree that elite inattention to institution building has been a central problem of Russia's postcommunist transition. The weakness of the state and its institutions has contributed to a number of serious problems threatening democratic consolidation. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

THE BEST UPDATE ON RUSSIA'S TRANSITION TO DEMOCRATIZATION
The editors and contributors to the book are the leading scholars in their respective fields. If I could give six stars to it instead of five, I would. To the question "What went wrong in Russia" the contributors critically evaluate a number of most frequently mentioned explanations, such as state crisis, Russia's troubled asymmetrical federalism, economic reforms, elections.
The book as of today presents the best update on the subject. I personally used it as one of the primary sources for my A exam. ... Read more

Book Description
The Soviet Union encompassed dozens of nationalities and ethnicities, and in the wake of its collapse, the politics of ethnicity within its former borders and throughout Eastern Europe have undergone tremendous changes. In this book, Zoltan Barany and Robert G. Moser bring together eminent scholars whose theoretically diverse and empirically rich research examines various facets of ethnicity in postcommunist Europe and Eurasia: ethnic identity and culture, mobilization, parties and voting, conflict, and ethnic migration.

The contributors consider how ethnic forces have influenced political outcomes that range from voting to violence and protest mobilization to language acquisition. Conversely, each chapter demonstrates that political behavior itself has an impact on the forms and strength of ethnic identity. Thus, ethnicity is deemed to be a contested, malleable, and constructed force rather than a static characteristic inherent in the attributes of groups and individuals with a common religion, race, or national origin. ... Read more