Federalism and Local Politics in Russia

26 Michael Burgesssuccessor, the Russian Federation, formally for a mere fifteen years (1993–todate). There might be some lingering intellectual doubts about how accurateit is to construe the Russian Federation as the direct successor to the USSRbut for our purposes in this chapter the period 1991–3 can be viewed as aconvenient interregnum during which the preponderant Russian state reemergedfrom Soviet disintegration and reasserted itself with mixed successvis-à-vis the remnants of the former empire both within and without Russiaproper.From this brief introductory survey we can appreciate that for manyobservers the comparison that is most relevant is not so much with otherfederations as with Russia’s own past. In a sense it is impossible to compareit with federations outside Russia without first taking stock of its own albeitchequered federal experience. With this in mind the chapter will be dividedinto two main parts. The first part is itself subdivided into two sections,notably the enduring Soviet legacy of federalism in theory and practice followedby a second legacy, namely, the disintegration of the Soviet Union andthe resurgence of Russia during 1991-3. We will begin with the Soviet legacyof federalism and we will examine the nature, meaning and political uses ofthis legacy and some of its implications for the Russian Federation. But wewill also look subsequently at the USSR and the Russian Federation fromthe comparative perspective of the origins and formation of federations. Thissecond section on the legacy of Soviet disintegration is important from theparticular standpoint of its serious practical implications both for theRussian state and for the nature of Russian federalism. This approach, inturn, will enable us to place the Yeltsin era of Russian federalism that followedthe initial federation building process (1993–2000) in an accurate historicalperspective so that the succeeding, currently controversial, Putin era(2000–8) can also receive an even-handed contemporary assessment.The second part of the chapter will briefly explore the Russian Federationfrom four distinct comparative perspectives, some of which emerge from thefirst part. These are identified in the following way: the federal bargain; historicallegacies of centralization; ethnic diversity and multi-nationalism; andasymmetrical federalism. Together these four principal perspectives assisttowards an overall assessment of the character and prospects for democraticstability of the Russian Federation from the standpoint of comparative analysis.The chapter will conclude with some thoughts and reflections about theextraordinarily difficult predicament that confronts political leadership in theRussian Federation in the new millennium. Let us begin our assessment withthe Soviet legacy of federalism in theory and practice.The Soviet legacy of federalism in theory and practiceWhat was the nature and meaning and what were the political purposes ofthe so-called ‘Soviet legacy’ of federalism? Article 70 of the Constitution ofthe USSR (1977) referred to the Soviet state in the following way: ‘an