Politics Russia

By Catherine Danks
August 2009
Pearson Education
Distrubuted by Trans-Atlantic Publications Inc.
ISBN: 9780582894334
488 pages, Illustrated
$67.50 Paper Original

Description

Politics Russia provides the most comprehensive, accessible and up-to-date introduction to all aspects of the political development of Russia in the post-communist era. Writing with the undergraduate student specifically in mind, Danks’ fluent style and masterly grasp of complex material will make this an indispensable guide for many years to come.

Divided into five sections, Politics Russia maps a clear path towards an understanding of Russia and its politics in the twenty first century. In Part One the emergence of contemporary Russia is put into context by a consideration of the end of the USSR and the move towards democratization under Gorbachev. Part Two provides a clear-sighted and stimulating overview of the nature of the executive and the legislature in contemporary Russia. Part Three examines civil society, the role of the media and the representative process.  Part Four is focussed on the policy process, from foreign and defence policies to the development of domestic social policies from the provision of healthcare to education. Part Five, the final, provides an overall consideration the contemporary state of Russia, examining the development from Yeltsin, to Putin to Medvedev, and considers the possible futures of the region.  

The book is supported by a host of pedagogical features, including:

Contents

Part One  Context
Chapter 1  Gorbachev, perestroika and the end of soviet socialism
Chapter 2  Explaining the end of the soviet socialism: the USSR and the Cold War
Chapter 3  Russian in transition
Chapter 4  Russia and the Russian peoples

Part Two  The executive and the legislature
Chapter 5  The Federal Executive: President and Government
Chapter 6  The Federal Assembly
Chapter 7  Russian Federalism
Chapter 8  The Judiciary
Chapter 9  The State in Uniform: the Armed and Security Forces

Part Three  Political ideas, parties and the representative process
Chapter 10  Civil Society
Chapter 11  The Mass Media
Chapter 12  Elections and Political Parties

Part Four  The policy process and reforming Russia
Chapter 13  Foreign and defence policy
Chapter 14  The Economy and Economic policy
Chapter 15  Society and social policies

Conclusion
Chapter 16  From Yeltsin and Putin to Medvedev  

Features Author

Catherine Danks is a political historian in the Department of History at Manchester Metropolitan University, specialising in history and contemporary Russian politics. She is the author of Russian Politics and Society: An Introduction (2001).



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