ABSTRACT
In the wake of the rapid demise of communism as a global ideology, considerable scholarly attention has been focused on the extant democratisation of the former Soviet empire. The progress of the Russian Federation’s democratisation project has not been trouble-free, a fact that is manifest in its evolving relationship with its 89 constituent parts, particularly the Chechen Republic. The nature of Moscow’s relationship with its peripheral regions serves as a key indicator of the health of democracy across the Federation: the level of real autonomy granted to local elites, as well as the accountability and transparency of the relationship is a reliable demonstration of the extent of democratisation. Increasingly, regional trends and relationships have become the crucial factor in any assessment of political stability in Russia, as opposed to interest group and factional clashes within the Kremlin itself. This chapter will examine the process of democratic transition which the Soviet Union, then Russia, underwent as it strove to move from a non-democratic regime towards its aspirations of democracy.
