ABSTRACT
The aim of this chapter is to analyse the evolution of the conflict between the Governor of Sverdlovsk Oblast (region) and the Mayor of the regional capital, Ekaterinburg (formerly Sverdlovsk) over the period from the early 1990s up to 2007. The chapter draws on research which was conducted over a long period and through different means. Initial visits were made in 1993-5 to analyse the development of federal-regional and regional-local relations. There followed a period of intense participant observation in 2000-3 during which the authors were directly involved in the development and implementation of a strategic plan for the city of Ekaterinburg1 (which for a brief period in the spring of 2003 was the main focus of political conflict), followed by documentary research of local media and a follow-up visit in 2007. Due to the nature of the subject matter and the fact that most of those involved are still in post in what remains a highly sensitive political environment, we have made relatively little use of direct quotation from interviews or conversations, but have rather let the insight from these inform our reading of printed sources.
