ABSTRACT
The Russian Federation was formed after the dissolution of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) in 1991. The new state had to undergo a difficult transition, where the political, economic and governance systems had to be reformed simultaneously. The Russian Federation, or Russia, is a multi-national state, and the complex ethno-territorial legacies of the former USSR continue to influence federal dynamics to this day. The Russian Federation now comprises 83 ‘federal subjects’ (territories): 21 republics, nine krais (provinces), 46 oblasts (regions), one autonomous oblast and four autonomous okrugs (districts), as well as two cities of federal status, Moscow and St Petersburg. The republics and the autonomous okrugs (AOs) are ethnically defined regions, although in practice the share of the titular nationality living in a given region varies widely. The oblasts and krais are ethnically predominantly Russian. As occurs in any large federation, the Russian authorities have had to contend with
the dilemmas of federalism: how to provide effective governance without too much internal differentiation, while still maintaining the positive aspects of devolved governance, such as the ability to accommodate very divergent local constituencies. In the 1990s Russia had a very weak centre and an increasingly fragmented federation, whereas the federal reforms implemented under President Vladimir Putin after 2000 have resulted in the bringing about of a de facto unitary state. The ebbs and flows of federalism have also been reflected in the sub-national political institutions: the introduction of a system of gubernatorial elections from 1996 onwards to all territories confirmed the ‘regionalization’ of political power in Russia, while the gradual centralization of the political regime was reinforced after the abolition of these elections in 2004.
