ABSTRACT
Russia's culture of power and historical experience of governance are similar to continental bureaucratic empires in West Asia, South Asia and East Asia. In the czarist Russian autocracy the country was the personal estate of the ruler. The Russian nobility did not even rise to the defense of serfdom once the czar decided to grant emancipation for there was no concept of privilege autonomous of the imperial will. Democracy meant internal chaos and international humiliation and set the stage for the reincarnation of the Russian service state. From Kievan Rus onwards, orderly succession was very difficult to manage. Nationality referred to Russian culture and language and the need to Russianize subject populations through education and propaganda. Official Nationality had three pillars-Orthodoxy, Autocracy and Nationality.
