Gelʹman, Vladimir. Authoritarian Russia: analyzing post-Soviet regime changes. Pittsburgh, 2015. 208p index afp ISBN 9780822963684 pbk, $25.95.
Reviewed in CHOICE December 2015
Gel'man utilizes a realist framework to depict the evolution of the Russian political system under Putin to one of "electoral authoritarianism." Central to his argument is the finding that there were few limits on the power-driven tactics of Yeltsin in the 1990s and Putin after 2000. Healthy economic growth during Putin's first two terms as president freed him to build authoritarian power structures with little resistance. Political reforms that created a system of "soft authoritarianism" were based on fear of the flower revolutions in bordering former Soviet Republics; the wars in Chechnya; and terrorism directed at Moscow apartments, a theater, and a school in Beslan. Gel'man introduces useful terms such as "trajectories" of policy, the "power vertical" created by Putin, and the "institutional trap" that convinced forces for change to limit their activities in the fear that more might be lost if they pushed. In the author's view, the election protests in 2011–2012 came to naught because the opposition had neither a leader nor a "joint action plan" to offer as alternatives to those in power. Putin was then able to "tighten the screws" in the absence of much Western interest before the Crimean crisis of 2014 and of meaningful and continuing citizen involvement. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above. —J. W. Peterson, Valdosta State University
