Elites and Leadership in Russian Politics: Selected Papers from the Fifth World Congress of Central and East European Studies, Warsaw, 1995

203 Pages·1998·52.371 MB·English

by  Graeme Gill (eds.)

SELECTED PAPERS FROM THE FIFTH WORLD CONGRESS OF
CENTRAL AND EAST EUROPEAN STUDIES, WARSAW, 1995
Edited for the International Council for Central and East European
Studies by Ronald J. Hill, Professor of Comparative Government, Trinity
College, University of Dublin, Ireland
Titles in the series include:
Sue Bridger (editor)
WOMEN AND POLITICAL CHANGE
Perspectives from East-Central Europe
John Dunn (editor)
LANGUAGE AND SOCIETY IN POST-COMMUNIST EUROPE
William E. Ferry and Roger E. Kanet (editors)
POST-COMMUNIST STATES IN THE WORLD COMMUNITY
Graeme Gill (editor)
ELITES AND LEADERSHIP IN RUSSIAN POLITICS
Paul G. Hare (editor)
SYSTEMIC CHANGE IN POST-COMMUNIST ECONOMIES
MarkS. Johnson (editor)
EDUCATION IN TRANSITION
Anthony Kemp-Welch (editor)
STALINISM IN POLAND, 1944-56
Stanislav J. Kirschbaum (editor)
HISTORICAL REFLECTIONS ON CENTRAL EUROPE
Carol S. Leonard (editor)
THE MICROECONOMICS OF POST-COMMUNIST CHANGE
Kevin McDermott and John Morison (editors)
POLITICS AND SOCIETY UNDER THE BOLSHEVIKS
John Morison (editor)
ETHNIC AND NATIONAL ISSUES IN RUSSIAN AND EAST
EUROPEAN HISTORY
Judith Pallot (editor)
TRANSFORMING PEASANTS
Society, State and the Peasantry, 1861-1930
Richard Sakwa (editor)
THE EXPERIENCE OF DEMOCRATIZATION IN EASTERN
EUROPE
Barry P. Scherr and Karen L. Ryan-Hayes (editors)
TWENTIETH-CENTURY RUSSIAN LITERATURE
Ray Taras (editor)
NATIONAL IDENTITIES AND ETHNIC MINORITIES IN EASTERN
EUROPE
Ian D. Thatcher (editor)
REGIME AND SOCIETY IN TWENTIETH-CENTURY RUSSIA
International Congress of Central and East European Studies
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Elites and Leadership
in Russian Politics
Selected Papers from the Fifth World Congress of
Central and East European Studies, Warsaw, 1995
Edited by
Graeme Gill
Professor ofG overnment and Public Administration
University of Sydney
Australia
First published in Great Britain 1998 by
MACMILLAN PRESS LTD
Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS and London
Companies and representatives throughout the world
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN 978-1-349-26575-6 ISBN 978-1-349-26573-2 (eBook)
DOl 10.1007/978-1-349-26573-2
First published in the United States of America 1998 by
ST. MARTIN'S PRESS, IJ'JC.,
Scholarly and Reference Division,
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010
ISBN 978-0-312-21347-3
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
World Congress of Central and East European Studies (5th : 1995 :
Warsaw, Poland)
Elites and leadership in Russian politics : selected papers from
the fifth World Congress of Central and East European Studies I
edited by Graeme Gill.
p. em.
Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and indexes.
ISBN 978-0-312-21347-3 (cloth)
I. Elite (Social sciences)--Russia-Congresses. 2. Political
leadership-Russia (Federation)-Congresses. 3. Russia
(Federation)--Politics and govemment-1991- -Congresses. 4. Post
-communism--Russia (Federation)--Congresses. I. Gill, Graeme J.
II. Title.
HN530.2.Z9E49 1995
305 .5'52'0947--dc21 97-49885
CIP
Selection and editorial matter © International Council for Central and East European
Studies and Graeme Gill 1998
Chapters I and 7 © Graeme Gill 1998
General Editor's Introduction © Ronald J. Hill 1998
Chapters 2-6, 8 © Macmillan Press Ltd 1998
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1998
All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made
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the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London WI P 9HE.
Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to
criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
The authors have asserted their rights to be identified as the authors of this work in
accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and
sustained forest sources.
10987654 3 2 I
07 06 05 04 03 02 01 00 99 98
Contents
General Editor's Introduction vii
List of Contributors xi
1. Introduction 1
Graeme Gill
2. If Checks Won't Balance: Parliamentary Review of
Ministerial Appointments 7
Martha Merritt
3. Presidential Prefects in the Russian Provinces: Ye ltsin' s
Regional Cadres Policy 24
William A. Clark
4. Post-Soviet Clientelist Norms at the Russian Federal Level 52
John P. Willerton
5. From Power to Property: The Nomenklatura in
Post-Communist Russia 81
Olga Kryshtanovskaya and Stephen White
6. Elites, Institutions and Democratisation in Russia and
Eastern Europe 106
Judith Kullberg, John Higley and Jan Pakulski
7. Elites and the Russian Transition 134
Graeme Gill
8. Russia as a Post-Communist Country 158
Leslie Holmes
Index 187
v

General Editor's
Introduction
It is a great pleasure for me to introduce these volumes of papers that
originated in the Fifth World Congress of Central and East European
Studies, held in Warsaw in the week 6-11 August 1995, under the
auspices of the International Council for Central and East European
Studies and of the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology and the Institute
of Political Studies of the Polish Academy of Sciences.
In the period since the previous world Congress, held in Harrogate,
England, in July 1990, that part of the world that is the focus of Slavists'
special attention had undergone the completion of changes that were
already in train but the outcome of which was still uncertain. Moreover,
given the inevitable time-lag between the conception of a major scholarly
event and its occurrence, the major concerns at the beginning of the
decade were not yet those of charting and analysing the transition from
communist rule to some other form of political, economic and social
entity and the impact of this on the societies and cultures of Russia, the
Soviet Union and the countries loosely referred to as 'Eastern Europe':
far less ambitious expectations were still the order of the day. Even
though Poland had led the way in abandoning communist rule, shortly
followed by all the other countries in 'Eastern Europe', it took some
considerable imagination and conviction for the Executive Committee of
the International Council to take the bold decision to hold the 1995
Congress in Eastern Europe, a decision that evoked a very positive
response from our colleagues in Warsaw.
The different international climate immediately made itself felt, as
scholars from the region were able to attend in large numbers a confer
ence organised by a body that had been almost exclusively 'Western' in
its previous experience. No longer were they specially invited guests
(who on previous occasions had sometimes been denied exit visas to
attend such Congresses), and it was a moving experience for me, as
General Editor of the Congress proceedings, to receive letters and other
vii
viii General Editor's Introduction
communications by fax and e-mail from countries that in 1990 had no
separate existence, or from provincial cities in the heart of post-Soviet
Russia. Moreover, the opening of archives and the opportunities for new
kinds of research, by scholars based in the countries concerned and by
those entering from outside, meant that by 1995 there was much new
information available, and scholars from the two 'sides' inevitably had
much to say to one another.
The traditions in which the different groups had been trained meant
that the styles of scholarship were not totally compatible, and there is a
learning process in train that is likely to continue for some years. How
ever, both the Congress itself and, more especially, the collaborative
ventures such as this series of volumes containing selected papers, give
opportunities for professional colleagues from around the world to make
their own contributions to the new (and sometimes old) scholarly debates
in ways that were hitherto impossible.
While not every paper that was presented or offered for publication
was considered suitable for inclusion in the various thematic volumes,
and individual editors sometimes had to make difficult choices and
disappoint some authors, the endeavour as a whole must itself be seen as
part of the global process of learning about the Slavic, Eurasian and
Central and East European world: its peoples, its languages, its literature
and cultural life, its history, politics, societies, economies, and its links
with the rest of the world. Interest in the region is likely to grow, with
new opportunities for contacts at various levels, and these volumes will,
I am certain, serve both to educate and to inspire scholars and students
anxious to understand.
It is very pleasant indeed to acknowledge once again the association of
the Congress and the International Council with Macmillan, who will be
publishing these volumes in the United Kingdom, and particularly the
highly professional support and the keen personal interest of Tim Farmi
loe for the whole project. If I may add a personal note, I should like to
express my gratitude to John Morison and the Executive Committee of
the International Council for charging me with the function of General
Editor; to the editors of individual volumes, to whom fell the difficult
tasks of assessment and selection followed by the tedium of editorial
preparation; to my wife, Ethna, for her assistance in keeping track of
several hundred typescripts, letters, faxes and e-mail messages; and to
the many scholars who have patiently (and sometimes not so patiently
such are the pressures of modem academic life!) contributed to this
complex international publishing venture. The collapse of communist
rule has contributed sharply to globalisation, and the creation of this
General Editor's Introduction ix
series of volumes has placed me at the hub of a world-wide enterprise,
with editors on several continents and authors located in many countries
of the world. It has provided me with a new kind of learning process for
which I am humbly grateful.
Trinity College, Dublin RONALD J. HILL