RULING RUSSIA

When the Soviet Union collapsed, many hoped that Russia's centuries-long history of autocratic rule might finally end. Yet today's Russia appears to be retreating from democracy, not progressing toward it. RULING RUSSIA is the only book of its kind to trace the history of modern Russian politics from the Bolshevik Revolution to the presidency of Vladimir Putin. It examines the complex evolution of communist and post-Soviet leadership in light of the latest research in political science, explaining why the democratization of Russia has all but failed.

William Zimmerman argues that in the 1930s the USSR was totalitarian but gradually evolved into a normal authoritarian system, while the post-Soviet Russian Federation evolved from a competitive authoritarian to a normal authoritarian system in the first decade of the twenty-first century. He predicts that while a return to totalitarianism in the coming decade is unlikely, so too is democracy.

William Zimmerman is professor emeritus of political science at the University of Michigan, where he is also research professor emeritus at the Institute for Social Research. RULING RUSSIA is his fourth book with Princeton University Press, his most recent being "The Russian People and Foreign Policy: Russian Elite and Mass Perspectives, 1993-2000".

RUSSLAND REGIEREN
Von Lenin bis Putin
Deutsch von Claudia Kotte
[HC von Zabern 11/15]