88339619X     

9883396198                        

---

Can Russia modernise? : sistema, power networks and informal governance / Alena V. Ledeneva

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2013

1 Online-Ressource (xv, 314 pages) : digital, PDF file(s)

Englisch

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015)

978-0-511-97849-4 ( : ebook)

978-0-521-11082-2 (ISBN der Printausgabe); 978-0-521-12563-5 (ISBN der parallelen Ausgabe)

OCoLC: 891378262     

Elektronische Ressource: Zugang über Resolving-System (Lizenzangabe: Lizenzpflichtig)

Digital Object Identifier (DOI): 10.1017/CBO9780511978494

MG 85082  | MG 85000      Ähnliche Literatur

DK510.766.P87

303.30947

SSG-Nummer(n): 7,41

LOC-SH: Social networks -- Political aspects -- Russia (Federation) ; Power (Social sciences) -- Russia (Federation) ; Political culture -- Russia (Federation) ; Social change -- Russia (Federation) ; Russia (Federation) -- Politics and government ; Putin, Vladimir Vladimirovich -- 1952- -- Political and social views ; Putin, Vladimir Vladimirovich -- 1952- -- Friends and associates

Putin, Vladimir Vladimirovich ; 1952- ; Friends and associates ; Putin, Vladimir Vladimirovich ; 1952- ; Political and social views ; Social networks ; Political aspects ; Russia (Federation) ; Power (Social sciences) ; Russia (Federation) ; Political culture ; Russia (Federation) ; Social change ; Russia (Federation) ; Russia (Federation) ; Politics and government

In this original, bottom-up account of the evolution of contemporary Russia, Alena Ledeneva seeks to reveal how informal power operates. Concentrating on Vladimir Putin's system of governance - referred to as sistema - she identifies four key types of networks: his inner circle, useful friends, core contacts and more diffuse ties and connections. These networks serve sistema but also serve themselves. Reliance on networks enables leaders to mobilise and to control, yet they also lock politicians, bureaucrats and businessmen into informal deals, mediated interests and personalised loyalty. This is the 'modernisation trap of informality': one cannot use the potential of informal networks without triggering their negative long-term consequences for institutional development. Ledeneva's perspective on informal power is based on in-depth interviews with sistema insiders and enhanced by evidence of its workings brought to light in court cases, enabling her to draw broad conclusions about the prospects for Russia's political institutions

---

Machine generated contents note: Introduction -- 1. What is sistema? -- 2. Putin's sistema : svoi on the top -- 3. The inner workings of sistema : from blat to otkat -- 4. Sistema's material culture : from vertushka to vertu -- 5. "Telephone justice" in the global age : from commands to signals -- 6. "Werewolves in epaulets" : from doublethink to doubledeed -- 7. From dealership to leadership : sistema and informal governance -- Conclusion