There is little consensus about the nature of the political system that has emerged during the Putin presidency. This collection considers the issues arising in this connection, focusing more closely on institutions such as the presidency and the security police, and on the socioeconomic dimensions of political power.

Autorentext
STEPHEN WHITE is Professor of International Politics at the University of Glasgow, UK, and a Senior Research Associate in the School of Slavonic and East European Studies. He is the chief editor of the Journal of Communist Studies and Transition Politics and author or co-author of more than thirty books including Developments in Central and East European Politics 4, Developments in Russian Politics 6, Putin's Russia and the Enlarged Europe, and Party Politics in New Democracies.

Inhalt
What Kind of Political Regime Does Russia Have?; H-H.Schröder The Presidentialization of a Semi-Presidential Regime: The Case of Russia; O.Zaznaev The Russian Federal Security Service under President Putin; E.Schneider The Inherent Instability of the Ruling Elite; H.Ticktin Interest Groups and Economic Reform in Contemporary Russia: Before and After Yukos; A.Yakovlev The 'Oligarchs' in Russian Mass Consciousness; A.Chepurenko Are Russia's Oligarchs Scapegoats? Some Empirical Evidence from the Russian Press; J.Fruchtmann Unintentional Humour in Oligarkh and Antikiller , or How New Are the 'New Russians'?; A.Rogachevsky