The Politics of Bad Governance in Contemporary Russia

Vladimir Gelman's book examines bad governance as a distinct politico-economic order based on formal and informal rules, norms, and practices. He argues that bad governance is primarily agency-driven and addresses the issue of causes and mechanisms in Russia and beyond. He contends that human history is largely a history of ineffective and corrupt governments, and that the rule of law and decent state regulatory quality are relatively recent matters of modern history. Gelman suggests that most rulers tend to govern their domains in a predatory way due to the prevalence of short-term over long-term incentives, and contemporary Russia is a prime example of this phenomenon.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 312 pages
Publication date: 30 November 2022
Publisher: The University of Michigan Press

Vladimir Gelman's book explores bad governance as a distinct politico-economic order characterized by formal and informal rules, norms, and practices that differ from those of good governance. Some countries intentionally govern poorly due to political leaders' self-interested rules and practices. Gelman views bad governance as primarily agency-driven rather than structure-induced, addressing the causes and mechanisms of bad governance in Russia and beyond. He argues that while bad governance is often perceived as an anomaly in developed countries, human history is largely a history of ineffective and corrupt governments. The rule of law and decent state regulatory quality are relatively recent developments, emerging as side effects of state-building. In contemporary Russia, the prevalence of short-term over long-term incentives leads rulers to govern their domains in a predatory way. Gelman analyzes case studies of political and policy changes in Russia after the Soviet collapse, examining the logic of building and maintaining the politico-economic order of bad governance and exploring paths for its possible transformation.

Weight: 363g
Dimension: 229 x 152 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780472055623