While the West tends to focus on Russia’s national institutions and practices when assessing the transition to democracy, Russia’s sub-national democratization will largely shape Russians’ views of their new government, willingness to participate in it, and trust in its ability to deliver. Regional and local government not only are nearer to ordinary citizens but have, under Russia’s federated constitution, highly important economic and social functions.

Regional Russia in Transition: Studies from Yaroslavl’ examines democracy in a central region of Russia, a largely industrialized heartland off the beaten path from Moscow and Leningrad. Yaroslavl’ has been the subject of a series of studies since 1990 by a group of senior U.S. Russianists, several of them contributors to this book. Regional Russia in Transition also includes important work by a Russian historian and a social scientist and an American businessman.

Jeffrey W. Hahn is professor of political science at Villanova University.

Preface

1. Introduction: Regional Development and Russian Democracy
Jeffrey W. Hahn

2. A Benchmark History of Yaroslavl’ in the Twentieth Century
Aleksander Khodnev

3. The Political Transformation of Yaroslavl’: Transition to Democracy?
Jeffrey W. Hahn

4. Political Culture in Yaroslavl’ Over Time: How “Civic”?
Jeffrey W. Hahn

5. Linking the Personal to the National: The Status of Personal Trust in Yaroslavl’
Boris Sergeyev

6. Industrial Giants, Entrepreneurs, and Regional Government: The Changing Business Environment in Yaroslavl’ Oblast, 1990–1999
Daniel Satinsky

7. Regional Governance Regimes in Russia: Comparing Yaroslavl’ with Udmurtia
Beth Mitchneck

8. From Soviet to European Yaroslavl’: Changing Neighborhood Structure in Post-Soviet Cities
Susan Goodrich Lehmann and Blair A. Ruble

9. Conclusions: What Can We Learn From Yaroslavl’?
Jeffrey W. Hahn

“Jeffrey Hahn and the six other Western and Russian social scientists who wrote chapters for this book have made a significant contribution to Russian ‘regionology’.”—Joel C. Moses, The Russian Review

“This book brings together a wealth of new information and ideas backed up by excellent primary materials.… This study also shows that a detailed examination of one region from a number of different perspectives can be just as illuminating [as a comparative approach].”—Cameron Ross, Slavic Review

“The effort to cover in detail the political, economic, and social developoment of a representative Russian region is most laudable.”—Ronald R. Pope, Perspectives on Political Science

“The book does make a strong case for the study of regional politics and research on democratization and democracy in comparative perspective.”—Bill Mikhail, Democratization

“With original research and careful analysis, this team of highly competent social scientists assesses political, social, and economic developments in the Yaroslavl’ region during the past decade. This work will have great interest for scholars, policy makers, and lay readers interested in democratic and market transitions generally and postcommunist transitions in particular.”—Frederic J. Fleron, Jr., Professor of Political Science, State University of New York at Buffalo