The extent to which a country can be termed 'democratic' depends not only on the fairness of its elections, but also on the obervance of wider liberal values. The current research seeks to examine the quality of democracy in post-communist Europe, and particularly the Russian Federation. It will examine the implications for 'good governance' of 'administrative resources' (resources of the state controlled by incumbent officials), media control, weak civil society, and the professionalisation of electioneering - especially at the regional level. It also focuses on growing political disengagement in the former Eastern bloc in general.
Fieldwork undertaken so far has included several research visits to Russia, including official observation in Moscow of the 2003 State Duma election, and in the rural Vysokaya Gora district of Tatarstan during the 2004 presidential election. Amongst the publications arising from the project have been a monograph on political parties in the Russian regions; a co-edited volume on the quality of democracy in post-communist Europe; and several articles and conference presentations (see list).
Medium term aims include comparative research on the post-communist trajectories of Russia and Eastern Germany, as part of the wider topic of transition in post-communist societies. The project is based at the University of Glasgow, a leading centre of research in the field of post-communist politics
Project funded by the British Academy - Postdoctoral Fellowship (2003-05) and Small Research Grant (2003-04) |
