Graeme Gill is Professor Emeritus at the University of Sydney, Australia.

• Part 1: Introduction 1. Introduction 2. The Yeltsin era 3. The Putin era 4. Democratisation 5. How Russia compares Part 2: Politics 6. Vladimir Putin: Great leader or ordinary authoritarian? 7. The Russian Constitution 8. The Presidency 9. The Federal Assembly: More than just a "rubber stamp"? 10. National elections in Russia 11. State intervention and Russia’s frozen dominant party system 12. Local government 13. Federalism and de-federalisation in Russia 14. Centre-regional relations in Russia 15. Politics in Russian regions 16. Decision-making 17. State capacity and Russia 18. Russia’s retreat from human rights 19. Protest and opposition 20. The security services 21. The military Part 3: Political economy 22. Political economy 23. Crony capitalism in contemporary Russia and what globalisation has to do with it 24. The Russian corporation: between neoliberalism and the security state 25. Russian international economic policy: Purposes and performance Part 4: Society 26. Russian population dynamics in the Putin era 27. Inequality in Russia 28. Russian labour: Between stability and stagnation 29. Gender in Russia: State policy and lived reality 30. The rise of a hybrid welfare state in Putin’s Russia: Social welfare under authoritarianism 31. Media and culture in Putin’s Russia 32. ICT in Putin’s Russia: 1999-2021 33. Symbolism and the transformation of the national historical narrative in post-Soviet Russia 34. The politics of memory 35. Civil society and the state 36. Informal politics 37. Corruption and organised crime in post-Soviet Russia 38. Russian nationalism 39. Ethnic relations 40. Religion Part 5: Foreign policy 41. Russian foreign policy and the challenge to the existing world order 42. Russian security policy and outlook 43. Russia’s attitudes and policies toward Ukraine 44. Russia and Belarus 45. Russia’s foreign policy in Central Asia: in search of privileged partnership 46. The Kremlin’s reverse democracy: Relations with the Caucasus region 47. US-Russian relations 48. Russia and the European Union: The path to a strategic disengagement 49. Russia and China

"Knowledge and understanding of Russian society and its political trajectories have seldom been more important than they are today. Graeme Gill, a highly respected and insightful Russian expert, has brought together, in this Handbook of remarkable scope, an outstanding international team of specialists who illuminate almost every aspect of post-Communist Russia "Archie Brown, University of Oxford, UK, and author of The Rise and Fall of Communism "This timely update provides a comprehensive and authoritative guide to Russian politics. Gill has brought together many of the world’s leading experts in a single volume, who are able to provide a state-of-the-art overview of current knowledge on their topic. An outstanding and indispensable contribution to Russian studies."Brian D. Taylor, Syracuse University, USA"This book combines excellent scholarship from the leading experts in the field of Russian politics and society with a broad and almost exhaustive range of addressed topics. Undoubtedly, this nuanced overview presented so nicely will be a useful read for both newbies and academics who specialise on Russia."Guzel Yusupova, SCRIPTS, Berlin, Germany

Graeme Gill is Professor Emeritus at the University of Sydney, Australia.

• Part 1: Introduction 1. Introduction 2. The Yeltsin era 3. The Putin era 4. Democratisation 5. How Russia compares Part 2: Politics 6. Vladimir Putin: Great leader or ordinary authoritarian? 7. The Russian Constitution 8. The Presidency 9. The Federal Assembly: More than just a "rubber stamp"? 10. National elections in Russia 11. State intervention and Russia’s frozen dominant party system 12. Local government 13. Federalism and de-federalisation in Russia 14. Centre-regional relations in Russia 15. Politics in Russian regions 16. Decision-making 17. State capacity and Russia 18. Russia’s retreat from human rights 19. Protest and opposition 20. The security services 21. The military Part 3: Political economy 22. Political economy 23. Crony capitalism in contemporary Russia and what globalisation has to do with it 24. The Russian corporation: between neoliberalism and the security state 25. Russian international economic policy: Purposes and performance Part 4: Society 26. Russian population dynamics in the Putin era 27. Inequality in Russia 28. Russian labour: Between stability and stagnation 29. Gender in Russia: State policy and lived reality 30. The rise of a hybrid welfare state in Putin’s Russia: Social welfare under authoritarianism 31. Media and culture in Putin’s Russia 32. ICT in Putin’s Russia: 1999-2021 33. Symbolism and the transformation of the national historical narrative in post-Soviet Russia 34. The politics of memory 35. Civil society and the state 36. Informal politics 37. Corruption and organised crime in post-Soviet Russia 38. Russian nationalism 39. Ethnic relations 40. Religion Part 5: Foreign policy 41. Russian foreign policy and the challenge to the existing world order 42. Russian security policy and outlook 43. Russia’s attitudes and policies toward Ukraine 44. Russia and Belarus 45. Russia’s foreign policy in Central Asia: in search of privileged partnership 46. The Kremlin’s reverse democracy: Relations with the Caucasus region 47. US-Russian relations 48. Russia and the European Union: The path to a strategic disengagement 49. Russia and China

"Knowledge and understanding of Russian society and its political trajectories have seldom been more important than they are today. Graeme Gill, a highly respected and insightful Russian expert, has brought together, in this Handbook of remarkable scope, an outstanding international team of specialists who illuminate almost every aspect of post-Communist Russia "Archie Brown, University of Oxford, UK, and author of The Rise and Fall of Communism "This timely update provides a comprehensive and authoritative guide to Russian politics. Gill has brought together many of the world’s leading experts in a single volume, who are able to provide a state-of-the-art overview of current knowledge on their topic. An outstanding and indispensable contribution to Russian studies."Brian D. Taylor, Syracuse University, USA"This book combines excellent scholarship from the leading experts in the field of Russian politics and society with a broad and almost exhaustive range of addressed topics. Undoubtedly, this nuanced overview presented so nicely will be a useful read for both newbies and academics who specialise on Russia."Guzel Yusupova, SCRIPTS, Berlin, Germany

Graeme Gill is Professor Emeritus at the University of Sydney, Australia.

• Part 1: Introduction 1. Introduction 2. The Yeltsin era 3. The Putin era 4. Democratisation 5. How Russia compares Part 2: Politics 6. Vladimir Putin: Great leader or ordinary authoritarian? 7. The Russian Constitution 8. The Presidency 9. The Federal Assembly: More than just a "rubber stamp"? 10. National elections in Russia 11. State intervention and Russia’s frozen dominant party system 12. Local government 13. Federalism and de-federalisation in Russia 14. Centre-regional relations in Russia 15. Politics in Russian regions 16. Decision-making 17. State capacity and Russia 18. Russia’s retreat from human rights 19. Protest and opposition 20. The security services 21. The military Part 3: Political economy 22. Political economy 23. Crony capitalism in contemporary Russia and what globalisation has to do with it 24. The Russian corporation: between neoliberalism and the security state 25. Russian international economic policy: Purposes and performance Part 4: Society 26. Russian population dynamics in the Putin era 27. Inequality in Russia 28. Russian labour: Between stability and stagnation 29. Gender in Russia: State policy and lived reality 30. The rise of a hybrid welfare state in Putin’s Russia: Social welfare under authoritarianism 31. Media and culture in Putin’s Russia 32. ICT in Putin’s Russia: 1999-2021 33. Symbolism and the transformation of the national historical narrative in post-Soviet Russia 34. The politics of memory 35. Civil society and the state 36. Informal politics 37. Corruption and organised crime in post-Soviet Russia 38. Russian nationalism 39. Ethnic relations 40. Religion Part 5: Foreign policy 41. Russian foreign policy and the challenge to the existing world order 42. Russian security policy and outlook 43. Russia’s attitudes and policies toward Ukraine 44. Russia and Belarus 45. Russia’s foreign policy in Central Asia: in search of privileged partnership 46. The Kremlin’s reverse democracy: Relations with the Caucasus region 47. US-Russian relations 48. Russia and the European Union: The path to a strategic disengagement 49. Russia and China

"Knowledge and understanding of Russian society and its political trajectories have seldom been more important than they are today. Graeme Gill, a highly respected and insightful Russian expert, has brought together, in this Handbook of remarkable scope, an outstanding international team of specialists who illuminate almost every aspect of post-Communist Russia "Archie Brown, University of Oxford, UK, and author of The Rise and Fall of Communism "This timely update provides a comprehensive and authoritative guide to Russian politics. Gill has brought together many of the world’s leading experts in a single volume, who are able to provide a state-of-the-art overview of current knowledge on their topic. An outstanding and indispensable contribution to Russian studies."Brian D. Taylor, Syracuse University, USA"This book combines excellent scholarship from the leading experts in the field of Russian politics and society with a broad and almost exhaustive range of addressed topics. Undoubtedly, this nuanced overview presented so nicely will be a useful read for both newbies and academics who specialise on Russia."Guzel Yusupova, SCRIPTS, Berlin, Germany