Seven Faces of Putin's Russia: Federal Districts as the New Level of State—territorial Composition

Abstract

Russian President Vladimir Putin has made federal reform one of his key priorities, and his first serious action, taken just a couple of days after his inauguration, was the introduction of a new system of seven enlarged federal districts. In five cases, the presidential envoys appointed to these districts were generals, who hand-picked their deputies and staff mostly from the ranks. The majority of the chief federal inspectors in the regions also come from established `power structures'. In this article, the seven federal districts are described, and an analysis is made of the essence of the reform, the way it is proceeding, its effectiveness, and its future prospects. The forceful start of the federal reform in 2000 noticeably reduced the development of regional trends in Russia and strengthened central control; however, in 2001 the reform lost much of its dynamism, and the need for the new level of territorial organization remains questionable. It is argued that, whatever the Kremlin's initial plans and words, what is really happening is the insertion of police-state mechanisms into a delegative and declarative democratic state.

HIV/AIDS in Russia: determinants of regional prevalence

“…Most of the dummies do not have a significant association. Perhaps this is not too surprising, as the federal districts in Russia are not integrated units from an economic, social, or cultural perspective [34]. However, the dummy variable of the Far Eastern federal district does carry a significant coefficient.…”

Rus Başkanlik İkti̇darinin Si̇yasal Reji̇m Üzeri̇ne Etki̇si̇: Puti̇n Ve Yeltsi̇n Dönemleri̇ni̇n Karşilaştirmali Anali̇zi̇

“…Economic development based on the export of underground sources, b. Increase in oil and gas prices beginning with the new millennium, c. Strong party organization of the United Russia which prevented Duma from being a parliament to oppose the government, (Ivanov, 2008, as cited in Levitsky & Way, p. 197) d. The creation of seven regions over 89 units of the RF and appointment of polpred (polnomochennyi predstavitel' presidenta: plenipotentiary representative of the president), (Petrov, 2002) e. The prevention of regional parties from entering national elections, (Remington, 2008, pp. 974-975) f. Appropriate international conjuncture such as 9/11 process and interventions in Afghanistan (2001) and Iraq (2003).…”

Regional inequalities in self-rated health in Russia: What is the role of social and economic capital?

“…The Volga District produces the most in the fields of industrial production and agriculture, while the Urals District is strong in industrial production and the Southern District in agricultural production. Other districts are more balanced in their economic structure (Petrov 2002). The Far Eastern District is largest in size, but it is the least populated of the districts, while the Central District's population includes 25% of all Russians (see Table 2).…”

“…The existing literature does not sufficiently elucidate the contemporary Russian regional reality, since it does not cover the entire country and since a number of important societal changes have taken place in the 2000s, rendering older evidence less pertinent. The interregional income inequalities increased during the early 2000s (Remington 2011a; 2011b) and regional governance has been reorganised by the Presidential Decree of 2000, which created the new Federal Districts and centralised political control (Petrov 2002). In the 2000s, the state strengthened its control over civic and political activities, which weakened civil society.…”