Federalism and Local Politics in Russia

Prefacehighest level of government, over the purpose of regions – whether it be tofaciliate control (as in much of the Soviet period, leaving aside Khrushchev’sSovnarkhoz experiment), to represent sub-national interests (or elites – asduring the Yeltsin presidency) or to facilitate economic development strategyand planning (as seems likely under a Medvedev presidency). Either way, itis clear that, although the prospect of a slide into a ‘Russia of the regions’has receded, the dilemmas around regional structure, centre–regional andregional–local relations will continue to be at the core of Russian federalpolicymaking for the forseeable future.xv