Patterns of governance in the Russian regions The concept of “Governance” is predominantly applied to liberal democracies, where state and independent private actors are engaged in policy formulation. Russia, by contrast, features limited pluralism, with private actors often lacking resources relevant to policy networks. It is thus controversial whether or not “governance” can serve as a useful tool to adequately understand the Russian policymaking process. The paper follows a broad definition of governance as “every mode of political steering involving public and private actors, including traditional modes of government and different types of steering from hierarchical imposition to sheer information measures” (Héritier 2002). It analyzes interactions between the public sector, the private sector and civil society for different policies (social policy, ethnic policy, environmental policy) at the regional level in Russia under the conditions of semi-authoritarianism. To gain empirical evidence, case studies (based on about 120 expert interviews funded by the Metro Foundation) were conducted in five Russian regions. Our findings reveal that governance patterns range from a hierarchical mode to networks consisting of interdependent state and private actors. Emphasising sectoral and regional differentiations, our comparative study systemizes reasons explaining differences and similarities of governance patterns in the Russian regions. Altogether, the paper highlights that hierarchical and non-hierarchical steering and coordination co-exist in today’s Russia. Prof. Dr. Sabine Kropp Chair for Political Science Deutsche Hochschule für Verwaltungswissenschaften Speyer German University of Administrative Sciences Speyer Postfach 1409 - 67324 Speyer Freiherr-vom-Stein-Straße 2 - D-67346 Speyer Telefon: +49 (0) 6232 654-367 Telefax: +49 (0) 6232 654-131 E-Mail: kropp@dhv-speyer.de http://www.dhv-speyer.de/Kropp/
