Russian Federalism

Abstract

Russia is not, at the time of this writing, a real federation. This is the only conclusion that can be drawn from the institutions that structure the relations among the country’s 85 regions and the federal centre in Moscow, and from the low degree of political and economic autonomy enjoyed by the regions. Of course, given the size of its territory and its demographic diversity—including its multinational makeup—there will always be a degree of formal and informal decentralisation in Russia. However, such decentralisation does not make the country a federation proper (see Chap. 32 on Regional and Local Government).