Reexamining Economic and Political Reforms in Russia, 1985–2000 : Generations, Ideas, and Changes

This study analyzes the impact of generational changes and ideational changes on major political and economic reforms conducted in Russia during the late twentieth century.

Reexamining Economic and Political Reforms in Russia, 1985–2000: Generations, Ideas, and Changes analyzes the impact of generational changes and ideational changes on major political and economic reforms conducted in Russia during the late twentieth century. This book examines how the policy agenda was shaped by the ideas of the generations’ representatives for the “sixtiers” and “seventiers.” Representatives of the generation of “sixtiers” conducted reforms from 1985 to 1991 and invested major efforts in political liberalization but did not pay enough attention to economic reforms. On the other hand, the reformers from the generation of “seventiers,” who were in charge of policy making from 1991 to 1998, were genuinely oriented toward market building but rather insensitive to the democratization of the political regime. This book explores how these differences in ideational agendas produced inconsistent and controversial outcomes from both stages of reforms. As a consequence, Russia only partially implemented the idea of market economic reforms, while the process of political reforms resulted in the rise of new authoritarianism.