JRL NEWSWATCH: “Bureaucracy as the Pillar of Stability: Are There Any Real Institutions Inside the Russian Political Regime?” – Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
“Russia’s ruling mechanism — bureaucratic institutions — may outlast the current personalism. This vast network of civil servants, technocrats, and administrators forms a modestly resilient framework that endures beyond individual political decisions, providing continuity and ensuring the steady day-to-day functioning of the government.”
“A persistent question … has been whether Russia has transitioned from … authoritarian … to … totalitarian …. Russia is a personalist autocracy …. Personalist regimes tend to dismantle, subvert, or imitate institutions with the sole aim of consolidating power in the hands of a leader and his … closest associates. The Russian political machine is primarily focused on self-preservation. … [R]ebuilding empires, promoting economic growth, or keeping … people happy … are the means, not the end. … When the individual around whom the regime is built disappears, the country is often left in a deinstitutionalized environment, requiring the state to reinvent itself. … The system formed to a large extent under the current president is trying desperately to survive …. It still seems collectively to consider the preservation of the status quo, however risky and devoid of prospects, as preferable to the dangers of attempted change. Yet this precarious balance is being recalculated daily by actors and interest groups who cannot fail to realize that … the ‘Putin era’ is entering its final stage, however drawn out …. Bureaucratic structures in Russia often house experienced professionals in a range of fields. The social and financial advantages of positions in the finance and economic ministries and regional governments, along with the need to contribute substantively, have prevented negative selection. This contrasts with the top echelons of the siloviki, where impunity, lack of accountability, and the constant rewarding of loyalty over competence have yielded the opposite effect. It is conceivable that the country’s ruling mechanism — bureaucratic institutions — may outlast the personalism ….”