title: Federalism and de-federalisation in Russia
abstract: The federalisation of Russia has been thwarted by the weakness of Russia’s civic culture and the lack of a federal and democratic tradition. Throughout its short history, federal relations in Russia have been dominated by informal political and economic relations rather than constitutionalism and the rule of law. By the time of Boris Yeltsin’s resignation in 1999, the Russian state had been transformed from a “constitutional” to a “contractual” federation where informal politics and clientelisti