Russia’s opaque digitalisation
Vladimir Gel’man on how digitalisation should aid public accountability mechanisms in contemporary Russia, but is currently helping to thwart it
Governance
Russia’s war on Covid-19 is stalling
Vladislav Inozemtsev on how Russian authorities are losing the battle against COVID-19
The ‘paradiplomacy’ of Russia’s regions
Denis Stremoukhov looks at how and why different regions in Russia try to carve out their own foreign policy dynamics
Russia’s electoral “stability”
Vladislav Inozemtsev puzzles over the constantly changing electoral rules in Russia and their role in power preservation
The struggle for citizens’ money
Vladislav Inozemtsev looks at new attempts by the state to squeeze Russian taxpayers
When Autocrats Fail, Civil Society Steps Up
Sofya Orlosky on how in the absence of effective state responses, civic groups in Belarus, Russia, and Azerbaijan are tackling the COVID-19 pandemic
Bad or better governance in Russia’s regions: Do governors deserve the blame?
Aleksei Sorbale on criteria for assessing the performance of Russian governors
For Russia’s poor regions, lockdown is a luxury
Moscow’s inability to introduce a full quarantine reflects the depth of Russia’s deep regional inequalities, writes Anastasia Mironova
Why the government is not helping Russian small businesses survive Covid-19
Georgy Bovt on the reasons why the Russian leadership does not intend to save small and medium-sized enterprises
2020: Russia’s historical watershed
Vladislav Inozemtsev on how the coronavirus will help citizens ‘swallow’ both the economic recession and constitutional reform
It’s hard to be a mayor
Margarita Zavadskaya explains why Russia’s municipalities are so poorly governed, and why a handful of areas are exceptions to that rule