Vladimir Putin’s political leadership in action: Two developmentally informed case studies on domestic and foreign politics.

Abstract

This article expands on Wagner and Fein’s (2016) analysis of Vladimir Putin’s political leadership viewed through a developmental lens. On the basis of a qualitative analysis of selected published materials on Putin’s role in Russian politics from 2000 to 2015, 2 case studies take a closer look at important domestic (Case Study 1) and international (Case Study 2) issues. First, these case studies analyze in what sense the way in which Putin has dealt with important political challenges during his past 15-plus years in office can be interpreted through a developmental lens. Second, we discuss some of the major implications of a developmentally informed interpretation of Putin’s leadership for Russian and Western politics.