Post-Soviet Authoritarianism

This article examines the problems of the rise and consolidation of authoritarian regimes in former Soviet countries. The authors analyze the reasons why the transition to democracy failed in these newly independent states, including the absence of a strong tradition of civil society and the fact that the anti-communist revolution that took place in the Soviet Union in 1991 was not preceded by a “revolution of values.” An important reason for the suspension of transitions to democracy was that the new ruling elite, which held a monopoly on power and property in former Soviet countries, had no interest in further market and democratic reforms. In their analysis of reasons for the stability of authoritarian regimes, the authors focus mainly on factors like the roles of the institution of power-property, of the nomenklatura as the ruling class, and of the patronage state. At the same time, this article looks at factors that could limit the development of authoritarian regimes in the former Soviet Union; these factors include competing political identities in society, the balance of power between regional elites, and the de-nomenklaturization of the political elite. The authors note that the main problem on the path of the transition to democracy is the absence of political and social actors interested in such changes.