The Institutional Design of Russian Federalism: A Comparative Study of Three Republics; Tatarstan, Dagestan, and Chechnya

IntroductionOver the course of the past decade federalism has, for the most part, allowed Russia to temporarily stave off ethnically motivated separatism by granting varying levels of autonomy to the regions. The question follows as to why this has worked successfully in certain non-Russian areas, specifically the republics of Tatarstan and Dagestan, which have joined with Moscow under this federalist arrangement, while other ethnic groups and states, most notably the Chechens, have pushed for secession and violence. Moreover, is instability inherent to an ethnically diverse federation or can agreement on the breakdown of power be achieved that will pacify all parties involved?Following the resignation of Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, the Russian rump state lost the coercive and persuasive ability to rule a centrally controlled empire. Instead, the Russian masses were bequeathed a decentralized nation devoid of a coherent national identity and ethos.1 As Daniel Kempton and others show, the collapse of the Soviet Union let loose ". . . the centrifugal forces of ethnic nationalism, religious animosity, and regional self-interest."2 Adding to the exacerbation of the already deep ethnic and economic cleavages present in Russian society was the political tug-of-war developing between President Boris Yeltsin and the leaders of the Russian Supreme Soviet, who possessed the legal authority to run the country. In his attempt to build internal alliances against this legislative body, Yeltsin brokered numerous deals with the constituent republics over the levels of autonomy they could acquire.3 At this time, he uttered the now infamous and subsequently disastrous statement to the republics, "grab all the sovereignty you can."4 Between 1994 and 1998, the federal government signed forty-two power sharing treaties with forty-six of the eighty-nine regions.5 In many instances, the federal government ceded lucrative privileges within the economic and political arena to the local governors.The historical case studies within this article depict how interpersonal relations among the political elite played a key role in the development of asymmetry leading to either the occurrence or avoidance of conflict within Tatarstan, Dagestan, and Chechnya. Furthermore, by focusing on the erratic evolution of the institutional set up, the path discussed shows how political and economic incentives within a federalist framework can be used to incorporate all regions and republics into a unified state.6 The process denotes how the would-be disastrous remnants of asymmetry can be substantially reduced and replaced with political and economic motivators to incorporate the regions into the dominant regime.Federalism DefinedThe ripple effect set off by the attempts of the ethnic republics to assert greater sovereign control caused an ever-increasing move toward decentralization and confusion across the reigns of government. This process tested the limits of the new, however ambiguous, rules of power demarcation within the Russian Federation. Authorities had little guidance considering the federal design of the Soviet Union was more of a figurative construct on paper rather than a practiced reality. The result is that although the concept and application of federalism seems to be a natural design for the Russian state, its implementation has been full of half measures.Nonetheless, due to the vastness of its territory; the economic, climatic, and geographic diversity of its regions; and the great numbers of indigenous peoples that comprise its multiethnic nature, federalism is a necessity. Federalism allows the political elite to peacefully integrate different ethnic groups and states under a single overarching governing structure.7 The issue at hand, however, is what type of balance is necessary to placate the varying demands from different regions and republics. Unfortunately, as Dmitry Gorenburg reports, one of the lasting legacies of Soviet attempts at federalism was the creation of strong, sub-national, ethnically motivated identities with claims to territory, independence, and resources after the USSR's collapse. …