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“Out of the Ghetto”:
On the Contribution of Post-Soviet/Russian Studies to Contemporary Political Science

Melville A.Yu.,

Dean of Faculty of Social Science, National Research University Higher School of Economics, amelville@hse.ru

elibrary_id: 251142 | ORCID: 0000-0002-1414-5783 | RESEARCHER_ID: B-1152-2014

DOI: 10.17976/jpps/2020.01.03

Rubric: Theme of the Issue: Horizons of Political Science

For citation:

Melville A.Yu. “Out of the Ghetto”: On the Contribution of Post-Soviet/Russian Studies to Contemporary Political Science. – Polis. Political Studies. 2020. No. 1. https://doi.org/10.17976/jpps/2020.01.03

The article is based on a report by the author at the international conference Regime Evolution, Institutional Change and Social Transformation in Russia: Lessons for Political Science (Yale University, April 27-28, 2018). The author is sincerely grateful for the comments and advice to M. Ilyin, I. Lokshin, B. Makarenko, O. Malinova, M. Mironyuk, N. Petrov, D. Slider, S. Fish, L. Way and other colleagues with whom they discussed manuscript of this article, including during informal seminars at the Department of Political Science of the Higher School of Economics. Thanks also to the anonymous reviewers, whose critical remarks I tried, as far as possible, to take into account when finalizing the text for the Polis journal.

Abstract

The article discusses the relationship between post-Soviet studies of the last three decadesand political science and comparative politics in particular. We provide an analytical overview of majorpublications on (1) preconditions of democracy and democratization, (2) authoritarian modernizationwithout democratic reforms, (3) possibilities and limitations of the institutional approach, (4) role ofthe state and state capacity, (5) varieties of post-Soviet authoritarianism, and (6) subnational politicalprocesses. This analysis demonstrates fruitful interactions between post-Soviet studies and new conceptual and methodological developments in modern political science and comparative politics. 

Keywords

post-Soviet studies, political science, comparative politics, democratization, authoritarianism, modernization, political institutions, state capacity, subnational political processes.

 Full Text 

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