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THE REGIONAL GOVERNANCE CONTEXT IN RUSSIA: A GENERAL FRAMEWORK

This study examines the general context of the urban and regional policy-making environment in Russia by analyzing responses to a 1997 survey of local government officials. The survey posed questions such as: “What do local and regional government actors believe are their most critical problems and policy priorities?”, “How do they choose their policy priorities?”, and “How does urban and regional governance occur in this unstable environment?” Analysis of the survey responses suggests that policy makers throughout Russia have remarkably similar perceptions of their policy-making environments. Alliance building and the use of cooperative agreements among government officials at all geographical scales, business partners, and the media characterizes the general context of policy making in Russian cities and regions. The Soviet past shapes current practices and structures of regional governance. While public participation is still limited, the locus of power to act in this new political economy has dramatically shifted from the government to the private sector. [Key words: governance, local economic development, Russia.]