Author(s): Vladimir Gel'man

Politics

Vladimir Gel'man argues that bad governance is a distinctive politico-economic order that is based on formal and informal rules, norms, and practices that are different from those of good governance. Some countries are governed badly intentionally because bad governance serves their leaders' own self-interests. Gel'man addresses the issue of causes and mechanisms of bad governance in Russia and beyond in terms of state-building, political regime dynamics, and policy-making. Although bad governance is perceived as an anomaly in developed countries, human history is largely a history of ineffective and corrupt governments. Bad governance is the norm, while good governance is an exception. Using an analysis of case studies of political and policy changes in Russia after the Soviet collapse, Gel'man discusses the logic of building and maintaining the politico-economic order of bad governance in Russia, as well as paths of its possible transformation in theoretical and comparative perspectives.