Amid growing concern with President Putin's centralization and control, this important volume examines the gradual electoral decline of Russia's leading liberal party, the Yabloko Party. It provides fascinating insights into the role of opposition, the development of the party system and, above all, the quality of democracy in Russia under President Putin.

Western analysts have become increasingly concerned with President Putin's centralization and control, with the term 'managed democracy' becoming a byword for the state of the Russian polity. In this important exploration, David White examines the gradual electoral decline of Russia's leading liberal party, the Yabloko Party. In doing so, he provides fascinating insights into the role of opposition, the development of the party system and, above all, the quality of democracy in Russia under President Putin. As an overtly democratic, liberal reformist party with a strong pro-Western orientation, the place and role of Yabloko in Russian politics is of concern to those interested both in the establishment of democratic norms and the relative strength of political forces promoting democratic and market reforms in Russia.

The mass protests in Moscow and other Russian cities after the parliamentary elections on 4 December 2011 shattered long-standing assumptions about the Russian political system and the apathy of Russian society. They raise new questions about the evolution of Russian society and state-society relations. These are extremely serious issues not only for the protesters and external observers, but also for a Russian leadership whose legitimacy is at risk and who, in one way or another, will have to react to this vocal expression of discontent and demand for change. This report features contributions from a group of Russian authors with expertise on Russian domestic and foreign policy issues. They all contributed analytical papers to the "Russia insights" series, which were published online during the weeks before the parliamentary and presidential elections. Therefore, some of the papers where written before and some after the public protests started. Together, they provide valuable insights into Russian politics and society and into the country's economic system as well as into Russia's foreign policy posture. The result is a very complex picture combining elements of dynamism, stasis and stagnation.

With more than 200 entries on countries and territories throughout the world, this bestselling volume is the most authoritative one-stop source for findingfacts and analysis on each country's governmental and political makeup.

Scholars from eight countries describe in this interdisciplinary and internationally oriented book trends in Democratization, Europeanization, and Globalization. The subjects covered include authoritarianism, political socialization and education as well as communications, youth, and social policy matters. Political system level development are described in Poland, Russia, Germany, Israel, and Palestine. Childhood and youth policies issues include cultural genocide in Australia, democratic childrearing, and children's rights. Tolerance building, multiple identity formation, and electronic media are aspects of political socialization and education. Authoritarianism impacts education, voting patterns, and the new anti-Semitism. Topics under Europeanization include website use, press reporting, national versus European identity, US-EU relations, and framing the Euro.

Publisher description.