Federalism and Electoral Authoritarianism under Putin

Demokratizatsiya, Summer 2005 by Ross, Cameron

Socioeconomic, Constitutional, and Political Asymmetry

With a population of 145 million citizens incorporating 172 nationalities and an area covering 170 million square kilometers, Russia is one of the largest and most ethnically diverse multinational federations in the world. Furthermore, Russia has the largest number of constituent units of any federation. Founded on the dual principles of ethnicity and territory, the federation comprises eighty-nine federal subjects, fifty-seven of which are territorially defined subjects, and thirty-two of which are ethnically defined subjects (including twenty-one republics and eleven national autonomies, see Table 1).

Asymmetry in Russia

Given the sheer size and ethnic diversity of the country, it is not surprising that the Russian Federation should be asymmetrical. Indeed, as Stepan observes, with the possible exception of Switzerland, all mononational democratic federations (Austria, Germany, Australia, the United States, Argentina, and Brazil) are constitutionally symmetrical and all multinational democratic federations (India, Belgium, Canada, and Spain) are constitutionally asymmetrical.5 Nor is Russia unique in developing constitutional asymmetry through bilateral treaties. India and Spain provide special constitutional privileges to over ten of their federal subjects.6 It is not asymmetry per se that is the problem in Russia; rather it is the potent mixture of socioeconomic, constitutional, and political asymmetry.

Socioeconomic Asymmetry

The eighty-nine different components of the Russian Federation vary widely in the size of their territories and populations. Thus, for example, the territory of the republic of Sakha is 388 times greater in size than that of the republic of North Osetiya-Alaniya. The population of Moscow (8.5 million) is 443 times greater than that of the sparsely populated Yevenk Autonomous Oblast.7 There are also vast differences in the socioeconomic status of the federal subjects. For example, income per capita in the oil rich Yamala-Nenetsk Autonomous Oblast is 178 times greater than in the republic of Ingushetiya. Investment per capita across the federation varies by a factor of twenty and regional differences in per capita gross regional product vary by a factor of thirty.8 In addition, one federal subject, the city of Moscow, overwhelmingly dominates Russia's federal economic and political landscape, with tax payments from the city regularly comprising one third of the Federation's total tax revenues. Such high levels of inequality between regions are particularly worrying in multinational federations where the unequal distribution of resources can quickly take on an ethnic dimension exacerbating tensions between ethnic groups.

Constitutional Asymmetry

One of the most destructive legacies that Russia inherited from the Soviet Union was its ethnoterritorial form of federalism. The dual nature of Russian federalism, which grants different constitutional rights and powers to different subjects of the federation, has created major tensions and divisions between federal subjects. Although the Russian constitution declares that all subjects are constitutionally equal (Article 5), in fact the twenty-one ethnic republics have been granted far greater powers than the other subjects of the federation. .