Undoing Chaos or Subduing Autonomy

Since he took office as president, Vladimir Putin has been seeking the strengthening of the federal government. In the context of the re-centralization drive, Putin made efforts to reduce asymmetry among federal subjects, particularly curtailing privileges of ethnic republics. By doing so, the Putin government aims at bringing the sub-national authorities into the frame of Federal Constitution and federal laws and making the intergovernmental relations more predictable. Such re-centralization campaign, however, may suffocate cultural diversities and autonomy, while bringing about financial difficulties in regional and local governments. From that point of view, Putin’s federative reform aroused grave concerns and criticisms about the possible hyper-centralization of state power in the hands of the Kremlin, which is believed to be a serious threat to democracy in general, and federalism and local autonomy in particular.