Russia's Revolution from Above, 1985-2000

In Russia's Revolution from Above, 1985-2000, Gordon Hahn argues that the Russian transition from state socialism to democracy was a bureaucrat-led, state-based revolution managed by a group of Communist Party functionaries who won control over the Russian Republic (RSFSR) in the mid-1990s. The result is a weak society unable to nudge the state to concentrate on institutional reforms society needs for the development of a free polity and economy. Russia's Revolution from Above goes far in correcting the historical record and reconceptualizing the Soviet transformation.

Gordon M. Hahn is a Senior Researcher at the Center for Terrorism and Intelligence Studies (CETIS), Akribis Group, San Jose, California.

Introduction The Model of Revolution from Above The Breakdown of Institutional and Political Unity The Organization of Political Groups in the Party-State and Society Dual Sovereignty from Above and the XXVIIII CPSU Congress The First Soviet Pact-Making Episode Gorbachev's Turn to the Right Reaction Polarization and Revolutionary Crisis Politics The Nascent Soviet Transition Pact The Hardline August Coup The Revolutionary Seizure of Power and the Aborted Soviet Pact Tentative Conclusions About Russia and the Revolution from Above