Regional and Local Government

Abstract

According to its Constitution, Russia is a federal state—one of some 30 federations around the world. The nomenclature of the Soviet period—the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR)—also characterised Russia as a federal system. In theory, federal regimes are meant to be more effective, in legal and administrative terms, for countries with large territories and high ethnic diversity; that is, federal institutional mechanisms can more flexibly broker conflicts and, more generally, manage relations among regional elites and populations. Moreover, federal constitutions enshrine in law the division of labour and resources between the levels of government in order to diminish the risk of intergovernmental conflict.