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In May 2000 the newly elected president Vladimir Putinintroduced federal reforms that entailed a change of perspective onfederalism. The main thrust of the reforms involved centralisationand removal of all legal asymmetries that hitherto had permeatedthe Russian federal system. Earlier attempts during the 1990s toredistribute powers in favour of the Federal Government had failed.Now such highly controversial policies were suddenly accepted oreven hailed. The relations between federal and regional authoritiesappeared to have become less confrontational and fragmented thanduring the Yeltsin era. This study analyses the development ofRussian intergovernmental relations and federalism from Yeltsin toPutin from an ideational perspective. It argues that the way inwhich federalism is interpreted and conceptualised by governmentalactors (federal paradigms) is an important reason whyintergovernmental relations vary across and within federal systems.Thebook also offers a perspective on why and how such federalparadigms arise and fade away. The book should be useful forscholars and students interested in intergovernmental relations,federal systems, and Russian politics.

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