Russia as a Network State discusses the ambiguous nature of the state in Russia by focusing on elite networks and their role in policy processes. The seven chapters written by leading experts in the field examine the paradoxical dualism of state institutions and ruling networks – the Russian 'network state'. Examining Russia as a network state provides answers to why some key decisions are never implemented while others duly are, and why the Russian state continues to exist despite the systemic inefficiency of its institutions. A central argument in the book is that tracing the nodes and connections within ruling networks can make the analysis of state policies more comprehendible. It is also a point about the way the state is approached in the post-Soviet context, whereby a tension between institutions and elites is always depicted, be it a 'transitologist' or 'neo-patrimonial' framework of analysis.
Baev, Pavel K. (2011) Crooked Hierarchy and Reshuffled Networks: Reforming Russia's Dysfunctional Military Machine, in Russia as a Network State: What Works in Russia When State Institutions Do Not?. London: Palgrave Macmillan (62–80).
