Limits of a Post-Soviet State: How Informality Replaces, Renegotiates, and Reshapes Governance in Contemporary Ukraine (Soviet and Postsoviet Politics)

Umland, Andreas (Editor) / Williams, Colin (Foreword) / Polese, Abel (Primary Contributor)

ISBN 10: 3838208455 / ISBN 13: 9783838208459

Published by ibidem, 2016

About this Item

uk ed. edition. 258 pages. 8.27x5.83x0.59 inches. In Stock.

Seller Inventory # __3838208455

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Limits of a Post-Soviet State: How Informality Replaces, Renegotiates, and Reshapes Governance in Contemporary Ukraine (Soviet and Postsoviet Politics)
• Publisher: ibidem
• Publication Date: 2016
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 3838208455
• ISBN 13: 9783838208459
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: Brand New
• Weight: 0.41 kilograms

About this title

Synopsis

This book illustrates why and how informality in governance is not necessarily transitory or temporary, but a constant in most systems of the world. The difference between various administrative structures is not whether informality is present or not, but where, in which areas, it is located. The essays gathered in this volume demonstrate that, in some cases, informal mechanisms are self-protective, while, in others, they are perceived as normal responses and a set of tactics for individuals, classes, and communities to respond to unusual demands. Where expectations of the state, a company, or some commission are too far from citizens' existing models of normative behaviour, informal behaviour continues to thrive. Indeed, new tactics are adopted in order to cope with disjunctions between theory and reality as well as to serve as contrasts to values imposed by a centre of power, such as a central state, a city administration, or the management board of a large company. The focus of the papers contained in this book is two-fold and rests on an analysis of phenomena manifesting themselves "beyond" and "in spite of" the state. The first part deals with areas where the state is not always, or only marginally, active whilst the second analyses activities performed in conflict with state regulations (ie: behaviour often studied from a criminal and legal standpoint).

About the Author

Abel Polese is a senior researcher at Dublin City University and Tallinn University.

Colin Williams is professor of public policy at the University of Sheffield.