Law and the Russian State: Russia’s Legal Evolution from Peter the Great to Vladimir Putin

by William E. Pomeranz

Russia is often portrayed as a regressive, even lawless country, and yet the Russian state has played a major role in shaping and experimenting with law as an instrument of power. In Law and the Russian State , William E. Pomeranz examines Russia's legal evolution from Peter the Great to Vladimir Putin, addressing the continuities and disruptions of Russian law during the imperial, Soviet, and post-Soviet. The book covers key themes,

* Law and empire
* Law and modernization
* The politicization of law
* The role of intellectuals and dissidents in mobilizing the law
* The evolution of Russian legal institutions
* The struggle for human rights
* The rule-of-law
* The quest to establish the law-based state

It also analyzes legal culture and how Russians understand and use the law. With a detailed bibliography, this is an important text for anyone seeking a sophisticated understanding of how Russian society and the Russian state have developed in the last 350 years.

240 pages, Hardcover

First published December 27, 2018

Reviews

[Phil]

An excellent review of the creation and development of law in Russia.