Collaborative or Hegemonic? Tatarstan and Conflicting Visions of Federalism in Putin’s Russia

Abstract

In this chapter, I examine the developments in federalism in the context of Vladimir Putin’s federal reforms. These represent a move away from the practice of asymmetrical negotiated federalism in favour of a centralizing interpretation of the 1993 Constitution. In other words, the objective was to settle many of the ambiguities and unsettled questions — for instance, asymmetries and contradictions between federal and regional laws and constitutions — and reassert the primacy of the Constitution and federal control. A priori, therefore, these reforms appear to target Tatarstan’s differentiated status. Analysis of the nature of Putin’s reforms and their implementation in Tatarstan provide a window on how Tatarstan’s claims for recognition and jurisdiction have fared. Although republican elites continue to advocate a different model of federalism based less on federal control or hegemony and more on regional autonomy, they complied with many of Putin’s reforms. Constitutional changes in Tatarstan acknowledge the republic’s place within Russia, and, increasingly, its leaders argue that Russia needs more, not less, federalism. The shift is significant — although Tatarstan continues to advocate a different model of federalism, it does so within the context of Russia’s changed presidential politics and how this impacts on federal design. That is not to say that Tatarstan has abandoned its claims for recognition and jurisdiction.

I wish to thank James Hughes, Gwendolyn Sasse, Kim Meier and Natalia Leshchenko for their comments on earlier versions of this paper. The research for this paper was assisted by financial support from the Social Sciences and Humanities Council of Canada and Commonwealth Scholarship Commission.