After Yeltsin abandoned attempts to influence the course of republican transitions from authoritarianism, few republics persevered along clearly democratic paths. This chapter examines the course those transition paths followed, with particular attention paid to the drafting of republican constitutions. Who controlled that process set the political agenda by defining the ‘rules of the game’. The strong presidentialism found in virtually all of the republics is a recurring theme. Ten years of presidential and parliamentary elections are examined to discern the effect of these institutional...

After Yeltsin abandoned attempts to influence the course of republican transitions from authoritarianism, few republics persevered along clearly democratic paths. This chapter examines the course those transition paths followed, with particular attention paid to the drafting of republican constitutions. Who controlled that process set the political agenda by defining the ‘rules of the game’. The strong presidentialism found in virtually all of the republics is a recurring theme. Ten years of presidential and parliamentary elections are examined to discern the effect of these institutional choices. The crude sultanism that emerged in the republic of Kalmykia is examined in detail.