Subnational Variations in Government-Nonprofit Relations: A Comparative Analysis of Regional Differences within Russia

Abstract

This article discusses the evolution of government-nonprofit relations at the regional level in Russia against the background of national-level restrictions on NGOs. Russia recently also introduced supportive policies and the article aims to trace the regional administrations’ reactions to the dual realities of the federal government’s posture towards nonprofits. Considerable variation was found in regional government-nonprofit relationships as well as deviation from national policy stances. Using a subnational comparative framework, this article addresses a gap in the literature and lays the groundwork for future cross-national comparisons of subnational variations of government-nonprofit relations in other authoritarian and hybrid political regimes.

Keywords:

• government-nonprofit relationships
• subnational comparative analysis
• Russia
• federalism
• NGOs
• authoritarianism
• civil society

Acknowledgements

Maria Myasnikova provided crucial research assistance, which we gratefully acknowledge. The article also greatly benefited from Susan Appe’s comments and other feedback at the 15^th JCPA/ICPA-Forum Workshop at Baruch College in 2017 and insightful critiques of the four anonymous reviewers. The usual caveat applies.

Additional information

Funding

This work/article is an output of a research project implemented as part of the Basic Research Program at the National Research University Higher School of Economics (HSE)

Notes on contributors

Stefan Toepler

Stefan Toepler is Associate Professor of Nonprofit Studies in the Schar School of Policy and Government, George Mason University. From 2014 to 2016, he was also a Leading Research Fellow in the Center for Studies of Civil Society and the Nonprofit Sector, National Research University Higher School of Economics, Moscow. His research on nonprofits and philanthropy is frequently internationally comparative in nature.

Ulla Pape

Ulla Pape is a post-doc researcher at the Otto Suhr Institute of Political Science, Freie Universität Berlin. Her research focuses on civil society development and social policy in Russia and Europe.

Vladimir Benevolenski

Vladimir Benevolenski is a Leading Research Fellow at the Center for Studies of Civil Society and the Nonprofit Sector, National Research University Higher School of Economics, Russian Federation. His published research includes economic dimensions of the Russian nonprofit sector and international comparative studies of cross-sectoral cooperation in the delivery of social services.