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Abstract
This study empirically evaluates the scope of formal gubernatorial powers in Russia, compares the current state of affairs with the situation registered in 2002, and explains the outcomes and the dynamics of institutional development in the regions by means of statistical analysis. The analysis demonstrates that during the period under observation, the scope of gubernatorial powers increased as a result, to a significant extent, of the federal center’s strategy, which combined centralization with the cooptation of subnational elites. Several intra-regional factors, including electoral systems, the political composition of regional legislative assemblies, and the overall balance of power on the assembly floor, resisted this trend.