The Russian Law on Subsurface Resources: A Policy Marathon

Abstract

While Putin's presidency offers successful examples of policymaking with some consultation and transparency, negotiation, and compromise, other policy processes were less effective. This article uses the rewriting of the Law on Subsurface Resources, from 2002 to the present, as a case study of a policy process characterized by bureaucratic infighting, delay, shifts and turns in policy preferences, and bitter debate. Legislation and other policy documents created by the major players, and the press, are used to describe and analyze this process. The process itself, not its outcomes, is the focus. The implications of this type of policymaking process for Russian politics is considered.