Niches of agency:managing state-region relations through law in Russia

In: Fondahl , G , Filippova , V , Savvinova , A , Stammler , F & Hoogensen Gjørv , G 2019 , ' Niches of agency : managing state-region relations through law in Russia ' , Space and Polity , vol. 23 , no. 1 , pp. 49-66 . https://doi.org/10.1080/13562576.2019.1594752

Abstract

State-region relations involve negotiations over the power to (re)-constitute local spaces. While in federal states, power-sharing ostensibly gives regions a role over many space-making decisions, power asymmetries affect this role. Where centralization trends may erode regional agency, law can provide an important tool by which regions can assert influence. We examine a case where, in response to a proposed Russian federal law highly unpopular with a regional population, the region's government sought to ameliorate its potential impacts by using opportunities to co-produce the law, amending regional legislation, and strategically implementing other federal and regional laws to protect its territory.