Bolshevik Federalism: A Lost Revolution

Federalism had enormous reformist potential in revolutionary Russia. Had the Bolsheviks implemented it successfully, federalism could have brought the country to the threshold of political modernity and marked its new leaders as innovators. This unusual book provides the first in depth examination of the debates on federalism under the Czars and the Bolsheviks'' initial embracing of federation, and it reveals just how close Russia came to establishing the Weberian principle of traditional legal authority. Moreover, Russia''s first federation—the RSFSR—was based on nationality, and its realization could have ended the longstanding process of Russification and, by introducing political pluralism, promoted ethnic reconciliation and stability. At the same time, the decentralization that authentic federalism presupposes could have created change from below, perhaps leading to the formation of civil society. Yet, as Skrobacki explains, the promise was not fulfilled. Bolshevik leaders proved unable to maintain their commitment to federalism, precisely because of its implications for the structure of power. It was their embrace of centralization rather than Marxist principles that undermined federalism in practice and led ultimately to the failure of the Revolution.