• Research
  • Emissary
  • About
  • Experts
Carnegie Global logoCarnegie lettermark logo
DemocracyIran
  • Donate
Popular Choice and Managed Democracy
Book

Popular Choice and Managed Democracy

Demonstrates key trends in an extinct superpower, a troubled country in whose stability, modernization, and openness to the international community the West still has a huge stake.

Link Copied
By Michael McFaul and Timothy J. Colton
Published on Sep 3, 2003

Source: Brookings Institution Press, 2003

Twice in the winter of 1999-2000, citizens of the Russian Federation flocked to their neighborhood voting stations and scratched their ballots in an atmosphere of uncertainty, rancor, and fear. This book is a tale of these two elections—one for the 450-seat Duma, the other for President. The book also demonstrates key trends in an extinct superpower, a troubled country in whose stability, modernization, and openness to the international community the West still has a huge stake.

About the Author
Micheal McFaul is a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment and associate professor of political science at Hoover Institution, Stanford University. He is the author of Between Dictatorship and Democracy: Russian Post-Communist Political Reform and Russia's Unfinished Revolution: Political Change from Gorbachev to Putin.

Timothy J. Colton is professor of government and Russian studies in the Department of Government and director of the Davis Center for Russian Studies at Harvard University. His previous books include Moscow: Governing the Socialist Metropolis (Harvard, 1995), named best book in government and political science 1995 by the Association of American Publishers.

"This is an excellent book, and an unusually valuable contribution to the growing literature on Russian electoral behavior. It brings together the skills and knowledge of two top scholars of Russian politics, and does so in an accessible, crisply written style. It will be a standard source on this election cycle for a long time."
—Thomas F. Remington, Professor and Chair, Department of Political Science, Emory University

"This is one of those rare books that combines policy relevance with the kind of argumentative rigor that will satisfy even hard-core social scientists. Written by two of the West's best known academic specialists on Russian politics, it is almost certain to become regarded as one the best (if not the best) books on the 1999-2000 election cycle."
—Henry E. Hale, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Indiana University

About the Authors

Michael McFaul

Former Senior Associate

In addition to his role at Carnegie, McFaul is Peter and Helen Bing Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution and associate professor of political science at Stanford University.

Timothy J. Colton

Authors

Michael McFaul
Former Senior Associate
Michael McFaul
Timothy J. Colton
EconomyTrade

Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.

More Work from Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

  • Commentary
    Carnegie Politika
    How Will Trump and Putin’s Diesel Deal Impact Russia and Global Markets?

    Without a ceasefire with Ukraine on attacking each other’s energy infrastructure—to which the Kremlin is unlikely to agree—the diesel agreement between Putin and Trump is largely for show, rather than representing a genuine increase in the volumes of Russian diesel on the global market.

      • Sergey Vakulenko

      Sergey Vakulenko

  • Commentary
    Carnegie Politika
    Stalled at the Front, Russia Seeks to Undermine Ukraine’s Economic Capacity

    Russian strikes are weakening the economy sustaining Ukraine’s war effort. Closing the growing funding gap will require more European support and politically contentious reforms in Kyiv.

      Balázs Jarábik

  • Commentary
    Strategic Europe
    How the EU’s Single Market Could Unlock Enlargement

    Much has been said of the changes Brussels is trying to make to the EU enlargement process. Here’s why gradual integration might—or might not—be the answer.

      Dimitar Bechev

  • Crowds and businesses on the streets of Colombo, Sri Lanka
    Article
    Sri Lanka’s Economic and Geopolitical Balancing Act

    Economic recovery has brought Sri Lanka a modicum of stability, but domestic strains and great-power rivalry could test how long it lasts.

      • Avinash Paliwal

      Avinash Paliwal

  • A view of a bus shelter at 18th and K St's NW where a poster and electronic billboard displays the current U.S. National debt per person and as a nation at 40 Trillion dollars on August 30, 2026 in Washington, DC.
    Paper
    The Debt Toll Booth: A Modular Solution to Addressing Sovereign Debt Crises

    Policy proposals on sovereign debt must both match the scale of the challenge and be implementable within existing political constraints. 

      David McNair

Get more news and analysis from
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Carnegie global logo, stacked
1779 Massachusetts Avenue NWWashington, DC, 20036-2103Phone: 202 483 7600
  • Research
  • Emissary
  • About
  • Experts
  • Donate
  • Programs
  • Events
  • Blogs
  • Podcasts
  • Contact
  • Annual Reports
  • Careers
  • Privacy
  • For Media
  • Government Resources
Get more news and analysis from
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
© 2026 Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. All rights reserved.