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The State as Investment Market: A Framework for Interpreting the Post‐ S oviet State in E urasia
Author(s) -
Engvall Johan
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
governance
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.46
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1468-0491
pISSN - 0952-1895
DOI - 10.1111/gove.12064
Subject(s) - state (computer science) , investment (military) , modernization theory , politics , perspective (graphical) , economics , economic system , political science , law and economics , law , computer science , algorithm , artificial intelligence
What type of state has emerged in post‐ S oviet E urasia, and what kind of theoretical framework can help us understand its behavior and performance? This article argues that we can usefully understand the logic of political and administrative organization in terms of a kind of “investment market.” Access to the state is frequently determined by actual financial payment. Would‐be officials invest in offices to obtain access to a stream of income associated with an office. This framework represents a novel perspective on the post‐ S oviet state, which has hitherto either been premised on modernization theory or emphasized a robustly personalistic logic of political organization.