Comparative Ethnic Territorially Based Autonomy in Tatarstan, Bashkortostan, and Yakutia of Russia: An Analytical Framework

• Published in: Nationalities Papers
• Main Author: Tsakhirmaa, Sansar
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 2020
• Subjects: Political Science and International Relations; History; Geography, Planning and Development; Yakutia
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/nps.2019.77; https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0090599219000771

Abstract This article proposes an analytical framework to address why implemented autonomy outcomes may differ across ethnic republics in the Russian Federation. Composed of a long-range factor, inter-ethnic boundary making, and a short-term factor, titular elites’ representation in the ethno-regional state, the framework is applied to a synchronic comparison of three republics of Russia with differing autonomy outcomes for the 2010s, Tatarstan, Bashkortostan, and Yakutia, reliant upon state-generated data and fieldwork. Titular elites’ representation in the ethnoregional state is used as a proxy for titular elites’ bargaining capacity with the central state. It is argued that an “integration–distinction balance,” or rather, higher inter-ethnic integration combined with robust consciousness of inter-ethnic distinction, can contribute to titular elites’ bargaining capacity with the center, which can lead to greater autonomy outcome for the ethnic republic.