ABOUT THIS EPISODE
In this episode, Adrienne Stone sits down with her Constitutional Café co-host and Director the Centre for Comparative Constitutional Studies, William Partlett to discuss his new book Why the Russian Constitutional Matters: The Constitutional Dark Arts (2024).
The book argues that the roots Putin’s vast power lie in the nature of the constitutional transition of the early 1990s, which created a powerful Presidency to ensure a democratic transition and to protect the long list of rights guaranteed in the Constitution. But though effective at the time, Will traces how this Constitution has since allowed Putin to consolidate personal control over Russian politics.
William Partlett is an Associate Professor at Melbourne Law School. A specialist in Russian history, he holds degrees in Russian History as well as a law degree from Stanford University and is a Russian speaker. Professor Partlett’s research takes a historical and comparative approach to questions of public law.
Recommended reading:
Why the Russian Constitution Matters: The Constitutional Dark Arts, William Partlett
Latin American Constitutionalism, 1810–2010. The Engine Room of the Constitution, Roberto Gargarella
Technopopulism: The New Logic of Democratic Politics, Christopher J. Bickerton, Carlo Invernizzi Accetti
The Penguin History of Modern Russia, Robert Service
Constitutional Cafe is a podcast of the Centre for Comparative Constitutional Studies at Melbourne Law School, University of Melbourne. You can find out more about the work of the Centre here.
We acknowledge the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung peoples of the Kulin Nation as the Traditional Owners of the land on which we record, learn, and live.
