Russian movement for 'open government': issues of civic engagement in politics

Abstract

The paper concerns contemporary trends and issues of transparency, participation and collaboration in governmental activities in Russia. Building an 'open government' is based on the institutionalisation of access for citizens to the sphere of governmental activities and transformation of government. Its implementation, however, has resulted in a certain gap between the three major clusters of the movement for open government: governmental, presidential and civil. The paper analyses the structural and ideological movement for open government in Russia. Using a network approach, the author describes the main clusters of the movement for open government, and particularly the structure of political opportunities they create for civic engagement in public policy but also for authoritative control over it. The paper is based on a study of 154 actors of open government using network analysis.