Book Review: Ruling Russia: Law, Crime, and Justice in a Changing Society

• Author: Thomas S. Pearson
• Date: 01 March 2007
• Published date: 01 March 2007
• DOI: 10.1177/1057567707299322
• Subject Matter: Articles

The book provides three separate chapters describing the drug control systems found in France,

Holland, and Sweden. Here, the author provides readers with a thoughtful description, analysis, and

understanding of the major components of each nation’s drug-fighting strategies, accompanying this

structural discussion with an elaboration of the political, social, and cultural factors and traditions

that have helped to shape those policy choices. This material is extremely interesting and clearly

demonstrates that there is no central, unified, European approach to drug control and that there prob-

ably never will be. Rather, each of these countries has forged a unique approach to the commonly

shared problems associated with illicit drug use, and these choices have been consonant with their

traditions, history, and belief systems.

Ultimately, Boekhout van Solinge has done an outstanding job of convincing readers that drug

control strategies are truly national affairs and, as such, reflect the unique cultures from which they

emanate. He provides a coherent account of how and when each of these three nations adopted its

modern approach to drug problems, noting their similarities and differences. Modern efforts to har-

monize European drug approaches have concerned some of the participants, but Boekhout van

Solinge suggests that there is little likelihood that we will ever see the emergence of a pan-European

drug control apparatus. Rather, he suggests that the 25 nations will move some distance in the direc-

tion of shared policies while managing to retain their individuality. Thus, for example, Sweden and

the other Nordic countries are likely to retain their strict prohibitionist ideologies and to reject out

of hand any reference to harm reduction, whereas France will continue in its middle-of-the-road sta-

tus and Holland will always be pushing the envelope of policy intervention.

The author does not directly say that any one system of drug control is superior to any other,

although it is hard to come away from this treatise without viewing Dutch methods as more reason-

able and successful than the others. Boekhout van Solinge emphasizes that drug control policy is not

just about drugs, however, for many latent functions are served by these methods as well. To clearly

understand what is happening, we need to study each of these functions within the context of an indi-

vidual society’s history, and only then can we begin to glimpse the hidden text, the underlying rea-

sons for staying the course even when the measurable results of our efforts seem so paltry, perhaps

even counterproductive.

Bruce Bullington

Florida State University, Tallahassee

Pridemore, W. A. (Ed.). (2005). Ruling Russia: Law, Crime, and Justice in a Changing Society.

Latham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.

DOI: 10.1177/1057567707299322

For many Russians, the post-Soviet era of democratic reform and market economics has brought

turmoil and disillusionment. This book, with its focus on Russian law, crime, and the judicial sys-

tem, shows why. Edited by William Alex Pridemore, an expert on homicide, violence, and social

change in contemporary Russia, the book includes contributions by many of the foremost specialists

on these topics. In several instances, the authors have worked with the Russian government in

reforming the laws and judicial institutions they analyze.

The book is organized into three sections. The first part, on the law, features chapters by Richard

Sakwa and Linda Cook that trace the rise of the hegemonic presidency of Vladimir Putin at the

expense of the parliament. These chapters provide context to essays on the changing courts and judi-

cial procedure by Olga Schwartz and on the development and implementation of the 2001 Criminal

Book Reviews 77