Project “Profiles in Transition”

Introduction

The University of Saskatchewan was awarded management of the Yeltsin Democracy Fellowship Program (YDFP) by the Government of Canada in 1992. From 1993 to 2003, the YDFP supported the economic and political reform process of the Russian Federation by training senior government officials and executive employees in the public service, private sector entrepreneurs, and managers and leaders from non-governmental organizations.

Each year, the YDFP introduced Russian Fellows to different approaches to public sector management, to private sector development, and to non-governmental organization. To date, the program has graduated hundreds of Fellows who are important actors in Russia’s reform process. While there is considerable diversity among the YDF Fellows, in the years to come, they will carry the mantle for strengthening the public service, and the private sector and be the advocates for social, economic and political change in society.

The Profiles in Transition book project was conceived to provide a forum for Fellows to communicate their experiences, highlight their accomplishments and setbacks, and outline their perspectives on economic, political and social change, as well as appropriate roles for external assistance. Authors were invited to present their perspectives, inform current policy, and stimulate debate on current challenges facing the development of democratic institutions and a market-driven economy. This book seeks to provide new insights on the evolving nature of Russia’s economic and political transition by commentators who have a unique and a comparative vantage point, but who do not generally have an avenue to express their views.