Hoping to help fill a lacuna in political studies of post-Soviet Russia, Evans (political science, California State U.-Fresno, US) and Gel'man (political science and sociology, European U., Russia) present 11 papers examining the politics of local government. After three chapters explore historical roots in late Tsarist Russia, another trio of papers examine federal policies toward local government, institution building of local self-government, and local budgets and intergovernmental finance. The final set of five papers focus on regional questions, including the regional dimensions of municipal building, the emergence of the Moscow urban political machine, and energy development and local government in Western Siberia. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)