Abstract. The author of reviewed book believes that Russia is once again faced with the problem of finding an adequate model for its internal setup as well as its place in the world at the time of globalization. As long as the country fails to launch a really comprehensive modernization, it will remain at the periphery of major world processes. The democratization steps of 1980–1990 proved to be reversible. A plebiscitarian bureaucratic regime has been formed. The executive power is not duly balanced by the Parliament, the courts and the institutions of civil society. Under such circumstances a lasting stability has not been achieved. The question remains open: who can become an agent of necessary democratic transformations without undermining stability of the society.