Since President Vladimir Putin came to power in Russia in 1999, the country's domestic political process has undergone continuous change; it remains unclear if Russia is on the road toward democracy, diverting from this path, or heading in the opposite direction.To address urgent questions about Russia's post-Soviet democratization process, Elusive Russia brings together the views of four leading experts on Russian state identity and institutional reform to share their original approaches to some key components of today's Russian politics.