Order through incidents? Instruments of development policy under Mishustin

The plethora of policy instruments that has been typical of Putin’s presidencies has not abated under the prime ministership of Mikhail Mishustin – models, initiatives and incidents have been added to strategies, concepts, directions, and so on. Mishustin has put particular stress on the on-line, real-time monitoring of progress in meeting goals, along with organisational efforts to introduce urgency and prioritisation. Here, after a review of developmental policy instruments up to Mishustin’s appointment in 2020, a description and evaluation of his efforts in the 5 years since are offered. It is found that he has not succeeded in overcoming the seemingly inherent Russian problems of prioritisation and coordination, the consequent tendency to include everything in its development planning and so spread resources thinly, which in turn has contributed to the urge to micro-manage the use of those resources.