How and why do the rule of law ideas shape the origins and functioning of the Russian state and society? This book explores how, over two centuries, the Russian meaning of the rule of law has been reflected in the legal doctrine, legislation, formal and informal practices of legal and political institutions, and also everyday life and the perceptions of Russian citizens at large and certain minority groups. The authors argue that legal dualism – the tension between constitutionalism and political expediency – explains the rise and fall of multiple ways in which the parts of the Russian state interact with each other and with citizens, and in which citizens and businesses interact among themselves both at home and abroad. Explaining the peaceful co-existence of these multiple ways of law, this book goes beyond the mainstream accounts of instrumental uses of law and lawlessness in Russia and offers novel ways of understanding the myriad ways in which law may matter in authoritarian regimes.