A new approach to the preparation of water soluble polymer in inverse miniemulsions is proposed. A redox initiation system consisting of ceric ions and carbohydrate-based surfactant Span 60 as a reducing agent is successfully used for the polymerization of AAm. This initiation system provides chain nucleation and growth near interfacial boundaries. As a result, stable uniform latex with particle radius of about 50-70 nm is obtained. The prepared PAAm has a rather high M-w of up to about 2 x 10(6) Da.