Партии и выборы в российских регионах

Магистратура 2020/2021

Статус: Курс по выбору (Российские исследования/Russian Studies)

Направление: 41.04.04. Политология

Кто читает: Департамент политики и управления

Где читается: Факультет социальных наук

Когда читается: 2-й курс, 2 модуль

Формат изучения: без онлайн-курса

Преподаватели: Гайворонский Юрий Олегович

Прогр. обучения: Российские исследования

Язык: английский

Кредиты: 5

Контактные часы: 32

Full Syllabus

Abstract

The course provides students with knowledge of major principles and current dynamic of electoral performance of political parties and candidiates in Russian regions. The subnational dimension of Russian hybrid regime gives us a range of political practices and consequences of changing electoral system. So, there is no surprise that the topic has been in high demand today under institutionalized personalistic rule that uses party politics as a means of stabilizing the regime. The main content of the course is subnational comparative study of evolution political parties. An important component of the course is a focus on the question of how institutional design affects the development of the party system in Russia’s subnational units. The section also includes the review of the evolution of «United Russia» as a dominant party, paying attention to capabilities and obstacles of its institutionalization. The students also will learn the results of subnational (regional and local) election campaigns being focused on the means by which candidates and political parties prepare and present their positions on issues to the voters in different regions. The course also provides the study of factors of electoral behavior emphasizing similarities and differences between Russia and Western democracies. The course introduces the students relevant literature on electoral space. The section covers such topics as regionalization, nationalization and institutionalization of electoral space as well as some aspects of voting volatility and transition. The origins of the relevant notions, research trends and indicators will be considered in the context of regional elections.

Learning Objectives

to give students the comprehensive knowledge of developments in elections at the regional level in contemporary Russia.

Expected Learning Outcomes

students will know basic trends in party politics at the subnational level in Russia
students will know regional consequences of electoral reforms
students will be able to analyze possibilities and constrains of the formation of a dominant party system in the Russian regions
students will be able to measure electoral space at different territorial levels
students will be able to compare and analyze electoral outcomes of gubernatorial elections
students will know the role of local elections in Russia.

Course Contents

Evolution of Political Parties in the Russian Regions in the 1990s
The emergence of political pluralism in Russia: party politics at the national and subnational levels. Tasks and aims of major political parties at the first stages of state- and nation building in Russia. Role of parties in regional politics under Yeltsin. Party politics versus machine politics in the regions. Subnational dimension of federal campaigns (the 1993 and 1995 parliamentary elections; the 1996 presidential elections). Why parties were not in high demand in regions? Party organizations and membership of major parties in the late 1990s: theory and practice.
Party politics in the Russian Regions under Putin
Party politics in the regions as a part of Putin’s recentralization. Stages of the reform. Standardization of electoral and party legislation. Governors and political parties: varieties of relations. State control over political parties. Strategies of subnational political opposition under restrictions on access. The role of small opposition parties and regional blocs in subnational elections: legislative election campaigns in the first decade of the 2000s. Party dynamics in regions after the 2012 political reform – a revival or the “white noise”.
United Russia a dominant party: possibilities and constrains at the subnational level
The origins of United Russia (UR): Unity as a regionally non-rooted party. Unity and regional elites. The role of Otechestvo (Fatherland) in genesis of United Russia. UR’s penetration into regional legislatures. UR and cooptation of governors. Evolution of UR’s regional branches. The dominant party and economic elites. Legislative leadership and loyalty to the party. How united is United Russia: regional cases of political conflicts.
Regional dimension of federal elections: evolution of electoral space and geography in Russia
Electoral geography of Russia: constants and variables. Do societal cleavages exist in Russia? Regions as typical representatives and outliers: how stable is Russian electoral space? Institutionalization of political parties. Party system nationalization: from territorial to functional cleavages. Drivers of nationalization of the vote at the national and subnational levels. The impact of institutional design on electoral outcomes. How do Russian regions vote: the results of the latest parliamentary and presidential elections. Regional dimension of the 2020 Russian Constitutional Referendum.
Gubernatorial elections
Gubernatorial elections before the period of appointments of heads of Russian regions: loyalty and opposition to the Kremlin. Elected and appointed governors: is any difference there? The 2012 political reform: municipal filter and selection of candidates. Competition at gubernatorial elections during the 3rd and 4th presidential terms of Vladimir Putin. Strategies of the Kremin’s election control: punishment, ballot construction, turnout. When the things go wrong: incumbents as defeated candidates.
Parties and elections at the local level
The role of (elected) mayors in Russian politics: between Kremlin-backed and governors-punished. Local elections in non-democratic regimes: basic features and consequences. Local elections as a measure of assuagement of powerful subnational elites. The last of us: the number of elected mayors in decline. Partisanship at the municipal level. Federal and local elections in Russia: can the system be cohesive?

Assessment Elements

Сlass discussions
Exam
A student will be provided with 2 randomly selected questions from the list. It is allowed to choose one of them. A student has got 10 min to prepare herself/himself for the oral reply.

Interim Assessment

Interim assessment (2 module)
0.4 * Exam + 0.6 * Сlass discussions

Bibliography

Recommended Core Bibliography

Campbell, A., & Ross, C. (2009). Federalism and Local Politics in Russia. Routledge.
Kynev, A. (2011). Distinctive Features of Interparty Struggle in the Russian Regions. Russian Politics & Law, 49(2), 70–93. https://doi.org/10.2753/RUP1061-1940490203
Moses, J. C. (2002). Political-Economic Elites and Russian Regional Elections 1999–2000: Democratic Tendencies in Kaliningrad, Perm and Volgograd. Europe-Asia Studies, 54(6), 905–931. https://doi.org/10.1080/0966813022000008456
Panov, P., & Ross, C. (2013). Sub-National Elections in Russia: Variations in United Russia’s Domination of Regional Assemblies. Europe-Asia Studies, 65(4), 737–752. https://doi.org/10.1080/09668136.2013.767581
Panov, P., & Ross, C. (2017). The dynamic nationalisation of voting for United Russia: the stability / instability of regional deviations from national results. https://doi.org/10.1080/21599165.2017.1415886
Reuter, O. (2010). The Politics of Dominant Party Formation: United Russia and Russia’s Governors. Europe-Asia Studies, 62(2), 293–327. https://doi.org/10.1080/09668130903506847
Reuter, O. J. (2017). The Origins of Dominant Parties : Building Authoritarian Institutions in Post-Soviet Russia. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=1491929
ROSS, C., & TUROVSKY, R. (2015). Centralized but Fragmented: The Regional Dimension of Russia’s “Party of Power.” Demokratizatsiya, 23(2), 205–223. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=asn&AN=102849699
Rostislav Turovsky, & Marina Sukhova. (2018). Contemporary Developments In Russia’S Federal And Local Elections: On The Way To A Cohesive Party System? HSE Working Papers.
Rostislav Turovsky. (2016). Russia’S Electoral Space: Change and Continuity in Post-Soviet Perspective. HSE Working Papers.
Smyth, R., & Turovsky, R. (2018). Legitimising Victories: Electoral Authoritarian Control in Russia’s Gubernatorial Elections. Europe-Asia Studies, 70(2), 182–201. https://doi.org/10.1080/09668136.2018.1436697
Timothy Frye, John Reuter, & Noah Buckley. (2011). The Political Economy of Russian Gubernatorial Election and Appointment. HSE Working Papers.

Recommended Additional Bibliography

Bader, M., & Van Ham, C. (2015). What explains regional variation in election fraud? Evidence from Russia: A research note. https://doi.org/10.1080/1060586X.2014.969023
Golosov, G. V. (2017). Legislative Turnover and Executive Control in Russia’s Regions (2003–2014). Europe-Asia Studies, 69(4), 553–570. https://doi.org/10.1080/09668136.2017.1337871
Knyazev, S. D. (2007). Federalism and Elections in the Russian Federation: National and Regional Aspects. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0731126500002213
Kynev, A. V. (DE-588)1021086215, (DE-576)36251318X. (2014). Russia’s September 14 regional elections : strengthening the rules and reducing competition against the background of the Ukrainian crisis / by Aleksandr Kynev.
Slider, D. (2016). United Russia’s “primaries” : a preview of the Duma elections? / by Darrell Slider and Nikolai Petrov.

Course Syllabus