Political and Legal Analysis of the 2015 Regional Elections

Student: Shirokaya Veronika

Educational Programme: Political Science (Bachelor)

Year of Graduation: 2016

The research is devoted to the political and legal analysis of the regional elections in 2015. The objective of this study is to examine how "the new rules of the game" in the electoral law changes the nature and results of the regional elections in favor of pro-government candidates and political parties. In the theoretical part of this work, special attention was paid to the identification of formal and informal mechanisms of center influence on the regional elections. The empirical part deals with the analysis of the procedures and results of the election of governors and deputies of regional legislatures. As a result, the initial research hypothesis was confirmed: innovations in the electoral legislation lead to a gradual reduction of competition in the regional elections and, consequently, to increased centralization.

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