Detentions During Anti-Corruption Rallies of 2017 in Russian Regions: the Analysis of Local Elites' Strategies

This thesis presents the study on the mechanisms that determined the reaction of local elites to anti-government protests of 2017 in the regions of Russia. I consider the effect of "political competitiveness of the region" and "center-peripheral relations" as possible reasons for the variation in the number of detainees during the political actions on March 26 and June 12. The aim of the research is to answer the question, whether the variation of repression in the Russian regions depended on the characteristics of political competitiveness in a region after the anti-corruption rallies in 2017, or it was the result of differences in the level of loyalty of the center to the region? Or do we observe the interaction of both effects? Quantitative analysis using logistic and ZINB-regression demonstrated that correlation between the number of detainees and the selected variables really exists. The effect of the "center-peripheral relations" is more likely to increase the power of political pressure on the opposition in the conditions of Russian authoritarian federalism. However, the study showed another interesting effect among the control variables. The indicators of political heritage in the Russian regions predict the degree of repressiveness quite well.