The Effects of the Economic Crises on Political Stability in Oil-dependent Countries: Venezuela and Russia as Case Studies

The question about political stability is always open to the debate. Every nation, state try to find its own formula to avoid political crises by the use of the internal institutions and norms. Petropolitics - is an oil-resource based policy-making approach. Oil in this sense is a power, which can be used by the actor, for instance, state, in the conditions of foreign affairs. This work will show the Venezuela and Russia case studies analysis. The main aim is to find the specific conditions, which tend to prevent political crises and instability. Both states have partially the same regime type, including differences of cultural, social, and historical perspectives. However, this research will show how particular patterns: regime acceptance, elite interconnection, and resource allocation influence political stability. Moreover, this work helps to understand the mistakes in both economic and political sectors and tries to answer the question “What explains the difference between Russia and Venezuela in terms of how the economic crisis translates into political instability?”. The analysis will illustrate the internal-political structure – the interconnection of elites, its influence on the regime acceptance. Furthermore, it will include the analysis of the economic system, which will show resource differentiation. Thus, the analysis will justify that political stability can be supported by a strong elite network, a high level of regime acceptance, and resource differentiation.