Candidate Strategies and Electoral Competition in the Russian Federation

Regina Smyth teaches political science at Penn State University. She has written extensively on the role of political parties and elections in Russia's democratic transition. Her work appears in Comparative Politics, Comparative Political Studies, and Politics and Society.

"Regina Smyth offers a persuasive argument explaining why Russia's post-communist transition has failed to result in a consolidated democracy. Emphasizing the crucial role of the choices made by politicians over how to run for parliament under Russia's mixed electoral system, Smyth shows that the aggregate effect of candidates individually-rational decisions is to deprive voters of meaningful choices over parties and policies and to subvert the accountability of government to citizens. The book is based on a substantial body of original data, including surveys of candidates in multiple elections and regions. An insightful account of Russia's political development, the study also has significant implications for other transitional regimes." -Thomas Remington, Emory University

• 1. Elections and the development of democratic capacity; 2. One step forward, two steps back: Russia's failed consolidation in comparative context; 3. The micro-foundations of democratic responsiveness: candidate strategies and electoral infrastructure; 4. Many candidates, few choices; 5. To join or not to join: candidate affiliation in transitional Russia; 6. Finding fit: candidates and their districts; 7. Campaigning for the Duma: mixed markets, mixed messages; 8. Democrats, democratic transitions, and Russian democracy.