Candidate Strategies and Electoral Competition in the Russian Federation

Democracy without Foundation

AvRegina Smyth

Häftad, Engelska, 2012

Del i serien Cambridge Studies in Comparative Politics

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Beskrivning

In the early 1990s, competitive elections in the Russian Federation signaled the end of the authoritarian political system dominated by a single political party. More than ten years and many elections later, a single party led by Russian President Vladimir Putin threatens to end Russia's democratic experiment. Russia's experience with new elections is not unique but it does challenge existing theories of democratic consolidation by showing that competitive elections cannot guarantee successful democratic consolidation. This book explores the conditions under which electoral competition contributes to democratic development by examining impact of elections on democratic consolidation. The theoretic framework focuses on the construction of infrastructure that transforms competitive elections into mechanisms of democratic development and shows how candidates for national parliamentary office systematically chose electoral strategies that undermined Russia's democratic foundation and created the conditions for a new single party autocracy to emerge.

Produktinformation

Utgivningsdatum:2012-07-19
Mått:152 x 229 x 15 mm
Vikt:390 g
Format:Häftad
Språk:Engelska
Serie:Cambridge Studies in Comparative Politics
Antal sidor:260
Förlag:Cambridge University Press
ISBN:9781107404823

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Recensioner i media

"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

Innehållsförteckning

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.