Legitimising Victories: Electoral Authoritarian Control in Russia's Gubernatorial Elections

We explore the evolution of the Kremlin's election control strategy in response to the reintroduction of gubernatorial elections in 2012. Our analysis focuses on the evolution of four tools used to engineer electoral competition: auxiliary institutions, subnational punishment regimes, ballot co...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inEurope-Asia studies Vol. 70; no. 2; pp. 182 - 201
Main Authors Smyth, Regina, Turovsky, Rostislav
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Abingdon Routledge 07.02.2018
Taylor & Francis
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Subjects
Authoritarianism
Ballots
Candidates
Competition
Elections
Incentives
Manipulation
Punishment
State elections
Voter fraud
Voter turnout
Russia
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Summary:We explore the evolution of the Kremlin's election control strategy in response to the reintroduction of gubernatorial elections in 2012. Our analysis focuses on the evolution of four tools used to engineer electoral competition: auxiliary institutions, subnational punishment regimes, ballot construction, and turnout manipulation. We argue that election managers deploy these mechanisms to maximise victories for state-sponsored candidates while minimising the possibility for post-election protest. The analysis demonstrates that electoral manipulation presents conflicting incentives for the Kremlin and its regional officials. It also shows the critical role that Russia's systemic opposition plays in the electoral management system and regime stability.
ISSN:0966-8136
1465-3427
DOI:10.1080/09668136.2018.1436697