Just Russia - from Second Leg to Footnote?

Author(s): Luke March
Editor(s): Stephen Aris, Matthias Neumann, Robert Orttung, Jeronim Perovic, Heiko Pleines, Hans-Henning Schröder, Aglaya Snetkov
Series: Russian Analytical Digest (RAD)
Issue: 102
Pages: 7-10
Publisher(s): Center for Security Studies (CSS), ETH Zurich; Research Centre for East European Studies, University of Bremen; Institute of History, University of Basel
Publication Year: 2011

At the onset of the 2011-12 election campaign, the left-wing social democratic Just Russia (Spravedlivaya Rossiya, sometimes translated as A Just Russia or Fair Russia) is the fourth-placed party at the national level (with 38 of 450 State Duma seats, making it the smallest of the four parliamentary factions). However, it claims over 400,000 members, making it the second largest membership party after United Russia. Moreover, it is the third-placed regionally, polling at approximately 10 percent of the vote in 2007-2011 and having representatives in 72 regional parliaments. The party is not insignificant then. However, Just Russia (JR) is the only Duma party that may drop out after December 2011, with the consensus of the Russian commentariat that it has failed to develop a stable niche in the party system and will soon become a historical footnote. While this expectation is by no means guaranteed, it is very plausible. Accordingly, this article examines why the considerable potential the party showed at its formation has failed to materialize.

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