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Russia’s September 14 Regional Elections: Strengthening the Rules and Reducing Competition Against the Background of the Ukrainian Crisis

Russia’s September 14 Regional Elections: Strengthening the Rules and Reducing Competition Against the Background of the Ukrainian Crisis

Author(s): Aleksandr Kynev
Editor(s): Stephen Aris, Matthias Neumann, Robert Orttung, Jeronim Perovic, Heiko Pleines, Hans-Henning Schröder, Aglaya Snetkov
Series: Russian Analytical Digest (RAD)
Issue: 156
Pages: 2-5
Publisher(s): Center for Security Studies (CSS), ETH Zurich; Research Centre for East European Studies, University of Bremen; Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies, George Washington University
Publication Year: 2014

In the year since Russia held its last round of regional elections on September 8, 2013, the state implemented significant changes in its electoral policy. These changes led to a sharpening of the rules for registering candidates and party lists and a general reduction in the ability of political parties to participate in the political process through institutional means. Following the success of several new candidates and parties in the 2013 elections and the beginnings of an outflow of regional and local elites from the old 'systemic parties' - i.e., the parties currently represented in the State Duma - the state adopted at the end of 2013 and beginning of 2014 a series of measures weakening the institutional influence of the new parties. This process was driven by the deepening political crisis developing since March 2014 in connection with the annexation of Crimea and the further developments in eastern Ukraine. The rapid increase in the influence of the siloviki, the expected worsening of the economic situation, and the new political risks have forced businesses to sharply curtail financing for many political projects and conserve resources to the maximum extent possible.

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