Tag Archives: united_russia

No questions allowed

Posted on November 4, 2021 by

The expulsion of a sitting Duma deputy from United Russia for breaking party discipline has very few precedents. It may thus foreshadow the ruling party’s approach to legislating in the years leading up to 2024 and possibly also serves as … Continue reading →

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A mirror, a rehearsal, a vote

Posted on September 24, 2021 by

The 2021 Duma election started exactly a week ago and ended with a result that most people expected and feared: a renewed United Russia supermajority, propped up by fraud, intimidation and a toolbox of tricks. The election will no doubt … Continue reading →

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The 225 meanings of legitimacy

Posted on August 2, 2021 by

Amidst an increasingly harsh crackdown on dissent, a crisis of legitimacy haunts the Duma elections that will take place in seven weeks. But what does this actually mean? I argue that Russia in 2021 is not Belarus in 2020, but … Continue reading →

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Primary rehearsal

Posted on June 5, 2021 by

The governing United Russia party held its “primaries” (irritatingly “translated” to Russian as праймериз) in the last week of May. The votes were totaled and a party congress will, on June 19, approve a list of candidates for the September … Continue reading →

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Three tales from the regions

Posted on February 22, 2021 by

In Ernest Hemingway’s novel, “The Sun Also Rises”, a character, Mike is asked how he went bankrupt. He answers: “Two ways. Gradually, then suddenly.” This is also how political change often happens. Small-scale, incremental changes that go unnoticed prepare the ground for something … Continue reading →

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Elections ahead

Posted on January 9, 2021 by

This year Russia will hold nation-wide legislative elections and the talk of the town, for months, have been whether the Kremlin’s expectation is for United Russia, which presently holds 343 of 450 seats – a comfortable constitutional supermajority – in … Continue reading →

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NY Dispatches: Regional constitutional courts

Posted on November 22, 2020 by

This week the State Duma voted to approve the liquidation of regional constitutional courts. According to the law, which implements this year’s constitutional reform, regional constitutional courts will be abolished by 2023. They may be replaced by “constitutional councils” functioning … Continue reading →

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