“I Oppose the Regime but I Always Work for ‘Yedinaya Rossiya’”: on the Community of Political Strategists in Modern Russia

Abstract

This article examines institutionalization in the market for political services. In particular, special attention is drawn to political strategists. First, the author reviews academic
discussions around the relationship between authoritarian regimes and electoral processes. Among the important characteristics of “electoral autocracies” the following are highlighted: the presence of a multi-party system, regular parliamentary elections, universal suffrage and other important components of the democratic landscape. The empirical part clarifies the political and economic aspects of election campaigns in the Russian regions. To that purpose, 76 in-depth semi-structured interviews with the main agents of the electoral process in the Russian regions were conducted (ranging from political strategists to a representative of a regional administration). The study covers several main aspects: the formation of the market for political professions in modern Russia; sources of recruitment; the socio-economic status of political strategists; and the features of post-career professional trajectories. The analysis reveals that the formation of a community of political strategists in modern Russia is not yet complete, and election campaigns are a two-pronged process where the boundaries between political business and political process are blurred and the main aspect is not the quality of the provided services but the durability of the process itself.