Chained by One Chain: Mechanisms of Electoral Mobilization at the Local Level in the Ethnic Republics of Russia

ABSTRACT

Researchers of Russian elections have long noticed that in a number of ethnic republics, the level of electoral mobilization and voters’ political conformism is higher than the average in Russia. Which factors influence a high level of electoral mobilization? How does it work? The article attempts to answer these questions by analyzing qualitative data collected through focus groups in five regions: Bashkortostan, Tatarstan, Komi, Chuvashia, and Yakutia. The results of the study allow us to conclude that a high level of electoral mobilization is the result of a combination of three factors, each of which affects different categories of voters.l

Acknowledgments

The author thanks the anonymous reviewers for their useful comments and Ildar M. Gabdrafikov and Andrey V. Semenov for their help in data collection. I would also like to thank Molly Jane Zuckerman for proofreading the English of this article.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. Mezhregional’naia trudovaia migratsiia // Rosstat. 2019. Available: https://rosstat.gov.ru/storage/mediabank/GhpJyhEX/mtm_2019.pdf, accessed 22.05.2021.

Additional information

Funding

The research was supported by the Academy of Finland, Research Council for Culture and Society, decision number 330470, 14.02.2020 and Aleksanteri Institute at the University of Helsinki, Finland.