DYNAMICS OF CONTENTION UNDER ELECTORAL AUTHORITARIANISM IN RUSSIA

Abstract

Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, it seemed that Russia had begun a transition towards democratization. However, in December 2011 Russians again took to the streets to defend their democratic rights. The brutal reaction of the authorities exposed the contradiction between declared democratic principles and the authoritarian nature of Russia’s governance. This thesis contributes to the scholarship by offering a theory of the effect of Russia's political regime on the mass protests of 2011-2012. It argues that the introduction of democratic institutions and liberal rhetoric in authoritarian state gave people legal political opportunities to protest and created a favorable environment for the emergence of organizational structures to challenge the authoritarian power. Moreover, these facilitated the formation of powerful frames based on public perception of a broken promise of democracy. This combination of specific mechanisms of contention and regime type created sufficient conditions to explain a particular episode of contention.