(Point & Counterpoint | By Natalia Zubarevich) In many countries, the state of the economy affects politics. If a country is in long-term economic decline, an election is likely to lead to the transfer of political power. Conversely, high economic growth tends to make it easier for incumbents to remain in power. In Russia, however, the correlation between the economy and politics is quite weak. At the regional level, there is basically no direct link between economic growth and a rise in public support. This brings up two separate aspects that deserve examination: first, the effect of economic trends on the political preferences of the residents of Russian regions, and second, the effect of the level and dynamic of Moscow’s economic development on the modernization of Muscovites’ political behavior. […]
The publication of Point & Counterpoint has come to an end. I would like to thank the Carnegie Corporation of New York for financial support and my dear friends and colleagues at PONARS Eurasia and the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES) for their kind assistance. I am grateful to those who contributed to Point & Counterpoint and those who read it. I hope to meet you again online, on paper, or in person!
– Maria Lipman
