The Limited Reach of Russia’s Party System: Under-Institutionalization in the Provinces

With the 1999 elections to the State Duma completed and a new president recently elected, a Russian party system, although fragile, is perceptible. Party factions are active and somewhat enduring within the State Duma, Russia's lower house; party identification among citizens, while comparatively low, appears to be increasing; and we can now speak of trends in national legislative elections such that at least some parties endure from one electoral period to the next. Yet, despite these positive gains, a peculiar and possibly enduring characteristic has also developed–a failure of parties to have significantly penetrated the political institutions of most of Russia's 89 provinces. The representation of national parties in both regional legislatures and executives is strikingly low. Further, in most regions, regional political party development is generally faltering. As Russia's party system appears to be slowly institutionalizing along other measures, why have political parties still not managed to penetrate politics in the periphery? […]

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