Cooption of opposition parties in Russian regional parliaments: analysis and dynamics

Abstract

The analysis of the representation (or cooption) of opposition parties in regional parliaments remains an urgent problem, especially in the context of the current 2018–2022 electoral cycle. Studies of representation tend to focus on the results of the “party in power” or the analysis of all legislative assemblies as a whole, ignoring the dynamics of these processes as well as their regional dimension, which is variable and unstable. The study is aimed at generalization and analysis the results of the cooption of parliamentary opposition parties in context of representation in senior positions, both in the context of the analysis of all electoral campaigns from 2003–2022, and to understand the future prospects of the parties during the federal electoral cycle. Using statistical and comparative analysis methods, it was shown that the representation of opposition parliamentary parties is closely related to ability to negotiate with the “party of power”, and that this representation is limited in all the positions and regions analyzed. It was also found that the dynamics of representation is largely unstable and only reaches its diversity for the posts of heads of committees of regional parliaments. The analysis allows not only to assess the presence of leadership positions in the main political opposition parties, but also to assess their dynamics in the regional context and in the context of electoral cycles. These conclusions allow us to make assumptions about the further potential dynamics of party success at the regional level in terms of pressing contradictions and peculiarities.