Presidentialism and the Development of Party Systems in Hybrid Regimes: Russia 2000–2003

Abstract

This article addresses the relationship between presidentialism and democracy by examining the role of parties in legislative bargaining in the 2000–2003 Russian Duma. Using a novel methodological approach, I empirically identify legislative voting coalitions to investigate whether the president's preference for party-based legislative bargaining prevailed. I find that in contrast to the 1996–1999 Duma, legislative voting coalitions closely followed party lines and that factions representing narrow interests were less relevant. The results demonstrate that presidential politics dominates electoral incentives in this political system and, more broadly, that political parties could be indispensable for regimes in transition to authoritarianism.