Russian Politics in Transition: Political Parties and Organizations in Russia and the Murmansk Region

Abstract

In this article the development of new political organizations in Russia is discussed. The authors acknowledge the fact that the new parties and organizations are still weak and not well organized. bur they nevertheless play a significant role in the preservation of democracy in Russia. Several stages in the party creation process can be discerned. Before the 1991 attempted coup d'état the Communist Party of the Soviet Union still played a dominant role, while a number of smaller political organizations emerged. After the dissolution of the CPSU. the centre groupings dominated the political scene. Gradually. the level of political polarization increased. as evidenced by the 1993 elections which spelled victory for the post‐communists and ultra‐nationalists. Using sartori's definitions, the authors analyse the party and organizations with the help of a left‐right continuum, which portrays some differences in Russian politics without covering all cleavages. The important regional differences in party formation are illustrated with empirical data from the Murmansk region. During the Gorbachev period a number of informal organizations emerged which gradually developed into parties critical of the CPSU. Initially, social democratic organizations were strong on the Kola Peninsula, but they declined in importance due to internal disagreement. In the 1993 elections, the largest parties in this region were the ultra‐nationalist Liberal Democratic Party and the market‐oriented Russia's Choice. In Russia as a whole, the post‐election period manifested itself in increasing political polarization and successive retreat from the marker‐reform policies. Clearly, the road to a well‐functioning system of parties in Russia is still a long one.