Social status of legal opposition in modern Russia (based on the material of publications of the Liberal-Democratic Party of Russia

Abstract

The goal of this work is to determine the social status of legal opposition in Russia based on the classical analysis. The object of this research is publications of the Liberal-Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR). The theory developed by Karl Mannheim serves as methodological framework for this work. It is determines that the representatives of the Liberal-Democratic Party of Russia belong to one of the groups of political elite that filled a relatively unpretentious niche. At the same time, the key (and perhaps the only) resource of the party is political one. Electoral support is the aspect the party can really rely on. Nationalism and anti-Semitism also are of populist nature, since they do not receive any due theoretical substantiation in the analyzed party documents. The party does not represents interest of large capital. Moreover, on the permanent basis LDPR leadership does not represent interests of any social group, besides the one they belong to. Reduction of the socioeconomic issues to the question of moral and business qualities of the ruling elite and possibility for its rotation suggest that the Liberal-Democratic Party of Russia is satisfied with the current political regime and socioeconomic formation. The struggle is only for expansion of the filled niche. The aforementioned factors, along with the absence of sustainable and resourceful social backbone, leads to the thought that the existence of liberal democrats in Russia is directly or indirectly supported by the ruling elite.