The political economy of collective memories: Evidence from Russian politics

Abstract

How do political elites reactivate salient collective memories to entrench their power? We study this question examining a government-led recollection campaign of the traumatic transition the Russian population experienced during the 1990s, starting with the year 2003. Using detailed data from national-level TV and radio as well as a text analysis of 3832 regional and local newspapers, we estimate a higher electoral support for the government, and a lower support for the liberal political opposition, in regions that suffered more during the transition period, once negative memories are recalled on state-controlled media. We then provide additional evidence on the mechanism at play, and show how the effect of the newspaper-based recollection campaign is stronger in regions that feature less political competition, and where the governor is a member of the ruling party United Russia.