A Rumbling from Below? Opposition Party Rebranding, Regional Elections, and Transforming the Regime in Russia

Abstract

In this paper we examine whether opposition parties, particularly the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF), can promote transition in the electoral authoritarian regime in Russia. We use the example of the National Action Party’s (PAN) evolution as an “official opposition” party in Mexico and discuss how its campaign strategy and party identity evolved. Using a framework derived from the political marketing literature on party branding and rebranding, we argue that the PAN successfully rebranded itself via the electoral opportunities afforded by structure of Mexican federalism, which ultimately led to the democratic transition in 1999. We then address the possibility of a similar evolution occurring in Russia, by examining how the CPRF altered its national campaign message between 2015–2018. Finally, we speculate whether local opposition victories will spark the kind of transition in Russia that occurred in other electoral authoritarian regimes, such as Mexico.

Keywords:

• rebranding
• electoral authoritarian regimes
• democratization
• Mexico
• Institutional Revolutionary Party
• Russia
• Communist Party of the Russian Federation

Notes

1 Siloviki refers to the elite associated with security agencies (who are aligned with Putin).

2 Alexei Navalny later, in November 2019, called for a “smart vote” campaign by improving strategic coordination among voters to oppose UR candidates. According to Turchenko and Golosov (2021) this effort did affect the outcomes of the regional elections in September 2019, and has the potential to affect future elections.

3 This is an interesting distinction within the CPRF. As Light (2021) notes “Leninists” in the KPRF are associated with the reform wing of the party and the “Stalinists” are associated with Zyuganov and the senior leadership. For Konovalov to associate himself with Lenin suggests he has more affinity for the reformist wing of the party.

4 Programma Partii KPRF (CPRF Party Program). Accessed June 24 2020. http://www.kprf.ru/party/program/

Additional information

Notes on contributors

John Ishiyama

John Ishiyama is a professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of North Texas. His research focus is on comparative politics, especially democratization and political parties in post-communist European politics.

Mikhail Rybalko

Mikhail Rybalko is an associate professor of History at the Irkutsk State University.