Semenov Andrey

№ 3, 2017

• "Political Machines" and their "Drivers": Electoral Administration at Local Level

  A.Gilev, A.Semenov and I.Shevtsova analyze correlation between professional career of local authorities and electoral results of the “party of power”, appealing to the explanatory power of a “political machine” concept and relying on the database that includes biographies of municipal heads in three Russian regions. The study shows that heads of local governments, who previously held positions of a deputy mayor, heads of departments or other high posts in local administration, secure better electoral results for the “party of power’ than those with business or legislative backgrounds. Skills of managing local “political machines” are formed within the executive branch, and the “machines” themselves are quite stable. Thus, mobilization of such “machines” does not require either long training or extraordinary abilities from new leaders.

  DOI: 10.30570/2078-5089-2017-86-3-62-80