Zavadskaya Margarita

№ 3, 2012

• DUMA INCUMBENTS AND “PARTY OF POWER” Cross-temporal analysis

  The phenomenon of the incumbency advantage at the parliamentary elections was observed rather long time ago in the US and many Western European states. Some researchers view an increase in the number of parliamentary long-livers as an indicator of the party system weakening and politics “clientalization”, whereas others, in contrast, regard the presence of the experienced parliamentarians as an important prerequisite for maintaining continuity and stability of legislature. What are the nature and the role of incumbency in the modern Russia? In order to answer this question the author traces the dynamics of the incumbents’ share at the Russian parliament and tries to discover its determinants. She studies changes in the quantity and “quality” of the reelected deputies on the material about the 1995–2007 elections to the Russian State Duma emphasizing the process of institutionalization of the incumbency advantage and its dependency on the institutionalization of the “party of power”.

  DOI: 10.30570/2078-5089-2012-66-3-121-131