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"Сумерки вертикали"...:
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Governor Bozhenov’s efforts to court the local population make sense only if he is planning for his future in a different type of regime. This kind of politics works in regimes in which local leaders are elected, not appointed. One could say that his attempts to gain popularity are a form of demagoguery, aimed at counterbalancing resistance from local elites. It is that too. But this means that the governor is unable to rely on Kremlin support to undercut the opposition of regional elites. His having to address the local electorate even to solve local inter-elite problems suggests that Russia’s current system of vertical rule has reached a dead end. One way or another, the existence of the people has to be taken into account.
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Governor Bozhenov’s efforts to court the local population make sense only if he is planning for his future in a different type of regime. This kind of politics works in regimes in which local leaders are elected, not appointed. One could say that his attempts to gain popularity are a form of demagoguery, aimed at counterbalancing resistance from local elites. It is that too. But this means that the governor is unable to rely on Kremlin support to undercut the opposition of regional elites. His having to address the local electorate even to solve local inter-elite problems suggests that Russia’s current system of vertical rule has reached a dead end. One way or another, the existence of the people has to be taken into account.
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