Ekaterina Paustyan (Central European University): The politics of redistribution in Russia

Ekaterina Paustyan (Central European University): The politics of redistribution in Russia

Abstract

Existing studies of redistributive politics concentrate on electoral effects of transfers and study whether politicians favor their core constituents or target swing voters. In autocracies, however, strong regional elites have leverage over federal transfer policy. Expensive projects particularly boost politically determined transfers. When Russia was selected as a host country of 2018 FIFA World Cup, the selection procedure of the tournament’s venues within the country involved significant lobbying on the part of regional elites. Therefore, there is a lot of room in exploring the strategies employed by the regional officials to influence the selection process. This analysis seeks to explain why some regions have been selected as a World Cup venue, while others have not. By employing fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA), it studies an interplay of such factors as the ability of regional elites to deliver high electoral results and to keep stability as well as regions’ administrative capacity and governors’ lobbying skills.

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