Contacting and Complaining

This article analyzes mass political participation as a factor contributing to the failure of Russian democracy. Data from public opinion surveys and firsthand interviews are used to evaluate patterns in Russian citizens' engagement in nonvoting political participation from the late Soviet era to the present. The article asks whether Russians expanded their participation in acts constraining elites, such as party-development work and protests, and investigates practices of contacting public officials, considering the implications of contacting for the deepening of democratic institutions. The factors contributing to patterns of participation, including the weakness of Russia's party system and the paucity of Russian civil society, are also discussed

Civil society · Democracy · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Public opinion · Sociology · Work (physics · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Engineering · Law · Political Conflict and Governance · Political Influence and Corporate Strategies · Public Administration

• Social capital and collaborative governance in rural areas of Kazakhstan

  Open Access•Gulnur Makulbayeva, Kairat Bodaukhan et al.•Central Asian Survey•2026

  Incluir item

• Political participation of the participants in the protests against dictatorship

  Open Access•Jelena Pešić•Sociologija•2017

  Incluir item

• Protest in the Provinces

  Allison D Evans•Protest in the Provinces•2025

  Incluir item

• Political Culture and Participation in Russia and Kazakhstan

  Open Access•Yerkebulan Sairambay•Slavonica•2021

  Incluir item

• The Case of the Soviet Union During the Brezhnev Era

  Martin K Dimitrov•Russian History•2014

  Incluir item

• The political geographies of religious sites in Moscow’s neighborhoods

  Meagan Todd•Eurasian Geography and Economics•2017

  Incluir item

• Public opinion on human rights in Putin-era Russia

  T P Gerber•Journal of Human Rights•2017

  Incluir item

• Political participation in European countries

  Open Access•Marc Hooghe, Ellen Quintelier•Comparative European Politics•2013

  Incluir item

• Crowding Out Civil Society

  Leah Gilbert•Europe Asia Studies•2016

  Incluir item

• Internal Government Assessments of the Quality of Governance in China

  Open Access•Martin K Dimitrov•Studies in Comparative…•2015

  Incluir item

• Islam, gender segregation, and political engagement

  Open Access•Sarah Sunn Bush, Lauren Prather•Political Science Research and…•2021

  Incluir item

• Putin, Popular Protests, and Political Trajectories in Russia

  Karrie Koesel, Karrie J Koesel et al.•Post-Soviet Affairs•2012

  Incluir item

• Symbolic state-building in contemporary Russia

  Susanne A Wengle, Christine Evans•Post-Soviet Affairs•2018

  Incluir item

• What it takes to win when the game is rigged

  Yana Gorokhovskaia•Democratization•2019

  Incluir item

• Authoritarian Information Gathering amid Crisis

  Sasha De Vogel, Hannah S Chapman et al.•Comparative Politics•2025

  Incluir item

• Shoring Up Autocracy

  Open Access•Hannah S Chapman•Comparative Political Studies•2021

  Incluir item

• Complaint-making as political participation in contemporary Russia

  Open Access•Laura A Henry•Communist and Post-Communist…•2012

  Incluir item

• The legacy of compliant activism in autocracies

  Alexander Libman, Kozlov et al.•Contemporary Politics•2017

  Incluir item

• Dissatisfied and Critical Citizens

  Open Access•Robert Bartłomiejski, Maciej Kowalewski•Society•2019

  Incluir item

• Polyarchy

  Robert Alan Dahl•Polyarchy•1973

  Incluir item

• Democracy from Scratch

  M Steven Fish•Democracy from Scratch•1996

  Incluir item

• The Politics of Lodging Complaints in Rural China

  Open Access•Kevin J O’brien, Kevin J O'Brien et al.•The China Quarterly•1995

  Incluir item

• Access to Power

  Joan M Nelson•Access to Power•1979

  Incluir item

• Political Participation in the USSR

  Theodore H Friedgut•Political Participation in the USSR•1983

  Incluir item

• Economic Autonomy and Democracy

  Open Access•Kelly M Mcmann•Economic Autonomy and Democracy•2006

  Incluir item

• Democracy Derailed in Russia

  Open Access•M Steven Fish•Democracy Derailed in Russia•2005

  Incluir item

• Problems of Democratic Transition and Consolidation

  Juan J Linz, Juan Linz et al.•Problems of democratic transition…•1996

  Incluir item

• The Moral Universe of Aggrieved Chinese Workers

  Isabelle Thireau, Hua Linshan et al.•The China Journal•2003

  Incluir item

• Soviet nostalgia

  Sarah E Mendelson, T P Gerber•The Washington Quarterly•2005

  Incluir item

• Voice and Equality

  Henry Brady, Sidney Verba et al.•Voice and Equality•1995

  Incluir item

• Political Action

  Open Access•Roberta S Sigel•Political Science Quarterly•1980

  Incluir item

• Soviet Political Culture and “Covert Participation” in Policy Implementation

  Open Access•Wayne Difranceisco, Zvi Gitelman•American Political Science Review•1983

  Incluir item

• The Dynamics of Presidential Popularity in Post-Communist Russia

  William Mishler, John P Willerton•The Journal of Politics•2003

  Incluir item

• Public and Private Cycles of Socio-Political Life in Putin's Russia

  Elena Chebankova•Post-Soviet Affairs•2010

  Incluir item

• Putin and the "Delegative Democracy" Trap

  Henry E Hale, Michael Mcfaul et al.•Post-Soviet Affairs•2004

  Incluir item

• Resigned Acceptance of an Incomplete Democracy

  Richard Rose, Natalie Munro et al.•Post-Soviet Affairs•2004

  Incluir item

• Citizens and Soviets

  Theodore H Friedgut•Comparative Politics•1978

  Incluir item

• The Concept of Political Participation

  Patrick J Conge, Samuel H Barne et al.•Comparative Politics•1988

  Incluir item

• The Dual State in Russia

  Richard Sakwa•Post-Soviet Affairs•2010

  Incluir item

• Thinking about Democracy

  Open Access•Ellen Carnaghan•Slavic Review•2001

  Incluir item

• Local Soviets, Public Order, and Welfare After Stalin

  Open Access•Stephen V Bittner•The Russian Review•2003

  Incluir item

• Soviet Citizen Participation on the Eve of Democratization

  Open Access•Donna Bahry, Brian D Silver•American Political Science Review•1990

  Incluir item