Opposition in authoritarian regimes - a case study of Russian non-systemic opposition
Opposition in authoritarian regimes - a case study of Russian non-systemic opposition

Summary/Abstract: According to Juan Linz, authoritarian rulers permit limited, powerless political pluralism and organization of elections, but they make it very clear that a change in power is impossible and the opposition cannot take over. Elections in authoritarian regimes are a part of nominally democratic institutions and help rulers to legitimize the regime. They are not free or fair, and therefore do not present any opportunity for the opposition to win and change the political system afterward. The question could be asked, what kind of action the opposition should undertake in order to improve its strength. That is the main problem nowadays for non-systemic opposition in the Russian Federation. On the one hand, the opposition has a problem gaining access to elections, but on the other hand, it knows that even if it could take part, the elections would not be democratic. This article tries to shed light on the strategies of the non-systemic Russian opposition and the possibility of its impact on Russian society when the government tries to marginalize, weaken and eventually destroy the non-systemic opposition. The paper provides a critical analysis of the literature and documents on the topic.

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