Introduction

This chapter concerns the formation and development of political parties in Russia over the course of four distinct periods, dubbed here: (1) late-Soviet (1988–91), and characterized by the struggle of Russian political society against the Communist party-state, a struggle in which political parties first appeared; (2) postcommunist (1991–93), a period marked by the ascendance of the executive, its duel with the legislature for authority, and the consequent reconfiguration – and degeneration – of the party system; (3) Fifth Duma (1993–95), defined by the constitutional order imposed by the president following the elimination of his antagonists in the Supreme Soviet, one in which new legislative elections stimulated party development even while the negligible authority exercised by the legislature inhibited the influence of parties and thus restricted their development; and (4) elections to the Sixth Duma (1995–), which includes a survey of the election campaign and the balloting of December 17. The central problem that we address involves the relative weakness and incoherence of Russian parties and, attendantly, the rather marginal role that they have played (in most respects) in the country's government and political life. We use two related sets of categories to frame this problem, examining the way in which it has appeared concretely in the respective periods and outlining changes in its manifestation over time.

The first set of categories – “identity” and “interest” – refers to that which political parties express.