Regimeutvikling og tvangsmakt i Putins Russland

Abstract

Regime development and coercive power in Putin's Russia

The literature on competitive authoritarian regimes offers valuable insights into how such regimes are established, and the standardized repertoire of repression that they employ. However, such regimes are not static, and the recurrent possibility of societal and electoral protests makes maintenance and containment of domestic political protest a primary task. This article discusses the role of selective law enforcement in Russia in the period from 2013 to 2021 and discusses the effect of law enforcement on regime developments. It argues that while selective law enforcement has served to maintain an authoritarian regime, the scale and magnitude of coercion and coercive measures is a greater challenge to regime stability than demonstrations and political mobilization.