Features of municipal-level election campaigns in the capitals of the Tver, Belgorod and Kostroma regions

Abstract

The article deals with the peculiarities of the course of election campaigns in the municipal representative bodies of the cities of Tver and Kostroma. The article is part of a larger study on the peculiarities of the course of election campaigns in the capitals or administrative centers of the subjects of the Russian Federation in the Central Federal District, which focuses on the problems of three subjects and compares the research material from these subjects with general district trends and features. Tver, Belgorod and Kostroma represent a wide geographical range and three peculiar examples of the course of election campaigns in large municipalities. The study revealed such common features as low turnout, rather weak competitiveness, the use of black PR and other shadow technologies, the traditional representation of lobbying structures in municipal parliaments, as well as the mobilization of "parliamentary opposition parties" and small parties at the last election campaigns in the elections of the type we study. The article acquires particular importance within the framework of the work of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation (and subsequent legislative instances) on Draft Law No. 1256381-7 «On general principles of the organization of public power in the subjects of the Russian Federation», where special attention is supposed to be attributed to the order of election and aspects of regulation of the work of municipal parliaments of the capitals of the subjects of the Russian Federation.