Factors of Regional Electoral Loyalty: Specifics of Republics within the Russian Federation

During the whole history of federative relations' formation in Russia (until 2004), republics (ethnic subunits with special status and power) presented an example of units eager to be indepedent and showing the lowest level of support to the federal authorities. But today they demonstrate a record-breaking high support to the party and the candidate of power. In my paper I plan to analize this phenomenon and to find possible explanation of the Russian ethnic subunits' electoral loyalty. The first hypothesis of the research is concerned with the determinant nature of so called regional political machines in the process of ethnic units’ electoral loyalty formation. The second hypothesis of the research is that high electoral support of federal authorities in republics within the Russian Federation can be rather connected with the financial and economic factors (such as federal transfers or the accretion of the units’ power in the resource sector).