ELECTIONS-2021: ON THE ASSESSMENT OF THE ELECTORAL PROSPECTS OF NEW POLITICAL PARTIES

Abstract

The article assesses the electoral prospects of new political parties registered by the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation in 2020, on the eve of the elections of deputies to the State Duma of the Russian Federation, scheduled for September 2021. Based on the results of regional elections held on a single voting day on September 13, 2020, party rhetoric and documents, the author consistently characterizes the electoral potential of the political parties such as «New People», «For Truth», «Green Alternative», and «Direct Democracy Party». The author's judgments are based on the hypothesis that the current electoral potential of new parties, which is fixed at a relatively low level, does not allow us to consider them as competitive and independent subjects in the election campaign at the start of the campaign. The likelihood of certain new parties receiving deputy mandates due to the victory of their candidates in single-mandate constituencies is emphasized. Special attention is paid to the consideration of methods of forming a pool of supporters of new political parties, determined by the specifics of their functioning.