國立臺灣大學政治科學論叢

Abstract / Chinese PDF Download

Russia held its parliamentary election on December 4, 2011, and announced the election results the next day. Although the ruling United Russia party led the polls with 49.5% of the vote, this represented a sharp drop compared with the previous elections that landed the party a two-thirds majority in the state Duma. Election observers and opposition parties accused the ruling party of cheating and vote rigging, and used Facebook and Twitter to mobilize nearly ten thousand people the streets in protest. During the protests, five hundred people were arrested, including several reporters. After the presidential election of March 4, 2012, large-scale protests and demonstrations against election fraud erupted again. The protests have clearly had an impact on the re-centralizing Russian state. Putin’s return to presidency and election fraud were the main factors behind the protest. However, the question remains as to whether Russia’s derailed democracy can get back on track. Therefore, this paper examines the results and political impact of the Russian parliamentary and presidential elections, the current state of the Russian media and online networks, the Russian government policies in response to the protests against state control of media and restriction on the activities of the opposition, and how the Russian government manages civil society under “competitive authoritarianism.”