REGIONAL POLITICAL REGIMES AND THE IMAGE-BUILDING STRATEGIES OF RUSSIAN GOVERNORS (2017–2022)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17072/2218-1067-2025-3-71-85Keywords:
regional political regimes, image of power, legitimation of power, power vertical, social media, image-building strategies, authoritarianism, patrimonialismAbstract
This article analyzes the relationship between regional political regimes and the image-building strategies employed by Russian governors to legitimize their power from 2017 to 2022. The central hypothesis is that the regional political context shapes the tools governors use for public positioning. The methodological framework combines Y.Gaivoronsky’s three-axis model for classifying regional regimes with critical discourse analysis of content from the social network VKontakte. The findings confirm that the regional political system determines not only the choice of communication tools but also the extent to which these tools are adapted to the centralized vertical structure of power. Furthermore, a governor's territorial origin influences communication styles. Outsiders tend to use confrontational tactics, while local leaders are more inclined toward rationalization. The study highlights the role of the regional context as a framing institution that determines the ground rules for image strategies. It contributes to the understanding of political legitimation mechanisms in a federal system and expands the methodological toolkit for analyzing subnational political processes.References
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