Members and leaders in Russian party organisations

The 2001 law ‘On Political Parties’ and subsequent amendments had the potential to change the relationship within Russian parties between members and leaders. Formally, this legislation strengthened the role of members within parties, but little is known about its de facto effects. In this article, the impact of legislative constraints on member–leader relations is assessed with data from three ‘faces’ [Katz and Mair 1994, p. 4]. of Russian parties: their membership, leadership bureaucracy, and political leadership. The findings of this analysis suggest that party legislation has not significantly constrained the power of leaders, and that other explanations for organisational developments that focus on electoral dynamics have some merit, especially during the more competitive electoral environment of the 1990s and early 2000s.