Ex-Communist Party Choices and the Electoral Success of the Radical Right in Central and Eastern Europe

What explains the proletarization (the increasing embrace by the blue-collar constituencies) of the radical right vote in the countries of post-Communist Europe? I argue that the centrist shift of the ex-Communist left parties along the economic policy dimension drives the electoral success of radical right parties in the region. I show that the programmatic shift of the ex-Communist left parties (as instrumented by the implementation of austerity reforms) opened up their traditional blue-collar constituencies to the redistributive appeals of the radical right parties. I test my argument using several different approaches. First, I examine the relationship between the support for the radical right parties and the ex-Communist left parties’ policy positions using a quantitative cross-country analysis. Second, I provide an overview of the experiences of the four Visegrád Group countries and trace the blue-collar constituencies’ shift away from the ex-Communist left parties to the populist and radical right parties over time, as the left parties became more economically centrist. I then test my argument using constituency-level and individual-level experimental survey data within Hungary. Both methods help establish that the centrist shift of the ex-Communist left parties along the economic policy dimension boosted support for the radical right party. My argument contributes to our understanding of the dynamics of political systems and the rise of the radical right parties in Europe

Different Strokes for Different Folks: Who Votes for Technocratic Parties?

In this study, I look at two types of political actors commonly described as 'populist' in literature - namely, rightwing populists and technocratic leaders like France's Emmanuel Macron and the Czech Republic's Andrej Babiš. While both types of political actors tend to emerge as a response to a decline in trust in established parties and adopt platforms with anti-establishment and monist elements, they also possess noticeably different qualities. Unlike rightwing populists, technocrats lack a distinctive ideological profile and tend to adopt more inclusive rhetoric by appealing to a broadly-defined community of people. When contrasted with supporters of rightwing populists, empirical analysis of supporters of Macron's and Babiš' parties shows that the two have few commonalities. Relatively few examples of such political leadership, the lack of a distinct ideological profile and the variation of their support bases suggest that one should use caution when conceptualizing technocratic populists as a distinct theoretical type

How the Kremlin continued its social media influence campaign in the United States in 2020

Ahead of the 2020 presidential election, there was much concern over the likelihood that Russia would try to influence the vote, much as it did in 2016. In new research, Maria Snegovaya and Kohei Watanabe explore the Kremlin’s recent social media influence campaigns in the United States by analyzing the effectiveness of Russia’s information operations and the susceptibility of specific [...

Political Conservatism in Russia

In this paper I discuss the conservative turn that took place in Russia in the last 15 years comparing it to the recent experience of Hungary and Poland.  I show that to a large extent this backlash is of a socioeconomic nature and reflects the people’s frustration with the downsides of the economic liberalization. Moreover, the depth of the original social transformation determined a society’s ability to resist to the conservative trend. In Russia where the modernization processes were the shallowest, the old political elites could regain power sooner and roll back the society deeper. I also overview different conservative schools of thought in Russia and show Putin manipulated this ideology to strengthen his hold on power

Russlands Machtvertikale bröckelt: Die sinkenden Realeinkommen sorgen für Unzufriedenheit

Wirtschaftliche Faktoren sind für die Unterstützung föderaler Behörden in den russischen Regionen bedeutsam. Wladimir Koslow und Maria Snegovaya zeigen in einer Studie über die Wahlergebnisse von Gouverneurskandidaten, die vom Kreml unterstützt wurden, dass die Wahlergebnisse der Kreml-Kandidaten und die Entwicklung der real verfügbaren Einkommen in einem signifikanten Zusammenhang stehen. Die Ergebnisse dieser Studie werden dann auf die Regionalwahlen am 13. September 2020 übertragen. Der Kreml war aufgrund der durch die Pandemie hervorgerufene Wirtschaftskrise gezwungen, auf massive und bisher beispiellose Wahlmanipulation zurückzugreifen, um den vom Kreml vorher ernannten Kandidaten ins Amt zu helfen. Die Krise war Anlass dafür, dass derart einschneidend in die Wahlgesetzgebung eingegriffen wurde wie schon seit 25 Jahren nicht mehr. Bei Wahlen, die vom Kreml weniger direkt kontrolliert wurden, wie etwa zu den Regionalparlamenten und den Stadträten, waren die Ergebnisse für Kandidaten, die vom Kreml unterstützt wurden, weniger überzeugend. Die Risiken bei Wahlen werden für den Kreml in der Zukunft zunehmen, je mehr sich die sozioökonomische Lage verschlechtert und die Opposition sich weiter mobilisiert

Harvestmen (Arachnida: Opiliones) from the yew and box-tree grove of the Caucasian State Natural Biospheric Reserve, Russia

Faunistic and taxonomic data on the harvestmen from the yew and box-tree grove (Caucasian State Natural Biospheric Reserve, Russia) are presented. 16 harvestmen species from 5 families were found in this Reserve. Four new species (Calathocratus hirsutus Snegovaya, sp. n., Calathocratus minutus Snegovaya, sp. n., Giljarovia kratochvili Snegovaya, sp. n., Caucnemastoma martensi Snegovaya, sp. n.) are describe

Checklist of Aquatc beetles (Coleoptera: Adephaga, Polyphaga) in Azerbaijan Republic

In this checklist 163 aquatic beetles species from 11 families belonging to 46 genera that have been recorded from Azerbaijan are presented. Dytiscidae includes maximum numbers of species This study is based on a generalization of all available literature data

Overview of Arachnids and Arachnology in Iran

An overview of the Arachnida and their study in Iran is provided. Besides ancient poetry, relics (going back to 5,000 YBP), and early medical observations (at least 2,000 YBP), the first published taxonomical observations of arachnids from Iran were in 1807 about scorpions. The superorders Parasitiformes and Acariformes (mites and ticks) have received by far the most attention among all of the Arachnida thanks to their economic and medical/veterinary importance. Occurrences have been noted for over 1,733 species in four orders: Ixodida, Mesostigmata, Sarcoptiformes, and Trombidiformes. The first tick of the Ixodida was described in 1818. The first mite species described from Iran was of the Mesostigmata in 1982. The first member of the Sarcoptiformes named from Iran is uncertain, but the first Iranian species of the Suborder Oribatida was described in 1984 and was likely the first for the order. The first species described from Iran of the Order Trombidiformes were named in 1995. Studies on spiders started in 1874. Spiders are recorded by the occurrences of 764 species. Scorpions number 68 species in Iran and receive a lot of study and are better known compared to mites and spiders on a percentage basis, because scorpions have such a small diversity worldwide. The first Iranian species of Solifugae was described in 1895. The camel spiders are known from 67 species. Pseudoscorpions are recorded by 65 species. The Opiliones are known by 22 named species. The Amblypygi are recorded from Iran by one species described in 2018. </p

An annotated list of the Georgian harvestmen (Arachnida, Opiliones)

Abstract An annotated list of the Georgian harvestmen was prepared based on literature and unpublished collection data, in which 48 species belonging to 19 genera within six families are included. Twenty-seven species are endemic to the Caucasus Ecoregion, while 10 species are endemic to Georgia. Five species are highly specialized cavernicolous ones and are only known from caves. Former subspecies Nemastoma suberbum bacuriana Mkheidze, 1959, is ranked as an independent species, Paranemastoma bacurianum (Mkheidze, 1959) (comb. nov. et stat. nov.); Metaplatybunus hypanicus Šilhavý, 1966, is justified as a junior synonym of Metaplatybunus georgicus Mkheidze, 1952 (syn. nov.)

Parasironidae fam. nov., a Cimmerian lineage of Mediterranean Cyphophthalmi (Opiliones), with the description of three new genera and four new species

A new family of Cyphophthalmi with disjunct Mediterranean distribution, Parasironidae fam. nov., is proposed. The new family comprises four genera and seven species. Cimmerosiro gen. nov., Tirrenosiro gen. nov. and Ebrosiro gen. nov. are described as new genera, and Tirrenosiro axeli gen. et sp. nov., Cimmerosiro krivolutskyi gen. et sp. nov., C. juberthiei gen. et sp. nov. and C. rhodiensis gen. et sp. nov. as new species. Parasironidae stands out by a set of characteristics that we recognize as predominantly plesiomorphic. These characteristics and the present distribution indicate the great age of the family, probably early Mesosoic. We attribute its origin to the western part of the Cimmerian terrane, and its current distribution and diversification of the major clades to geotectonic events during the Mesozoic. Additionally, a new sensory organ (sensilla) has been discovered in Cyphophthalmi. This organ is located on the pedipalp coxae and is believed to have a potential hygroreceptive function