The Movement of Election Observers in Russia: Social Composition, Factors and Dynamics of Development

Pre-defense of Yulia Skokova's Ph.D. thesis 'The movement of election observers in Russia: social composition, factors and dynamics of development' was successfully held within the framework of the meeting of the International Laboratory for Social Integration Research on April 29.

The choice of the case of the movement of election observers is justified by the fact that it is a rare case of mass mobilization of Russian citizens, caused by supraindividual factors outside the limits of private interests, and not focused on the very widespread social targeted assistance or participation in one-time protest collective actions. Developing in the context of low faith in the electoral system on the part of citizens and the blurred connection between election results and institutional changes. The movement of election observers nevertheless emerged in 2011-2012 and actively developed over the next few years.

The dissertation raises questions about how and in what conditions the mass movement of election observers was formed in Russia. What is its social composition and dynamics of development? The theoretical basis of the research is a complex of classical and modern theories of social movements, critically systematized according to the main research issues. The work is based on mixed data collection methods - a series of online surveys serving as the main data source complement the results of expert interviews.

After the report, the participants discussed the peculiarities of the Russian context in the study of the movement of observers, and raised an important issue for this study about the changes in the practice of observing elections today.