Legitimacies Conflict: The Evolution of Perceived Legitimacy in Modern Russia

Abstract

The paper proposes a new interpretation of the evolution of legitimacy in Russia based on two pillars: the sociological tradition of legitimacy research, and David Easton’s typology. In this regard, the political process in Russia can be perceived as a conflicting coexistence of various legitimacies. The very conflicting variations begin to prevail in the public consciousness at certain stages of modern Russia existence, not forcing out each other completely. The trends that prevailed in the definition of Russian statehood allow us to distinguish three stages in the legitimacy evolution, which conditionally correspond to each decade of the existence of modern Russia: the “ideological” stage (90s-00s) and the “structural” one (00s-2012). We define the contemporary period as “personal” that emerged after 2012. The current political crisis in Russia is interpreted as a conflict of “structural” and “personal” legitimacy, that is unfolding against the backdrop of attempts by the authorities to compensate for the lack of trust, with technologies of “quick” self-legitimacy.