Unfortunately they probably won’t. Not for the foreseeable future, because Putin is genuinely popular and his party is bolstered by the fact that both the economy and the Ukraine conflict are going well.
Describing United Russia as far right is also not entirely accurate, it’s more like a catchall for anyone who is not a communist and not a western stooge. It includes some very right wing and nationalistic elements, but they are generally quite careful to marginalize those kinds of far right elements that would be destabilizing for the Russian state:
Ethno-nationalists who would create conflict and friction with Russia’s many ethnic minorities, outright Nazis many of whom defected and now fight for Ukraine in Nazi units like the “Russian Volunteer Battalion”, etc.
For now the greatest influence the communists can exert comes from their position as the most powerful opposition. It is important to keep it that way and build up the party’s social base (its connection to the masses and the labor front) until the united bourgeois front that Putin has built fractures.
Aren’t they basically a DemSoc party nowadays? I remember reading that their policies are terribly watered down from ML principles. If I am wrong someone please educate me
They are fairly watered down at this point, but still much further left than any western party from my understanding. I could them moving things towards something akin to the Chinese model.
I think their aspirations are akin to Scandinavia from what I’ve seen, I struggle to see how they could pursue the Chinese model which is still rooted in Marxist principles. Again, if someone knows better please educate me this is not something I am wised up on <3
The reality is that Russia is already reverting back from liberal policies and putting the state in commanding heights of the economy.
A 2023 World Bank study gives a pretty good overview. In particular, it distinguishes between businesses of the state (BOS), that are at least 10% government owned by some government, and state owned enterprises (SOE), which are majority owned or more, and controlled, by the government.
OMG! This is actually wonderful news! Thank you so much for taking the time to make such a digestible response!!! But I am curious, what of the oligarchs? Do you know of any articles which explain how this shift towards state ownership has affected them in any way?
The oligarchs are there, but the state is an entity of its own in Russia. I don’t have any specific articles handy, but this was a decent overview of the current situation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pm7_6LCkvQE
Now we just need the communist party in Russia to blow Putin’s pathetic far-right party out of the water next election.
Unfortunately they probably won’t. Not for the foreseeable future, because Putin is genuinely popular and his party is bolstered by the fact that both the economy and the Ukraine conflict are going well.
Describing United Russia as far right is also not entirely accurate, it’s more like a catchall for anyone who is not a communist and not a western stooge. It includes some very right wing and nationalistic elements, but they are generally quite careful to marginalize those kinds of far right elements that would be destabilizing for the Russian state:
Ethno-nationalists who would create conflict and friction with Russia’s many ethnic minorities, outright Nazis many of whom defected and now fight for Ukraine in Nazi units like the “Russian Volunteer Battalion”, etc.
For now the greatest influence the communists can exert comes from their position as the most powerful opposition. It is important to keep it that way and build up the party’s social base (its connection to the masses and the labor front) until the united bourgeois front that Putin has built fractures.
Hopefully they make some great gains by 2030!
Aren’t they basically a DemSoc party nowadays? I remember reading that their policies are terribly watered down from ML principles. If I am wrong someone please educate me
They are fairly watered down at this point, but still much further left than any western party from my understanding. I could them moving things towards something akin to the Chinese model.
I think their aspirations are akin to Scandinavia from what I’ve seen, I struggle to see how they could pursue the Chinese model which is still rooted in Marxist principles. Again, if someone knows better please educate me this is not something I am wised up on <3
The reality is that Russia is already reverting back from liberal policies and putting the state in commanding heights of the economy.
A 2023 World Bank study gives a pretty good overview. In particular, it distinguishes between businesses of the state (BOS), that are at least 10% government owned by some government, and state owned enterprises (SOE), which are majority owned or more, and controlled, by the government.
Top line result is shown in the following chart:
And here’s another chart showing SOE in Russia compared with China https://cepr.org/voxeu/columns/state-owned-enterprises-global-economy-reason-concern
Russia’s high levels of SOEs is not far behind China by many measures.
Central bank plays a big role in Russia as well, and has large influence over the funding of the private enterprise. FT even moaned about state directed economy standing up to sanctions back in 2022.
Finally, here’s an article talking deprivatization of Russian economy.
OMG! This is actually wonderful news! Thank you so much for taking the time to make such a digestible response!!! But I am curious, what of the oligarchs? Do you know of any articles which explain how this shift towards state ownership has affected them in any way?
The oligarchs are there, but the state is an entity of its own in Russia. I don’t have any specific articles handy, but this was a decent overview of the current situation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pm7_6LCkvQE
I found a YouTube link in your comment. Here are links to the same video on alternative frontends that protect your privacy: