A Compromised Victory for the Kremlin

By any measure, Russia's legislative race was a triumph for the country's ruling party. United Russia regained a supermajority of the State Duma in Sunday's legislative elections, winning 76 percent of the vote. The Kremlin, moreover, was fairly successful in managing the election's outcome and aftermath, a stark contrast from the 2011 legislative vote, which revealed a decline in support for the ruling party and sparked mass protests across the country. Eschewing the blatant manipulations that provoked the public's ire in the last election, the government resorted instead to changes in electoral policies and backroom deals with rival parties to achieve its desired results. Though these efforts seem to have paid off, United Russia's victory is a compromised one....