ABSTRACT
The results of the elections to the State Duma in 2011 may be considered a watershed in Russia's electoral history. The results of the Duma elections came as a great shock to the political establishment and they were a major catalyst for the mass protests which swept the Russian capital and Russia's regions over the period 2011-13. Whereas the 2007 Duma and regional assembly elections were conducted at a time of economic prosperity, in the economically troubled times of 2011. The negative regional agendas amplified the negative features of the federal level election. The first regional elections to take place after the winter of 2011-12 political crisis, were held on 14 October 2012. The list of regional and local elections in September 2013 was much more significant than in October 2012. Moreover, the Civic Platform candidate Roizman became mayor of Yekaterinburg, the independent candidate Shirshina won the mayoral elections in Petrozavodsk, and at the Krasnoyarsk city council elections.
