Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/2123/8281

Title: National Television in Putin's Russia - The Media's Changing Role in Society and the Consolidation of Competitive Authoritarianism
Authors: Sokolovskaja, Margarita
Department of Government and International Relations
Issue Date: 2011
Abstract: Over the course of Putin's two terms as president, national television, the most important form of media for the Russian population, fell increasingly under the control of the state and many independent channels were dismantled. Employing the 2000 and 2008 presidential elections as case studies, this thesis looks at the decline of media independence in Russia since the 1990s and considers the changing role of the mass media in Russian society and politics. In the late 1990s national television served as a means for competing oligarchs to propagate their views and political aspirations to the public. However, by 2008, pro-Kremlin coverage had become the dominant voice on national television. This is a reflection of wider trends of the time. Putin transformed the weak government that lacked sufficient coercive and organisational capacity to respond to elite challenges into a competitive authoritarian regime, where elections remain competitive, but the media and other crucial resources are biased in favour of the incumbent candidate.
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/2123/8281
Department/Unit/Centre: Department of Government and International Relations
Rights and Permissions: The author retains copyright of this thesis
Type of Work: Thesis, Honours
Appears in Collections:Honours Theses - Government and International Relations

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