Descripción
Focusing on the experiences of people in Russia and Ukraine, Staging Democracy shows how some national leaders' seeming popularity rests on local economic compacts. Jessica Pisano draws on long-term research in rural communities and company towns, analyzing how local political and business leaders, seeking favor from incumbent politicians, used salaries, benefits, and public infrastructure to pressure citizens to participate in command performances.
Pisano looks at elections whose outcome was known in advance, protests for hire, and smaller mises en scène to explain why people participate, what differs from spectacle in totalitarian societies, how political theater exists in both authoritarian and democratic systems, and how such performances reshape understandings of the role of politics.
Staging Democracy moves beyond Russia and Ukraine to offer a novel economic argument for why some people support Putin and similar politicians. Pisano suggests we can analyze politics in both democracies and authoritarian regimes using the same analytical lens of political theater.
Author: Jessica Pisano
Publisher: Northern Illinois University Press
Published: 07/15/2022
Pages: 252
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.82lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.57d
ISBN13: 9781501764202
ISBN10: 1501764209
BISAC Categories:
- History | Eastern Europe | General
- Political Science | Political Ideologies | Democracy
- Political Science | Political Process | General
About the Author
Jessica Pisano is Associate Professor in the Department of Politics at the New School for Social Research. She is the author of The Post-Soviet Potemkin Village.