The Power Vertical Now Extends to the Mayors

When I wrote five years ago that the cancellation of direct gubernatorial elections would logically lead to the elimination of mayoral elections as well, it elicited some commentary in both the Russian and foreign press. Now, in 2010, when the gangrene called the “power vertical” has slowly but steadily spread throughout our political system and has finally infected mayoral elections, nobody raises a eyebrow.

The Kremlin’s undermining of direct mayoral elections is a step in the wrong direction that will make the country’s system of governance more ineffective and unstable.

Laws passed last year now make it possible for city legislatures to remove mayors from office who were elected by the people. In early June, the city council of Murmansk took advantage of this law to remove Mayor Sergei Subbotin from office. Prior to that, the mayors of several small cities had been ousted from power on this basis. ? 

This issue is important because direct elections at the local level are the last remaining mechanism to elect capable politicians. Nobel laureate in economics Roger Myerson criticized the U.S. occupation forces in Iraq for conducting national elections first and local elections only afterward. He pointed out that local elections are the most reliable mechanism for selecting qualified candidates and the best means for politicians to begin building their reputations.

In addition, the elimination of mayoral elections makes the political system more unstable. Local elections serve another function beyond enabling voters to select the best managers.

The results of local elections also provide very valuable information for the federal government. Without this information, Russia’s leaders risk ending up in a situation like the Soviet government did in the 1980s. In the absence of reliable channels of information, governing the country was at first difficult, and?  then it became impossible.

An ineffective system of government once led to the collapse of the country in which I lived, and I do not want this to happen again. Of course, Russia will not fall apart only because mayoral elections are being eliminated. The road to catastrophe, however, is always composed of numerous such seemingly inconsequential steps taken in the wrong direction.