RUSSIAN POLITICAL-PARTIES AND THE BOSSES - EVIDENCE FROM THE 1994 PROVINCIAL ELECTIONS IN WESTERN SIBERIA

The 'bosses' are an occupational category of Russian administrative an d economic managers who, in addition to their already prominent positi ons in the country's power structure, engage themselves in public poli tics and enjoy a significant degree of electoral success without being affiliated to any political party. The data provided by analysing the results of the 1994 provincial elections in Western Siberia confirm t he prominence of the 'bosses' in the electoral arena of the Russian pe riphery. Viewing this phenomenon as an important functional equivalent to political parties, the paper explains its salience with reference to its origins in the nomenklatura system, and to the strategic choice s made by the Russian leadership in late 1991. It is suggested that th e recent attempts to create a regular political organization on the ba sis of the 'bosses' have failed to facilitate the process of party sys tem formation in Russia.