the new russian nationalismof losing power when they lose popular support. For this reason,
presidents like those in Russia have been very sensitive to public
opinion. Nationalism comes into play here.
The relationship between nationalism and political support in
Russia is not straightforward, however, and for this reason the
Kremlin has generally treaded very carefully on this issue. In
fact, this chapter argues that President Vladimir Putin up until
2014 largely avoided making nationalism a central element of
his popular appeal. It was not entirely absent; it is just that other
things were much more important and that nationalism was mobi-
lised more actively by Kremlin opponents than by Putin himself.
The annexation of Crimea represents a bold stroke that for the
first time made nationalism a centrepiece not only of Putin’s own
authority, but of the political system’s stability more generally.
But even then this was only a certain type of nationalism, not of
the ethnically exclusive kind and still limited in its spoken aspira-
tions. Indeed, the ability of nationalism to play a central role in
bolstering Putin’s authority is highly questionable due to the fact
that Russian nationalism is in fact divided, with Crimea itself
being one of the few moves that Russian nationalists of nearly all
stripes can enthusiastically support. The challenges that Russian
nationalism (or more precisely, Russian nationalisms) pose for
Russia’s political system are thus likely to make themselves felt
strongly in the years ahead despite the rallying around Putin per-
sonally that the Crimea operation produced.
Patronal presidentialism
It can be useful to understand Russian politics as taking place
in a context involving high levels of patronalism. Patronalism
refers to a social equilibrium in which people pursue their politi-
cal and economic ends primarily through personalised rewards
and punishments that are meted out through extended chains of
actual personal acquaintance rather than organising this activity
impersonally on the basis of broad principles such as ideologies or
identities (Hale 2015). As a rule, patronalistic societies tend to be
characterised by weak rule of law, high levels of corruption and
low social capital.