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Abstract: Using qualitative data collected in two regions in 2012-2016, I determined the significance of political affiliation for small and medium-size entrepreneurs in the context of actual business threats in the new Russia. I view the presence of entrepreneurs in regional and local legislative bodies as an individual choice and rational response to the overregulated Russian state, one that allows these entrepreneurs to access a variety of protection tools, from mobilization of the law to networking. I find that politically connected entrepreneurs limit or avoid the negative effects of state regulation and pressure from authorities because they have access to resources that allow them to resist and successfully balance on the edge of the law.
Those members of executive and legislative bodies who continue to work in the private sector after election are described as "moonlighting politicians." Numerous politicians employed in business have been documented since the mid-2000s in many electoral democracies.1 In many countries, members of parliament are legally permitted to continue working in business after their election. Elected bodies in post-Soviet countries, including Russia, have been captured by representatives of business over the course of the past decade.2 Public officials in the Russian regions and local communities often come from business backgrounds: for instance, business is one of the main sources for the recruitment of mayors.3
One might expect that the domination of the executive over the legislature in regional and local governments,4 the weakness of civil society, and the strong authoritarian tendencies of today's Russia would significantly limit the attractiveness of regional parliaments and city councils in the eyes of citizens. The presence of businesspeople in regional and local elected bodies characterized by low power potential implies, however, that businesspeople have a good reason to enter politics: access to favorable conditions. Moonlighting politicians affiliated with business provide a way into exploring connections between benefits to business and political affiliation. Other works have shown that politically connected firms in the Russian Federal Parliament (the State Duma), as well as in Russian regional legislatures, experience a significant increase in revenue, profitability and other economic indications.5 In developed economies6 and states with a low level of corruption,7 too, politically affiliated firms enjoy similar outcomes.
For Russian businesspeople, the significance of winning elected office is...