Voting and conformity: Russia, 1993–2016

Past research has showed the strong influence of social norms and conformity on voting choices in the national elections of many countries, with some more affected than others. This research demonstrates that social conformity has strongly and increasingly affected parliamentary elections in Russia. The analysis tests and estimates a mathematical model of the collective effect of conformity on people’s voting choices in each parliamentary election from 1993 to 2016 at the regional level using cross-sectional regression analysis. The analysis shows that voting and the party system are approaching the typical voting patterns seen in many democracies. Remarkably, voters typically are not aware of the influence of conformity on their own voting decisions.