The Political Process in the New Regions of Russia: Theoretical and Methodological Approaches

Introduction. The article examines the theoretical and methodological foundations for analyzing the political process in the new subjects of the Russian Federation – the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions. The relevance of the study is due to the uniqueness of their integration path, combining post-conflict transformation, institutional building and socio-cultural adaptation within the legal framework of Russia.

Goal. To systematize the main theoretical concepts and develop a comprehensive methodological approach to studying the political process in the new regions of Russia, identifying its specific features and stages.

Materials and methods. The study is based on the analysis of scientific literature on political regionalism, transitology and integration theory. Methods of institutional, comparative-political and systemic analysis are used, as well as content analysis of regulatory legal acts and public speeches of key political actors.

Results and discussion. The key stages of the political process are identified: the conflict-separatist stage (until 2022), the legitimation-integration stage (2022-2023) and the stage of systemic institutionalization (from 2024). The necessity of applying a synthetic model of analysis combining the tools of transitology (accounting for non-linearity and the role of elites) and theories of political integration (assimilation and accommodation) is substantiated. Special attention is paid to complicating factors: the consequences of hostilities, the need to form a new political identity, the integration of local elites into all-Russian political practices.

Conclusion. The political process in the new regions is hybrid, multi-level and non-linear. Its effective study requires a rejection of classical linear transit models in favor of comprehensive approaches that take into account the unique context of post-conflict integration, the dominant role of the federal center and the dynamics of interaction between formal institutions and informal practices. A promising area of research is a comparative analysis of the integration trajectories of the new subjects of the Russian Federation among themselves and with other post-conflict regions of the world.

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