Ideological Legitimation in Wartime Russia: Political Communication in Russia's Ethnic Republics

• In Event: Inside Russian Authoritarianism: Multi-Level Legitimation and Institutional Adaptation

Abstract

This study approaches the question of ideology in wartime Russia from the perspective of
Russia's ethnic republics. Leaders in these regions are pressured both to continue delivering
political stability and economic performance under wartime conditions, as well as needing to
(re)package the Kremlin's ideological justification to local audiences. At the same time, the vast
majority of the republics' leadership was in power before the full-scale invasion, providing useful
insights into how regional governments' strategies of ideological legitimation have developed in
response to the war. Empirically, this paper focuses on political communication at the level of
regional political elites to identify discursive patterns in their ideological framing of the war, the
role of local institutions in shaping this discourse, and elites' strategic interventions in national-
level debates.

Author

• Adam Charles Lenton, Wake Forest U