Features of the elections to the last regional council of people's deputies of the Gorky Region

The article is devoted to the elections of deputies to the Gorky Regional Council of People’s Deputies of the 21st convocation, which took place in the spring of 1990. The relevance of the article lies in the need to understand the transitional processes in the late USSR.
Important events of that period are associated with the elections, which began to take on a competitive character and created conditions for the opposition to participate in exercising governmental authority. The aim of the research is to identify the specific features of the election of people's deputies to the Gorky Regional Council of People’s Deputies in 1990 and to analyse its results. The research methodology is based on general scientific methods and involves the application of the comparative method. The paper outlines the specifics of the candidates' struggle for the sympathy of the electorate. The authors identify the particular features of the voter turnout among Gorky residents.
The research demonstrates that there is a discrepancy between the actual and nominal outcomes of the will expression among Gorky residents, as in a number of cases the formal data on a deputy's membership in the CPSU does not correspond to his real political beliefs at all. Moreover, the authors mention that the victory in the election to the Gorky Regional Council of People’s Deputies acts as a “catalyst” for a number of politicians including those of federal significance.

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