Casting off Soviet chains? Conditions for the Ideological Renewal of Communist Successor Parties in Russia, Ukraine and Moldova since the 2010s

Abstract

This article studies the political developments of Communist successor parties (CSPs) in Russia, Ukraine and Moldova since the 2010s to identify conditions for their ideological renewal. We find that embeddedness in the patronalist systems is a major impeding factor to ideological renewal and the removal of patronal shackles and governmental responsibility are its key drivers. In terms of the prospects of Russiaʼs communist party, an unreformed CSP may win elections but the actual ideological renewal begins while in power, as the case of Moldova shows. At the same time, the interdependence between the access to power and ideological renewal resembles a vicious circle. While a clientilistic status disincentivizes the real competition for power, the access to power becomes a nearly impossible task until the system collapses. As the example of the Ukrainian communists show, the danger is that the systemic collapse may also bring down its clients as well.