Petrova Regina
Abstract: Based on the logic of neo-institutionalism, the article analyzes the formal and informal practices and interaction during the preliminary voting of the party “United Russia” (the primaries) in the Perm region. The potential and impact of formal and informal relations in both public space and transformation of the institute and its structural characteristics is evaluated. The informal methods of communication, speculative methods of organizing and attracting voters are described. The author concludes that the elites increasingly have to resort to informal methods of communication that are convenient for them, but this has a negative effect in the public space, and is seen as a measure of the deficit of legal mechanisms in working with the voters. On the other hand, the development of the informal side of the institute, which acts as its “core”, may affect the further transformation and development of the whole institute that has prospects of positive dynamics.
Keywords: primaries, informal practices, regional elites, neo-institutionalism.