Intro
Foreword
Preface and Acknowledgments
I Introduction
The ratings problem
Main material
Delimitations
Transliteration of Russian words and names
II Theoretical Points of Orientation
Political succession
Legitimacy
Legitimacy in non-democratic states
Charisma and routinization
Legitimacy and political myth
III Legitimizing Putin
The 2011-2012 legitimation crisis
Re-legitimization: Ukraine and the annexation of Crimea
Strength and stability
The great power myth
Getting out of troubles: the smuta myth
D ynamic interplay: the phoenix myth
The bulwark and its champion
The man of action
Great communicator, benevolent ruler
Putin the populist
Putin the common Russian
IV Legitimacy through Othering
Othering and Russia
Relations with the United States
Dealing with Trump
Enter Joe Biden
No more the underdog
Paradigm shift and saber-rattling
V Challenges from Within
Electoral authoritarianism in Russia
The presidential elections of 2018
The Navalny challenge
Medvedev's downfall
Navalny vs. Putin
The fall guy function
Stability and order
The good tsar
VI Challenge from Without
The corona crisis: devolving power
Entering center stage-and exiting again
The Sputnik V vaccine
Faring better than the West?
Skewing the statistics
The pandemic and the image
VII The Succession Issue
Looking to the East?
Guarantor of the constitution?
Successions in the Russian post-Soviet past
Post-Soviet precedents
Postponing the succession: the constitutional reform
VIII Conclusion
References
Index.