Coalition Politics in a Postsocialist Russian City, 1994–20001

An in‐depth case study of a Russian urban area explores the city’s difficult democratic transition by analyzing changes in the network of civic affiliations among polity members. The research develops ideal‐typical coalitional structures to understand this troubled transition. The case study uses data from membership lists of civic organizations to draw conclusions about the coalitional structure and its effects on democratic outcomes. This demonstrates that the politics of patronage and the marginalization of mediators made coordination among different parts of government difficult to achieve. The implication drawn from the case study is that the mediation of diverse factional interests through coalitions is an important condition for democratic consolidation.