{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,2]],"date-time":"2026-02-02T20:57:01Z","timestamp":1770065821216,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":28,"publisher":"SAGE Publications","issue":"3","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2016,11,22]],"date-time":"2016-11-22T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1479772800000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/page\/policies\/text-and-data-mining-license"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["journals.sagepub.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["New Media &amp; Society"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2018,3]]},"abstract":"<jats:p> Extant research on the consequences of the Internet for non-democratic politics has focused on how oppositional activists leverage new digital tools. By contrast, still, relatively little is known about how authoritarian elites proactively deploy digital technologies to legitimize their rule. This article contributes to filling this gap by scrutinizing one highly innovative tactic that has recently been adopted repeatedly by Russia\u2019s ruling elites: the organization of \u2018Internet votes\u2019 to staff advisory bodies to the government. In contrast to online petitions, online votes are aimed at aggregating citizen preferences not on issues but on candidates, that is, on individuals who later act as political representatives. The article presents an in-depth case study of the first such Internet vote conducted in Russia in 2012. It concludes that ruling elites deployed the tool swiftly to (1) disempower oppositional activists and (2) convey to the mass public the image of a transparent, accountable and responsive government. <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1177\/1461444816675444","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2016,11,24]],"date-time":"2016-11-24T01:40:21Z","timestamp":1479951621000},"page":"956-972","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/sage-journals-update-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":37,"title":["Innovating consultative authoritarianism: Internet votes as a novel digital tool to stabilize non-democratic rule in Russia"],"prefix":"10.1177","volume":"20","author":[{"given":"Florian","family":"Toepfl","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Free University of Berlin, Germany"}]}],"member":"179","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2016,11,22]]},"reference":[{"key":"bibr1-1461444816675444","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/10670564.2012.666835"},{"key":"bibr2-1461444816675444","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/0920203X14525915"},{"key":"bibr3-1461444816675444","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/186810261304200306"},{"key":"bibr4-1461444816675444","unstructured":"Bykhovskaya P (2011) I am Putin\u2019s propaganda. OpenDemocracy, 14 December. Available at: http:\/\/www.opendemocracy.net\/print\/63209"},{"key":"bibr5-1461444816675444","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.7551\/mitpress\/9780262015103.001.0001"},{"key":"bibr6-1461444816675444","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1017\/S1049096513000346"},{"key":"bibr7-1461444816675444","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1017\/S1537592714003120"},{"key":"bibr8-1461444816675444","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/10670564.2010.485404"},{"key":"bibr9-1461444816675444","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1017\/S1537592711000892"},{"issue":"3","key":"bibr10-1461444816675444","volume":"20","author":"Jiang M","year":"2010","journal-title":"Electronic Journal of Communication"},{"key":"bibr11-1461444816675444","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/0894439308327313"},{"key":"bibr12-1461444816675444","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1017\/CBO9780511814259"},{"key":"bibr13-1461444816675444","first-page":"278","volume-title":"Routledge Handbook of Comparative Political Institutions","author":"Lagac\u00e9 CB","year":"2015"},{"key":"bibr14-1461444816675444","unstructured":"Levada (2014) Obshchestvennoe Mnenie \u2013 2014. Available at: http:\/\/www.levada.ru\/sites\/default\/files\/om14.pdf"},{"key":"bibr15-1461444816675444","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1017\/CBO9780511781353"},{"key":"bibr16-1461444816675444","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1353\/jod.2003.0019"},{"key":"bibr17-1461444816675444","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/gove.12045"},{"key":"bibr18-1461444816675444","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1093\/acprof:oso\/9780199735952.001.0001"},{"key":"bibr19-1461444816675444","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/1369118X.2015.1021705"},{"key":"bibr20-1461444816675444","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/21599165.2013.779258"},{"key":"bibr21-1461444816675444","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1353\/jod.2015.0028"},{"key":"bibr22-1461444816675444","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/1461444811405021"},{"key":"bibr23-1461444816675444","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/09668136.2012.712261"},{"key":"bibr24-1461444816675444","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/1369118X.2017.1290127"},{"key":"bibr25-1461444816675444","first-page":"1","author":"Truex R","year":"2014","journal-title":"Comparative Political Studies"},{"key":"bibr26-1461444816675444","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/1369118X.2013.833276"},{"key":"bibr27-1461444816675444","unstructured":"Yard M (ed.) (2010) Direct Democracy: Progress and Pitfalls of Election Technology. Washington, DC: International Foundation for Electoral Systems. Available at: http:\/\/www.ifes.org\/publications\/direct-democracy-progress-and-pitfalls-election-technology"},{"key":"bibr28-1461444816675444","volume-title":"Case Study Research: Design and Methods","author":"Yin RK","year":"2014"}],"container-title":["New Media &amp; Society"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/pdf\/10.1177\/1461444816675444","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/full-xml\/10.1177\/1461444816675444","content-type":"application\/xml","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/pdf\/10.1177\/1461444816675444","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,2,28]],"date-time":"2025-02-28T17:20:35Z","timestamp":1740763235000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/10.1177\/1461444816675444"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2016,11,22]]},"references-count":28,"journal-issue":{"issue":"3","published-print":{"date-parts":[[2018,3]]}},"alternative-id":["10.1177\/1461444816675444"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/1461444816675444","relation":{},"ISSN":["1461-4448","1461-7315"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1461-4448","type":"print"},{"value":"1461-7315","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2016,11,22]]}}}