Russia's Authoritarian Policymaking: The Politics of Domestic Violence after Partial Decriminalization

This article examines why domestic violence remained contentious in Russia after the 2017 partial decriminalization and how this led to a partial recriminalization in June 2022. While other analyses show the continuing importance of gender politics, this study highlights authoritarian regime dynamics, using process tracing following five models found in the scholarship on policymaking in Russia. The article indicates the central role of intra-elite competition, but also the influence of social forces, international intervention, and public opinion rather than Putin. It demonstrates that there were politics up through the beginning stages of the Russia's 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine.