Global Kondratiev waves and political transformations in Russia since 1800: a relative deprivation approach

Throughout Russian history, bouts of political reform have been repeatedly succeeded by reactionary periods of counter-reform. We surmise that this historical alternation of reform and counter-reform has been driven at least in part by comparisons made by Russians between their own situation and that of their counterparts in the west. Such "relative deprivation" understandings of political change are nothing new, but we tie the history of impetus for reform in Russia explicitly to fluctuations in economic performance in the capitalist west, as represented by Kondratiev waves (K-waves) of expansion and stagnation. We posit that periods of expansion in the west have prompted periods of political reform in Russia, while periods of stagnation in the west have enabled periods of counter-reform in Russia. Although a direct causal link cannot be drawn, the timing of periods of reform and counter-reform in Russia seems to be consistent with a relative deprivation interpretation.