A valuation approach to the Russian liberal establishment consolidation

The article studies contemporary Russian liberal establishment from the point of view of the main actors’ propensity to consolidate. The authors identify distinguishing features of liberalism in Russia that determine the possible trends of cohesive interactions between the key actors and conclude that the main driver of consolidation is the protest and opposition to the current regime which is supported by the majority of population who tend to stigmatize the liberal activists due to that reason. The evidence of relatedness fluctuation is derived using the linkage index, introduced by the authors. The index is calculated using the results of actors’ discourse analysis based on social networks data (Twitter): mutual mentions and their contextual sentiments are taken to weigh pairs of actors regarding their unanimity or contradiction. Dynamic interpretation of calculated indexes of consolidation in the two broad periods, different in levels of information pressure from the mainstream media, provides evidence of consolidation change, and allows to identify key drivers of cohesion and attributable followers. The authors apply social network analysis techniques to verify the findings and to determine tiers of key liberal actors and their clusters. Concluding remarks provide interpretation of empiric study results and links to further development of consolidation research methodology.