In the article, theses are set out to the effect that authorities in modern Russia operate in accordance with their short-term interests, and that in order to realize such interests, they apply rather informal procedures, than norms of Russian legislation. Under such conditions, the object of political competition is rather politicians’ access to this or that set of resources on hand with bodies of state or municipal authority, than citizens’ support, and therefore political competition is determined to a large extent by particularistic norms and rules, generated by relations of corruption and patrimonialism.