Alexander Nikolaevich Zhmyrikov, ZHAN — a political strategist from Nizhny Novgorod who developed an original electoral strategy known as “integrative technology.” Unlike the classic “image-based” strategy, “integrative strategy” focuses not on developing and promoting the candidate’s image, but on managing the subconscious components of the attitudes that drive electoral activity among groups of the candidate’s supporters and opponents.
Candidate of Psychological Sciences, Associate Professor. Lieutenant Colonel, FSB Russia retired.
Brief Autobiography
Born on February 16, 1951, in the Voronezh Region. Holds a college degree. Graduated from:
- The Faculty of Medicine at the Voronezh State Medical Institute in 1975
- The Advanced Training Courses of the KGB of the USSR in 1986
- He completed the postgraduate program at Vysshaya Shkola of the KGB of the USSR in 1989.
I had prepared a dissertation on a restricted topic for defense; however, due to the elimination of the academic specialty “occupational psychology in special conditions” and the temporary suspension of the specialized council, I was forced to write a second dissertation on an open topic in the field of “social psychology,” which I defended before the specialized council at Leningrad State University named after A.A. Zhdanov.
Marital status: Married, three children, one grandchild.
Career
1975–1976 – General Practitioner at the Central District Hospital; 1976–1977 – General Practitioner at Facility OZh-118/3 of the Voronezh Region Internal Affairs Directorate; 1977–1995 – Service in the KGB of the USSR and the FSB of the Russian Federation; 1995–1998 – Associate Professor in the Department of Social and Political Sciences at the Nizhny Novgorod Commercial Institute; 1998–1999 – Director of the Department of Information and Analytical Work at the Nizhny Novgorod City Administration; 1999–2003 – Associate Professor in the Department of General and Social Psychology at Nizhny Novgorod State University named after N.I. Lobachevsky; 2004 – Director of the Institute for Social and Political Problems at the Russian Academy of Public Administration; Vice President of the Russian Academy of Public Administration 2006–2009 – Advisor to the General Director of Prom KhimService LLC. 2010–2013 – Head of the Center for Research on Modernization Activity at the Volga Branch of the Institute of Sociology of the Russian Academy of Sciences 2014–present – Leading Research Fellow at the Research Institute for Social Management Issues.
Professional Experience
Since 1987, he has been engaged in research on political-psychological leadership and psychological techniques for election campaigns. His scientific advisors at various stages of his work have included Distinguished Scientists of the Russian Federation, Doctors of Psychological Sciences, and Professors A.A. Derkach, Y.M. Zabrodin, and V.V. Novikov.
The scientific aspect of his work is reflected in the following monographs: "How to Win an Election: Psychological Techniques for Running an Effective Election Campaign" (1995); "The Psychology of Political Leadership in Modern Russia" (1996); "The Psychology of Professional Communication" (1997); "How to Teach LOMs to Fly: The Psychology of Political Advertising" (1999); and in scientific articles.
Under the supervision of A.N. Zhmyrikov, 1 Ph.D. dissertation and 7 theses were successfully defended.
The practical aspect of this work is reflected in the positive results of election campaigns:
1990 – Deputy of the Supreme Council of the RSFSR (campaign manager); 1993 – Deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation (campaign strategist); 1995 – Deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation (campaign strategist); 1996 – Campaign manager for Martin Lucianovich Shakum, candidate for President of the Russian Federation, in the Nizhny Novgorod Oblast; 1998 – Deputy Chief of Staff for Campaign Strategy for Yuri Lebedev, the winning candidate in the Nizhny Novgorod mayoral election; 1999 – Deputy Head of the Nizhny Novgorod Regional Election Headquarters for Campaign Strategy for the “Union of Right Forces” bloc (ranked second in Russia among URF supporters); 2000 – Campaign Manager for three deputies to the Nizhny Novgorod City Duma; 2001 – Deputy Head of the Regional Headquarters for Campaign Strategy for I.P. Sklyarov, a candidate for Governor of Nizhny Novgorod Oblast (advanced to the second round); 2002 – Campaign Manager for a deputy of the Regional Legislative Assembly; 2003 – Deputy Head of the Nizhny Novgorod Regional Headquarters of “United Russia” for Analytical Work and Campaign Strategy. 2007–2016 – Head of project-based sociological research for elections of deputies to the State Duma of Russia in eight constituent entities of Russia. 2010 – Head of the campaign headquarters for the winning candidate in the election for deputies to the Nizhny Novgorod City Duma. 2011 – Political strategist for the winning campaign headquarters in the election for deputies to the Legislative Assembly of Nizhny Novgorod Oblast. 2016 – Political consultant for the winning campaign headquarters in the election for deputies to the Legislative Assembly of the Nizhny Novgorod Oblast. 2018 – Head of prospective sociological research for the gubernatorial elections in the Vladimirskoye Region and the Khabarovsk Territory.
The scientific and practical aspect is embodied in:
- in the development of the first domestic election technologies: "Candidate" (for single-member district elections) and "Bloc" (for elections in the all-federal district), which were recommended for use by the Presidium of the International Academy of Psychological Sciences in 1995;
- in the development of a new method for studying electoral attitudes—the "projective sociological method" (1999);
- in the development of fundamentally new methods for managing the process of electoral attitude formation ([Nizhny Novgorod Psychotechnology|"the method of double hieroglyphic marking"; “symbolic marking method”]; “analog screening method”) (2001–2003);
- in the development of a new method for situationally adjusting the formation of a candidate's political image ("the double-goal-setting dialogue method").
Between 1999 and 2016, A.N. Zhmyrikov developed the core methods of integrative electoral technology. During this period, the following methods were tested in practice: “Methodology for Projective Sociological Forecasting of Voter Turnout,” “Methodology for Phonolinguistic Marking of Electoral Attitudes,” and “Methodology for Nonverbal Correction of Electoral Choice.” All of these methods are protected by copyright certificates for inventions. The author has published the following monographs: “The Psychology of Political Leadership in Modern Russia,” “The Method of Projective Sociological Research on Electoral Activity,” as well as the following textbooks: “How to Teach LOMs to Fly,” “How to Win an Election,” as well as scientific articles in the following collections: “Social, Socio-Psychological, and Psychologically-Political Problems of Electoral Participation: Proceedings of the First All-Russian Symposium ‘Current Issues in Socio-Psychological Counseling and Scientific Support for Election Campaigns,’ ‘The Socio-Humanitarian Context of Election Campaigns: Proceedings of the First International Symposium, June 14–15, 2013.” In 2020, a monograph titled “From the Archaic and Base to the Sublime and Classical: Electoral Psychology” is being prepared for publication.
Interesting Facts
A website featuring popular articles by A. Zhmyrikov
Contact Information
Public
Email: inmost@bk.ru Phone: +7 (950) 624-81-22
At the workplace
Research Institute for Social Management Issues
603000, Russia, Nizhny Novgorod, Bolshaya Pecherskaya Street, 49, Office 5
Tel.: +7 (831) 230-84-00
Email: kurator51@yandex.ru