wielded by the Prime Minister and
render the president's role in the Armenian political process
ceremonial. Even though decreased presidential power in CIS
countries is typically associated with democratic consolidation, liberal
Armenians expressed severe discontent with the referendum's outcome.
Opposition MPs in Armenia and European politicians accused regime
officials of electoral fraud and criticized the lack of meaningful open
political debate on constitutional reform prior to holding the vote. Four thousand Armenians protested
the government's handling of the referendum in the streets of Yerevan
immediately after the results were announced, confirming the predictions
of Armenia experts that the regime would be destabilized yet again by
mass unrest.

Despite these protests and the fierce rhetoric
emanating from established opposition groups in Armenia, it is
intriguing that the current wave of demonstrations have not escalated to
the levels witnessed in the summer 2015 Electric Yerevanprotests. This
failure is a testament to the success of Serzh Sargsyan regime's
authoritarian consolidation efforts. Even though the July protests were
largely motivated by popular discontent with Armenia's relationship with Russia,
Sargsyan successfully deflected these concerns to benefit of his regime
security. The Armenian regime has effectively addressed the domestic
undercurrents of the protests while simultaneously exploiting crises in
Turkey and Nagorno-Karabakh to receive more extensive support from the
Kremlin.

Why Sargsyan's Response to Electric Yerevan was Effective

Even
though Armenia has a long tradition of popular protests forged from the
transition experience and the instabilities associated with
authoritarian consolidation in the post-1991 period, the summer 2015
protests in Yerevan posed a distinct challenge to Sargsyan's regime
security. Unrest occurred outside the context of an election cycle and
the extensive participation of previously apolitical youth and urban
professionals in the protests highlighted the extent