Totalitarianism In Russia

Throughout the nation’s turbulent history, Russia’s governmental collusion and radical economic transitions has created an everlasting dark cloud that has tainted their image in the eyes of the free world. The Russian political system as of recent has begun to accept democratic principles, however the totalitarian governing policies of Vladimir Putin remains to be lacking essential credentials of country who “embraces democracy.” Nonetheless, with a past filled with countless shifts in the state’s political system and trade economy, the western nation has still found a way to remain afloat as one of the world’s most prominent superpowers. In the text, the author makes his opinion quite evident that Russia can sustain itself regardless of any

Although the western nation has bounced around from one governing system to the next, the state has flourished as an absolute monarchy, dictatorship, and totalitarian regime (-). More than two decades have passed since the fall of the Soviet communist system in 1991 (Sakwa, 12). Yet in that time, Russia’s administration has attempted to balance new democratic ambitions that followed the fall of the Soviet Era, while at the same time remaining firm to modern forms of authoritarianism that was overthrown at that time. So when creating an analysis over the nation’s current political system, I believe that one must characterize Russia as having an authoritative democratic political system based off of these three factors; institutions, interactions, and

I believe the country practices a centralized/ authoritative modification of true democracy. As defined in the text, “democracy is a political system which citizens elect representatives to govern the country on their own behalf” (Peng). The reason I believe this is because Russia’s administration obtains quite a bit of centralized power in comparison to other democratic nations such as the United States and European Union. When I say this, there is nothing about modern Russia that can be labelled simply as being “communist” or “Marxist,” because it is not a classless society where all property is state owned. However, another component to why Russia should be considered an “authoritative democracy, is due to the many aspects of Russia’s post-communist transition that give cause for concern. Although the framework and institutions of a democratic society have been established, political practices of leaders at all levels often undermine the spirit of democracy. This is most in evidence during elections, where the weakness of a media and civil society allows executive authorities with an excessive amount of power. However, Russia’s institution does not primarily protect individual rights and free press by law, which makes it lack key fundamentals associated with a democracy. In context, Russia is technically a democracy because its leaders are elected, but it is very