Russia's Failed Democracy
Mr. Putin has done it again! The United Russia Party and its three main allies have secured their eminence in the Russian Duma, while the only two opposition parties—Yabloko and Parnas—emerged from the election with less than three percent of the vote.
For the past 16 years, Putin has maintained an uncompromising grip over Russia. Russia’s economy has deteriorated into an unsustainable petrostate, and Putin’s campaigns in Crimea and now Syria have defaced his country’s reputation on the international stage. By incessantly distorting the results of the election in his favor, Putin has fabricated an image of popularity and obliterated any doubts of the opposition. Following the most recent elections, Putin boasted: “We know that life is hard for people, there are lots of problems, lots of unresolved problems. Nevertheless, we have this result.”
Russia’s parties have no ideological foundation and coalesce around individuals, rather than viewpoints. In fact, most parties that claim to have opposing viewpoints were actually created by Putin to create the image of a multi-party democracy. The Liberal Democratic Party—a xenophobic, nationalist organization—supports Putin in every election despite their divergent opinions on most issues.
Putin has implemented many reforms to asphyxiate the power of opposition candidates. Russia has moved from a system of single-member districts to one that uses proportional representation. As a result, independent candidates, who often represent regional or distinct interests, were barred from running in elections. In 2007, Putin raised the party threshold—the minimum vote for a party to receive representation—from five to seven percent, making it almost impossible for opposition parties to run. Most state firms have been redistributed to Putin’s closest friends (former KGB officers), and prosperous independent businessmen like Mikhail Khodorkovsky have been poisoned, tortured, jailed, killed, threatened…
Twenty-five years later, the hope is lost, and the Russian people sit subserviently in the back seat of a car driven by the reckless Mr. Putin.
In general, Putin’s Russia is the epitome of legal nihilism, a political system that disrespects legal codes and uses vendettas to eliminate any challenges to the rule. Mikhail Gorbachev’s reforms of perestroika and glasnost increased corruption and organized crime by allowing previously poor individuals to quickly generate large fortunes. Boris Yeltsin’s loans-for-shares program gave oligarchs access to shares in some of Russia’s biggest businesses, furthering the already disproportionate amount of power held by the well-connected. The rule of law is virtually nonexistent, reflecting a government with weak legal institutions and a President who relies on charismatic, rather than rational, legitimacy.
Why has democracy failed in Russia? Some analysts believe that the Russian population is simply not ready for democracy, that Russians are accustomed to brutal political rule. I would like to believe otherwise. I would like to believe that it is the government—and not the people—that need to change. By marginalizing liberal parties, Putin has given the people no choice but to succumb to mainstream views. For some, supporting the government is a matter of self-preservation, as direct confrontation often results in social exclusion. More importantly, tensions between the West and Russia have played into Putin’s narrative that only a hawkish, self-centered government can assert Russia’s dominance on the international stage.
In 2006, Alexander Litvinenko, a Russian opposition journalist, died from poisoning by radioactive polonium. The same year, Anna Politkovskaya, a human rights activist, was murdered in an elevator in her apartment building. More recently, Boris Nemtsov was shot on a bridge in front of the Red Square for critiquing the corruption leading up to the Sochi Olympics. Putin has killed anyone blocking his path to indisputable power and excessive wealth. In the 1990s, the West hoped that Russia would join the European order and construct a democracy that respects the rule of law. Twenty-five years later, the hope is lost, and the Russian people sit subserviently in the back seat of a car driven by the reckless Mr. Putin.