Is Russia Under Putin A Democracy Essay
Is Russia Under Putin A Democracy Essay
Is Russia Under Putin A Democracy Essay
Module-PO618
Essay2
2years Undergraduate
"the heavily manipulated December 2007 parliamentary elections gave the ruling United Russia party 315 of the
450 Duma seats, while two other parties that generally support the Kremlin, Just Russia and the nationalist Liberal
Democratic to 38 and 40 seats in the effectively toothless legislature"(www.freedomhouse.org).
Putin has also weakened the federal council the upper body of the legislature."The president had managed to get
rid of one of the strongest and most authoritative state bodies in the country. Under the old structure, the
Federation Council provided somewhat of a checks and balance on the other branches of power, especially the
executive, which is fast evolving into an authoritarian regime" (Colton and McFaul /2003) .Through the first half of
the essay we have seen that Russia under Putin has the institutions which are needed in a democratic society.
However whether these institutions have the capacity and values needed for the democratic process to work
properly is another matter.
Political Parties under Putin
Putin has managed to remove the competiveness of political parties ,Under Putin the political parties have all but
been weakened indeed "Russia political party system is weak and depends on the country's executive power"
"(Shiraev,2010:170),not only that but Putin ,has made sure that only party dominates the political arena ,his party
United Russia
which has been describe as "convenient party that allows Putin to maintain control over
foreign agents" ,(scinternationalreview.org/2013).Putin has used the secret service the FSB headed by his associate
Nikolia Patrushev to step up "its harassment of targeted human rights activists and environmentalists, western
non-governmental organisations, and religious groups affiliated with outside organisations"(Hersprng,2005:22) the
restrictions of the freedom of civil societies to have a role in Russian polity under Putin is another aspect of
how ,Putin has tightened the space for democratic practices and development in Russia, further advancing my
argument that under Putin Russia is in longer a democracy if using my definition of democracy.
Press Freedom under Putin
In assessing whether Russia is a democracy we must look at whether Russia has a free press ,indeed in order for a
country to be seen as democratic it must have a robust free press which can hold the executive and the elites to
account .Sakwa (2004) argues that Putin administration was accompanied by fears media freedom. Indeed under
Putin regime has gone out its way to make sure that independent media is all but gone in Russia, "the raid by
masked tax police on the offices of Gusiskys NTV, the only national independent TV station on may 2001 followed
on his four day incarnation suggested a sustained assault against press freedom" (Sakwa, 2004:151) "Putin has also
tightened the states grip on the mass media assigning priority to national television " (Herspring, 2005:23).
The freedom house listed Russia "as not free for the first time since the collapse of the Soviet Union" (Herspsring
2005:24). "Parliament elections cannot occur without a pluralist and independent present, this was because the
state controlled press helped boost Putin party United Russia vote total while denying other parties national
exposure since June 2003, when the last independent national television network, TVS, was seized by the
government, allegedly to settle the company's debts, all Russian national television networks have been controlled
by the government or by economic interests that support the government and uniformly praise the
president."(www.freedomhouse.org). Until Russian society values and is willing to defend a free independent press
as basic institution of democracy, future opposition of Putin attempts to compress independent media in Russia
will find it impossible to continue advocating a free press in Russia.
Perhaps Putin has legitimacy from his people
Putin has the legitimacy of his people, many of his people support him, indeed although many in the western
political circles argue that Putin is taking Russia to an authoritarian place, Putin approval ratings from of his people
are constantly high, Indeed Putin approval ratings Hover around 60 percent mark .Comparing that to the so called
western democracy such as American, no United States president has been able to equal Putins approval ratings
since record of polling began. President, Vladimir Putin, "although seen as a viable choice for president by just 2%
in 1999, was just re-elected by over 70% of those casting ballots, with his supporters representing a wide crosssection of the population, cutting across
dispositions"(Sil and Chen, 2004, pp. 347-368 ).
However if we are talking about Putin having the legitimacy and support from his people due to his projection of a
hard strong leader, then it is vital to acknowledge that Putin's approval ratings has not translated into increased
government legitimacy or a positive outlook on the direction of Russian politics. "Public opinion polls show mass
dissatisfaction with political institutions and political actors State Legitimacy and the Insignificance of Democracy in
Post-Communist Russia(Sil and Chen, 2004:347-368 ).Far from being popular and having the support of the people
some scholars have argued that" the Kremlin policy of maintaining Putin's popularity ratings is based on public
relations spin, manipulation of social mentality, and stirring up the dark sides of societal consciousnesses by
playing on fears, nostalgia for the past, insecurities, illusions and a longing for order" (Kuchins,2002:68),the belief
of going back to the old days of soviet rule is maybe one reason why Russians support Putin because he is seen as
restoring Russia strength on the world order.
Perhaps Russian public do not understand and appreciate democracy
Russian public have a limited understanding of democracy, indeed Although this literature is perfectly correct in
finding that most Russians have favourable attitudes toward democracy, when these findings are examined in
broader cross-cultural perspective one finds that support for democracy is relatively weak in Russiaindeed, it is
weaker than in almost any other country among the more than 70 societies covered by the Values Surveys.
(www.worldvaluessurvey.org),the the main challenge for Russians people is not whether they have the right
institutions and whether Putin is has there support. It is maybe because for virtually the first time in their history,
Russians realised that they had the instrument of political democracy: competitive elections, but they do not know
why they need this instrument.
Putin established the belief that Russias authoritarian traditions are morally the equal of democratic western
traditions. Indeed Putin's supporters argue that Russians value and want a strong state, economic growth and
security more than human rights or democracy, which have no roots in Russian history (Shiraev, 2010). According
to Carnaghan Russian's show low levels of support for representative institutions, little confidence in the
responsiveness of elected officials, and limited willingness to participate politically. Ordinary Russians tend to over
look institutions in their definitions of democracy. Many seem to want a strong leader who will impose order on a
chaotic society, (Carnaghan 2001: 336-366).
Managed democracy
Perhaps Russia is unique in a sense that it has created its version of democracy, the so called Sovereign democracy,
Indeed Putin come in power and thereafter consolidated what become known as managed democracy "Managed
democracy controls society while providing the appearance of democracy. Its main characteristics are as follows a
strong presidency and weak institutions State control of the media Control over elections allows elites to legitimize
their decisions visible short-term effectiveness and long-term inefficiency the result is an unstable stability based
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