Putin's Legacy and the State of Democracy in Russia

In: International studies, Volume 45, Issue 2, p. 89-103

Abstract

Two terms of Putin's presidency set in motion a dichotomous trend of growth and stability, on the one hand, and stifling of political and civil liberties, on the other. This was an inevitable outcome of Putin's policies, which laid more emphasis on growth and stability than democratisation of Russia. This imbalance has led to a divergence of assessments and interpretations by the experts. While most of the Russian scholars consider Putin to be a remarkable president, their counterparts from the West condemn him as an authoritarian ruler who derailed the progress of democracy in Russia. Against this backdrop, this article argues that some of the centralization measures of Putin were necessary to keep Russia united and growing. But his attempts at consolidation of the hold of a single party over the legislature militate against one of the fundamental democratic principles of separation of powers between the legislature and the executive. While this has provided unbridled powers to the president, the process of the growth of a strong opposition party in Russia has suffered a definite setback. As a powerful president, Putin emerged as the chief architect of a nation-in-the-making. Under him, national-ism triumphed but democracy staggered.