What is the state of Russias democracy?
Russia has a strange type of political regime. On the surface, it has all of the democratic institutions, but in reality this façade, this makeup, conceals authoritarian, oligarchic, and bureaucratic trends. Behind the liberal mantra of Russian political leaders, and especially President Medvedev, we can see how the repressive regime is evolving with elements of a police state. Like with all hybrid regimes, Russia is moving in both directions simultaneously. On the one hand, there is liberal rhetoric and even cooptation of liberals in official structures. On the other hand, Russian political leaders are expanding the functions of law enforcement organs, including the FSB—the main successor to the Soviet-era KGB—and using repression in many cases, for instance, to crush rallies in defense of the constitution. The situation has become much worse and when Russia reset its relationship with the West it could have created the wrong impression.
