Despite elections and the experience of post-Soviet personal freedoms by the Russian people, the fate of democracy in Russia is perhaps more ambiguous now than at any time since the collapse of the Communist system.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
Russian democracy is the power of the Russian people with their own traditions of national self-government, and not the realisation of standards foisted on us from outside.
In my personal opinion, Russia is no less democratic than it used to be. It is a democratic country. It is democratic enough.
I left Russia in 1993 optimistic that democracy had taken hold despite the obstacles.
Indeed, for almost 10 years, Moscow had to carry on a war unsupportable by the government, a conflict that brought about the demoralization and finally the breakup of the Soviet empire.
Russians have a new freedom, but as long as they don't express that freedom on a public platform.
The Russian revolution is one of history's car wrecks. We do know the ending, but we continue to watch. It expresses aspects of human nature we find unacceptable.
The great drama of Russian history has been between its state and society. Put simply, Russia has always had too much state and not enough society.
In the Soviet Union, capitalism triumphed over communism. In this country, capitalism triumphed over democracy.
Democracy no longer means what it was meant to. It has been taken back into the workshop. Each of its institutions has been hollowed out, and it has been returned to us as a vehicle for the free market, of the corporations. For the corporations, by the corporations.
The democratic choice Russian people made in the early 90's is final.