|
GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS IN THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION |
LINK TO...
Between 1945 and 1991 global politics was defined by intense competition between two superpowers: the Soviet Union and the United States. The competition encompassed almost all areas of the world and affected a broad range of economic, political, social, and cultural patterns. As a result, when the Soviet Union surprisingly and suddenly collapsed in 1991, the reverberations were heard everywhere. In the wake of its demise, its component republics broke apart, leaving the Russian Federation as the largest piece, with a population cut in half, but with a land space that allowed it to remain the largest country in the world.
The first president of the Russian Federation was Boris Yeltsin, a former member of the old Soviet Politburo who declared the end of the old Soviet-style regime. The "shock therapy" reforms that he advocated pointed the country in the direction of democracy and a free-market economy. Yet Yeltsin was an uneven leader, often ill or under the influence of alcohol, who reverted to authoritarian rule whenever he was lucid. A small group of family members and advisers took control from the weakened president, and they ran the country as an oligarchy, granting themselves favors and inviting economic and political corruption. However, despite this development, a new constitution was put into place in 1993, and regular, competitive elections have taken place since then. A new President, Vladimir Putin, was elected in 2000, and many observers believe that the influence of the oligarchy has declined since then.
Modern Russia, then, is a very unpredictable country. Its historical roots deeply influence every area of life, but Russia has almost no experience with democracy and a free market. Is democracy finally taking hold in Russia, or is the new regime just a smoke and mirrors imitation of the old historic authoritarianism that has characterized Russia for centuries? No one knows at this point, but Russian history and political culture leave room for both. Slavic roots provide the tendency toward autocratic rule, but the desire to modernize and compete for world power has been apparent since the late 17th century.
FOR AN ASSIGNMENT ON RUSSIA, CLICK HERE.
