Is Russia Democratic?

Paper Summary:

This paper defines the essential components of democracy that are majority rule with minority rights, free and fair elections and social, economic and political pluralism. The paper closely examines these features of Russia's government and concludes that Russia has not fully established these basic pillars of democracy. The paper then discusses how it's failure is, in some ways, similar to that experienced by other widely-recognized democracies, such as the United States, Canada and some nations of Western Europe. Therefore, the paper reaches the conclusion that if we are to consider these nations democracies, and the popular perception is that they are, we must label Russia a democracy as well.

Outline:
Majority Rule with Minority Rights
Free and Fair Elections
Social, Economic and Political Pluralism
Conclusion

From the Paper:

"When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, many saw its undoing as the culmination of various democratic reforms initially implemented under Mikhail Gorbachev. Through this lens, it seemed that Russia was destined to form a classical, Western-style democracy. To many observers, Russia has never fulfilled this destiny. Russia has little democratic tradition, having transitioned throughout its history from a system of regional princes, to national tsars, to communism. It has struggled to implement democratic reforms, leading to national problems such as widespread corruption, a small oligarchy of tycoons who control much of Russian business, a press system still heavily influenced by the government, and a strong, nationalized presidency that operates without many checks on its power (Feifer, 2007). These problems beg the question of whether Russia can truly be considered a democracy."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Alexeyeva, L. (2004). "Putin's definition of democracy?" Washington Post, June 8. Page A23.
• "Democracy, Soviet style" (2007). The Economist, Oct. 4. Retrieved April 19, 2008 from http://www.economist.com/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9905563.
• Feifer, G. (2007). "What happened to Russian democracy?" All Things Considered, March 8. Retrieved April 19, 2008 from http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?stpryId=7762959.
• "Obituary: Gerald Ford" (2006). BBC News, Dec. 27. Retrieved April 19, 2008 from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/863634.stm.
• Rutland, P. (2005). "Russia: Democracy dismantled." Eurasia Daily Monitor, Jan. 10. Retrieved April 20, 2008 from http://www.jamestown.org/edm/article.php?article_id=2369070.

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