All power in Russia is concentrated in Kremlin. Duma (the parliament) acts like a rubber stamp because it is controlled by the Kremlin’s party. The regional governors are appointed by Kremlin. There exists a thin but very powerful and rich layer of military, intelligence and mafia types which is well connected with the Kremlin. This is the layer controls most business and has involvement with almost all national activities. However this layer in no way opposes the Kremlin but is fully subservient. Corruption allows this layer some independence in its activities.
This form of government can be seen as nonhereditary monarchy with all nepotism and cronyism which monarchy implies. Ironically this is exactly what Perestroika wanted to get rid of and the communist revolution before that. It seems that no matter what the common Russian people do, they end up with the same government but under a different political banner. From the Czar to the General Secretary of the Party to the President, all men who rule Russia have ruled it using the same methods. Namely using absolute or near absolute authority to suppress any opposition to achieving goals, which of course are chosen by them alone.
This happens because there are no checks and balances on power in Russia. In other countries long histories of institutional development produced very robust mechanisms to spread power around and to add accountability to every institution. When someone gets into power they are not really in power. They are simply in charge of one of the institutions. Rules and good ethic is enforced by other institutions. There is no free reign. In Russia the opposite is true. Whoever has the power has freedom to do whatever he pleases.
This is somewhat of a medieval way of governing. In the long term it is nowhere as productive or kind to its citizens as a system with more accountability.
This reason for this state of affairs seems to be that Enlightenment never took root in Russia. In other countries ideas of Enlightenment grew into liberalism and democracy. This was accomplished by gradual change rather than revolution. It is impossible to come to conclusive understanding why Enlightenment never took root. But what is true is that Russia needs to start to develop these institutions as soon as possible for its own sake and for the sake of the World. Unfortunately there is no reason why this should happen now or in anytime in the future.
This form of government can be seen as nonhereditary monarchy with all nepotism and cronyism which monarchy implies. Ironically this is exactly what Perestroika wanted to get rid of and the communist revolution before that. It seems that no matter what the common Russian people do, they end up with the same government but under a different political banner. From the Czar to the General Secretary of the Party to the President, all men who rule Russia have ruled it using the same methods. Namely using absolute or near absolute authority to suppress any opposition to achieving goals, which of course are chosen by them alone.
This happens because there are no checks and balances on power in Russia. In other countries long histories of institutional development produced very robust mechanisms to spread power around and to add accountability to every institution. When someone gets into power they are not really in power. They are simply in charge of one of the institutions. Rules and good ethic is enforced by other institutions. There is no free reign. In Russia the opposite is true. Whoever has the power has freedom to do whatever he pleases.
This is somewhat of a medieval way of governing. In the long term it is nowhere as productive or kind to its citizens as a system with more accountability.
This reason for this state of affairs seems to be that Enlightenment never took root in Russia. In other countries ideas of Enlightenment grew into liberalism and democracy. This was accomplished by gradual change rather than revolution. It is impossible to come to conclusive understanding why Enlightenment never took root. But what is true is that Russia needs to start to develop these institutions as soon as possible for its own sake and for the sake of the World. Unfortunately there is no reason why this should happen now or in anytime in the future.
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