adam wrote:

Russia is undergoing yet another round of election-rule tightening -- as usual, a product of the country's rubber-stamp legislature. The protesters see it as marking the "virtual elimination of the system of free elections" in Russia, as they said in their statement. Over the past two years, election rules have been repeatedly refashioned and readjusted so that no undesired forces or figures can slip through the process.

...

One of the innovations of the new election bill is a ban on creating a "negative image" of political opponents. This is one way of depriving a campaign of any meaning whatsoever, as just challenging the policies of the incumbent authorities can now be interpreted as a violation of the law.

So while there is always a constituency that dutifully turns out on Election Day to vote "as the bosses say," a great many others will choose to stay home, since they assume their vote will make no difference.

Of course, a low turnout might call into question the legitimacy of the representative branch, but apparently the Kremlin thinks it can live with this image problem. Another provision of the new bill eliminates the minimum percentage turnout requirement for an election to be valid. The ruling elite thus largely reduces its power base to the core of Soviet-style voters who accept a no-choice vote -- while alienating the more advanced and entrepreneurial elements of the population.

Russian democracy ended completely several years ago. Is there any doubt that Putin is El Presidente for life, and that the FSB will continue to take over more and more of the economy? The path has been clear for many years, and he has never strayed from it.

Jello wrote:

Russian democracy ended completely several years ago. Is there any doubt that Putin is El Presidente for life, and that the FSB will continue to take over more and more of the economy? The path has been clear for many years, and he has never strayed from it.

i am not sure u could say when Russian democracy ceased to exist or even whether it has as yet completely disappeared. It is like watching freedom slowly wither away -- the boiling frog -- i just have this image of a giant amoeba (like in the Blob) or a slime mould devouring the country in my head.
When Putin announces that he's changing the law so he's not obliged to step down, as he does at the moment, it will be interesting to see if more than a few people risk protesting. I know what I suspect will happen but I don't own a crystal ball. I remember in June 1989 sitting a politics exam and writing about the nationalist movements in Eastern Europe as an interesting political force but even a few months before the Berlin Wall came down I didn't seriously expect it to happen.
If people decide to protest on mass then the big question is will the army start shooting. My guess would be that if the people do stand up then the army won't shoot but i'm not gambling my life so it's easy to say comfortably from here.

adam wrote:

Jello wrote:

Russian democracy ended completely several years ago. Is there any doubt that Putin is El Presidente for life, and that the FSB will continue to take over more and more of the economy? The path has been clear for many years, and he has never strayed from it.

i am not sure u could say when Russian democracy ceased to exist or even whether it has as yet completely disappeared. It is like watching freedom slowly wither away -- the boiling frog -- i just have this image of a giant amoeba (like in the Blob) or a slime mould devouring the country in my head.
When Putin announces that he's changing the law so he's not obliged to step down, as he does at the moment, it will be interesting to see if more than a few people risk protesting. I know what I suspect will happen but I don't own a crystal ball. I remember in June 1989 sitting a politics exam and writing about the nationalist movements in Eastern Europe as an interesting political force but even a few months before the Berlin Wall came down I didn't seriously expect it to happen.
If people decide to protest on mass then the big question is will the army start shooting. My guess would be that if the people do stand up then the army won't shoot but i'm not gambling my life so it's easy to say comfortably from here.

In order for alot of people to protest, they have to be angry. The reality is that Putin has a very high approval rating, and many Russians actually want him to be monarch.

The elected bodies in Russia other than Putin have no power, and haven't for several years. There is no freedom of the press. Democracy is totally and completely dead there, and has been for some time. Its kind of amazing that most westerners don't realize this.