The Putin Restoration
Publication date
Wednesday, 28.04.2004
Authors
Leon Aron
Series
AEI Russian Outlook - Spring 2004
Annotation
Vladimir Putin's lopsided victory in Russia's March 14 presidential election has been widely ascribed to the Kremlin's neo-authoritarian interference in the political process, including its manipulation of the media and its intimidation of the opposition. Yet a closer examination of the key trends in Russian politics and public opinion reveals a far more complicated picture. To attribute Putin's triumph, or indeed his popularity, solely to semi-authoritarian political technology is to mislead the American public and American policymakers. Putin's reelection is part of a broad and multifaceted trend affecting Russia today: a post-revolutionary "restoration" that, in one form or another, has followed every great revolution.
Vladimir Putin's lopsided victory in Russia's March 14 presidential election has been widely ascribed to the Kremlin's neo-authoritarian interference in the political process, including its manipulation of the media and its intimidation of the opposition. Yet a closer examination of the key trends in Russian politics and public opinion reveals a far more complicated picture. To attribute Putin's triumph, or indeed his popularity, solely to semi-authoritarian political technology is to mislead the American public and American policymakers. Putin's reelection is part of a broad and multifaceted trend affecting Russia today: a post-revolutionary "restoration" that, in one form or another, has followed every great revolution.
Contents
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Notes
Dr. Leon Aron,
A resident scholar at AEI
Full version
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