Russia May Gain Control of National Development (good read)

[The Straight Story]

RUSSIA MAY REGAIN CONTROL OF NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

MOSCOW (Political scientist Alexander Tsipko for RIA Novosti) - In September 2004, President Vladimir Putin suggested replacing direct elections of the heads of executive power in the 89 Federation constituent members with their election by local legislative assemblies upon the president's recommendation. The law on the new procedure has been approved and will come into force soon.

What is the essence of this innovation? Does it meet the requirements of Russia's political development? And why has it provoked such political passions?

Current Russia's political system was born in the revolution of the late 1980s and early 1990s, the transition from communism to a normal, democratic society. In Russia, which has never had civil society before and where the living standards of the majority of the population are poor, elections often became a farce. This is why the value of democratic institutions and procedures has plummeted in recent years. Polls show that only 6.3% of Russia's population care for the development of democratic institutions, while over 60% only think about ways to overcome poverty, improve their living standards and have better and more accessible education and healthcare.

The overwhelming majority of political mechanisms of electoral democracy in Russia are experimental. They emerged in our legislation under the influence of other countries' political systems rather than a demand to develop democracy in Russia itself. The main problem is that the people received all of their democratic freedoms from the above, from the authorities led first by Mikhail Gorbachev and then Boris Yeltsin. As a result, public politics and electoral democracy outstripped for decades the real interests and requirements of the bulk of population.

There are grounds to say that Russia, unlike eastern European countries, has failed to create a national model of democracy rooted in national traditions. The sprouts of democracy in the form of public involvement in political life that appeared in the late 1980s and early 1990s have been trampled underfoot or weeded out. It was done deliberately several years ago by self-proclaimed democrats, who said these elements of democracy hindered reforms.

Full article:
http://en.rian.ru/rian/index.cfm?msg_id=5197856

[bemildred]

1. Interesting piece, thanks. nt