Throughout the history of the Russian Federation, its governmental system has evolved significantly. It is important to mention that the October Revolution was the first event triggering the switch from imperialism to socialism or from the power of the monarch to the power of the Communist Party. The only political system that was applied before the beginning of the 20th century was a monarchy in its different forms (Pickvance, 2019). After the October Revolution, the official ideology represented the Communist Party autocracy, and while technically the power had to belong to the nation, the real authority was completely taken over by the Party and its leader. The event, marking the shift towards a current state of politics in Russia, is the dissolution of the Soviet Union, which took place during the beginning of the 1990-s. Since then the democracy became an official political regime, supported by the statement in the Russian Constitution.
However, almost 30 years after, the modern political regime in Russia cannot be referred to as a democratic one, as in its current form, its leader is represented by only one political party. The key reason for this phenomenon might be explained via economic mechanisms. When the only source of economic value is a naturally produced product, then its extraction becomes the country’s main activity. The party which invests in such production gets back all the revenues, turning into a monopolistic owner of the whole economy and, thus, defining its politics.
Nevertheless, there might be a way to overcome this barrier, and it is probably contained in a production model. As soon as the value of extracted resources falls, the same will happen to its price, and, consequently, the power of the economic and political elite will be eliminated. This will give rise to separate regions, which will be small enough to base their own democratic systems. As can be seen from the country’s historical experience, parliament type of democracy would be a perfect substitute to an existing regime.
References
Hickel, J. (2015). Democracy as death: The moral order of anti-liberal politics in South Africa. Oakland, CA: University of California Press.
Pickvance, K. (2019). Democracy and environmental movements in Eastern Europe: A comparative study of Hungary and Russia. New York, NY: Routledge.