Authoritarian Russia: Flight from Freedom, or Why Democracy Does Not Take Root Here

Democracy does not guarantee citizens that they will live better. But it reduces the risks that, under autocracy, they will suffer from the arbitrariness of corrupt rulers violating their rights, having no means for a peaceful change of power. Why and how has Russia transitioned over the last three decades from a communist regime not to democracy, but to a new personalized authoritarianism? Post-communist Russia has failed to cope with the "simultaneity dilemma" — the necessity to address the tasks of democratization, to carry out market reforms, and to change the national-state structure of the country. Low citizen engagement in politics has helped Russian political actors build an authoritarian regime and concentrate power in their hands. Will our country be able to overcome these trends and embark on the path of developing political and civil freedoms, or is this path closed to it for many decades?