TIME EUROPE
WEB EXCLUSIVE
TIME Trail: Russian Democracy
Democracy is largely a foreign concept in a land that has known little but autocracy for centuries
By JEFFREY CHU
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Mikhail Gorbachev talks with the press
Gennady Galperin - Reuters
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In the spring of 1989, Soviet citizens were voting for a new legislature, the
first free national elections in 70 years. Mikhail Gorbachev's twin policies of
perestroika (restructuring) and glasnost (openness) were shaking up political life in
the Soviet sphere. A political upstart named Boris Yeltsin was leading the
charge for demokratizatsiya--democratization. And what did the man on the street
think? One Muscovite said: "Who gives a damn about change when you can't buy
cheese and aspirin anymore?"
More than a decade later, the USSR has been relegated to the history books. (TIME, Dec. 23 ,1991)
Gorbachev is gone. Yeltsin has retired. Democracy is now, in theory, Russia's
system of government. But the economy remains in shambles. Unemployment and
corruption are rampant. Thanks to the prevailing poverty, cheese and aspirin are still
difficult for many to buy. And democracy is arguably no more entrenched in
Russian life than a decade ago.
Russia's long history has been one marked far more by autocracy and
authoritarian rule than by popular participation. Most Russians have never
lived under Western-style democracy. Even leaders who preach the reform gospel
have had little personal experience with this form of governance. Many of the
institutions characteristic of democratic systems--property rights, civil
liberties, free market-oriented bureaucracy--have been weak or nonexistent in
recent memory.
The country's first taste of democracy came in 1905 when Czar Nicholas II
finally agreed to codify certain civil rights in the October Manifesto, which
also proposed the election of Russia's first representative assembly. But the
reforms were soon annulled and the assembly proven powerless. Nicholas II clung
to power until 1917, when chaotic domestic conditions and World War I's costly
toll rendered his position untenable. The Czar abdicated, turning power over to
a provisional government that was no more effective than the old regime. Within
eight months, four governments had risen and fallen. In late summer, a minister
named Alexander Kerensky seized power, proclaimed a Democratic Republic, and set
a date for elections. The vote for the Constituent Assembly was Russia's first
free national election. But the Kerensky-led flirtation with democracy ended
with the Bolshevik Revolution.
Fast forward to the late 1970s and early 1980s, when shortages of basic foods
and goods were commonplace and the Soviet system, economically robust and fast-
growing in years past, was clearly sputtering. Mikhail Gorbachev rose to the
leadership during this period and implemented reforms that paved the way for the
dramatic changes of 1989 and beyond. (TIME, Feb. 9, 1987 and Jan. 4, 1988)
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Mikhail Gorbachev and Boris Yeltsin at the Russian Parliament, October 1991
Gennady Galperin/Reuters
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Boris Yeltsin made his way to the top in the liberalizing atmosphere of the late
1980s. His maverick style and hands-on approach won him popular acclaim and, in
1989, a seat in the legislature. Yeltsin stormed to another electoral victory
in 1991, becoming Russia's first freely elected leader in a millennium. The
chaotic months of late 1991 saw an attempted coup, confusion at the top, and the
dissolution of the Soviet Union. (TIME, Dec. 23, 1991) When the dust settled, Russia was independent,
Gorbachev had retired, and Yeltsin was alone on center stage.
Hailed as Russia's democratic superhero of the '90s, Yeltsin in fact presided
over a period of great political and economic turmoil in his country.
Insurgents in the Caucasus, fierce opposition in the legislature, a collapsing
economy, and his own poor health teamed up to sabotage any plans for thorough
reform of a fundamentally flawed system. By the time of his resignation at the
end of 1999, both Yeltsin and his country were in many ways shadows of their
former formidable selves.
In 1989, Russian poet Bulat Okudzhava said, "During the past 70 years, a new man
has been created who is obedient and easily frightened. What has been created
over the decades cannot be undone in a day." Nor even, perhaps, in decades.
Russia's problems today are enormous. Billions of dollars in Western aid have
been unable to stabilize and stimulate the economy. Separatist tensions
continue to simmer. Crime and corruption dog the effective function of both
the public and private sectors. Few doubt that Acting President 
President Boris Yeltsin receives flowers from Vladimir Putin at his farewell ceremony, December 1999
AP
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Vladimir Putin
will soon drop the word "Acting" from his title. But bigger questions remain
about whether he, unlike his predecessors, will be able to successfully push
through the sweeping reforms of economy, bureaucracy and judiciary the country
needs.
More stories on Russia and democracy
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Election 2000
time.com/europe's guide to the Russian elections
Man with a Mission
Vladimir Putin wants to restore his country's power and prestige. But can he transform Russia before it transforms him?
The Candidates
A look at the three leading candidates for the Russian presidency -- and a fourth mysterious contender
I N T E R V I E W
Perspectives on Putin
Alexander Lebedev on the prosepcts for a Putin presidency - and his own past as a KGB intelligence officer
P O L L
Putin's Potential
If elected, what kind of leader do you think Putin will be?
BACK IN TIME
FEBRUARY 9, 1987
The Call to Reform
JANUARY 4, 1988
The Education of Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev
JUNE 27, 1988
"We Humiliate Ourselves
APRIL 10, 1989
A Long, Mighty Struggle
FEBRUARY 19, 1990
Undoing Lenin's Legacy
FEBRUARY 4, 1991
Where Are the Reformers?
MARCH 25, 1991
Boris vs. Mikhail
JUNE 10, 1991
Kissing Hands, Shaking Babies
SEPTEMBER 2, 1991
The Russian Revolution
SEPTEMBER 16, 1991
Bread, Cigarettes and Reform
DECEMBER 23, 1991
The End of the U.S.S.R.
MARCH 9, 1992
Yeltsin's Enemies
SEPTEMBER 28, 1992
Counterreformation
DECEMBER 7, 1992
A Miracle Wrapped in Danger
MARCH 29, 1993
Yeltsin's Big Gamble
NOVEMBER 6, 1995
End of the Yeltsin Era?
MAY 27, 1996
The People Choose
FEBRUARY 10, 1997
An Unhealthy Impulse
AUGUST 31, 1998
Yeltsin's Desperate Gamble
JANUARY 1, 2000
Remembering Yeltsin
MARCH 27, 2000
A Man with a Mission
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
Online Poll
If elected, what kind of leader will Vladimir Putin be?
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