A leading Russian oppositionist speaks out against continuing official assaults on self-government and human rights.
About the Author
Grigory Yavlinsky is a member of the Russian State Duma, the leader of the Yabloko party, and the chairman of the Center for Economic and Political Research in Moscow. An economist by training, he held a series of high positions during 1990-91 in the governments of the Russian Republic and the USSR. In June 1996, he was a candidate for the presidency of Russia.
At the end of the Cold War, semipresidentialism became the modal constitution of the postcommunist world. In Russia and other post-Soviet states, however, this system of government has impeded consolidation.
Observers who focus too much on elections have failed to grasp the maturation of Iranian civil society, even as hard-liners have come to dominate the government.