In the December 2011 protests that shook Russia, civic mobilization took place in two phases: first, in the form of a protest vote during the December State Duma elections, and second, in the postelection street protests in Moscow and in Russia’s larger regional capitals. To its credit, the Russian opposition was able to quickly tie the problem of electoral fraud to the current structure of the Russian political system, and to speedily organize large protest rallies in response. Yet more needs to be done.
About the Author
Denis Volkov is a researcher at the Yuri Levada Center, an independent Moscow-based organization devoted to the analysis of Russian public life. He comments frequently on politics in the Russian media and studies youth political engagement, the sources and limits of democratization, and the role of digital media in social and political change. This essay was translated from the Russian by Patrick Walsh.
The debate over Russia’s likely course of development under Putin has paid surprisingly little attention to his openly stated goal of reintegrating Russia with other former Soviet republics.
The history of twentieth-century European communist parties shows that extremists can be moderated by robust democratic institutions. Without them, however, the inclusion of extremist parties may undermine democracy.
