Putin Cracks Down in Russia before the Parliamentary Elections
By Jane Clark and Jacklyn Palme
November 30, 2007 | Printer Friendly

Washington Post columnist Anne Applebaum writes that over the last few years, Russian President Vladimir Putin has been strategically amassing power for himself by limiting the opposition’s ability to criticize the presidency, mostly through the arrest of activists and control of the media.  He has been running what has been termed a “managed democracy,” allowing some dissent as long as it remains small, while still controlling most of the media.  

According to a recent Globalist article, this behavior is typical of the rise of “new authoritarians.”  These leaders have power over the media, but allow some amount of autonomy to give the appearance of having transparent institutions.  This type of leadership has become common lately, as many leaders believe that holding elections and claiming to have a democracy is necessary for political legitimacy.  To maintain the appearance of legitimacy, they prefer to use “subtle forms of electoral manipulation that the control of broadcast media can afford them — rather than resorting to outright fraud or violence.”  However, when an important event is scheduled, they tend to take more substantial control over the media in order to promote their campaign and criticize their opponents.

Fitting the “new authoritarian” mold, the Applebaum writes that Putin has caused an increase in the number of physical and verbal attacks against dissenting politicians and journalists.  The government controlled media has called them a “motley army of deviants, criminals, wannabe politicians, fraudsters and gangsters on the fringes of Russian society.”  Applebaum writes that in light of Putin’s popularity in Russia, it seems strange to spend so much energy worrying about a few “deviants and fraudsters,” but it could point to the fact that President Putin is not as secure as he comes across.  It could also indicate that he is attacking his opponents simply because he can—western influences no longer have any control over his actions.

According to the New York Times, the most recent crackdown was against former chess champion and potential presidential candidate Garry Kasparov.  He has been sentenced to five days in jail for organizing a single protest.  This is one of several protests against President Putin that has taken place in the weeks leading up to the election.  Despite his increasingly desperate actions, polls show that President Putin will easily win the elections, allowing him to hold on to some power after his term as president is over.  He has accused the United States of trying to undermine the elections by persuading international election monitors to withdraw, but it is his actions that are making it clear that “this is no free and fair election and Russia is no democracy.”

Both the Washington Post and New York Times  write that the United States and Europe need to establish a new Russia policy, placing a greater emphasis on the promotion of Russian democracy. The New York Times editorial states that the United States and Europe “brought Russia into the elite group of leading industrialized nations by arguing that it would encourage Moscow on a democratic path. Now they must stand together as democracies and make clear that Russia’s reversion to its autocratic past is unacceptable.”

References:

New York Times Editorial: Exit, Russian Democracy

Washington Post - Applebaum: Russia's New Old Dissidents

Globalist: Putin and the Dawn of New Authoritarians