hat the government is somewhat unconcerned with accountability and they do little to no public opinion polls unlike the United States. The people in government in Russia are generally concerned with getting elected. This may explain the high rate of party turnover in the Duma.8. Rule of Law.It is known that under Communism the government cared little about law when it got in the way of what the Politburo or Supreme Soviet wanted. That is not necessarily true today. However when the sale of state assets were transacted, there is evidence that the buyers were pre-selected and paid almost nothing for the real estate they bought. Russia needs to work on this problem.Nine and ten deal with institutional malleability and other rights. In the Soviet era political connections were the most important deciding factor. Today it is business. It may be good to support the growth of the Russian economy but the power of the laws and of the government should not take a "back seat" to the interest of business. Another problem in Russian business is that the Mafia is a key figure in many businesses.While the Russian government is not wholly democratic yet it is important to remember that it is a work in progress. There are very democratic republics and highly authoritarian ones. But, the democracy enjoyed by the United States took well over 200 years to achieve and was not easily done. There is no solid opinion about the state of democracy in Russia. Some say that the country is "adrift, especially in its commitment to democratizing reform and the transition to a market economy"(World Affairs, Summer99, Vol. 162 Issue 1, p22). The Russians need more time (Problems of Post-Communism, Sep/Oct 99, Vol. 46 Issue 5, p3)In the years immediately following the collapse of Communism as the sole political force in Russia the Russians embraced the West. To borrow from the Germans, they decided to "Test the West". This period ended in late 1992 with a...
