t a decade of reform, how democratic is Russia? Many say that Russia has already made the change to democracy but it is more correctly termed a hybrid system or mixed polity. Robert Dahl discusses ten requirements for Democracy in his Polyarchy. 1. Freedom to form and join organizations.Freedom to join organizations began in the late Soviet years. Today many people still use the right to join together, but they are all trying to make a living and so have little time to do much else. The Communist Party of the Russian Federation is probably one of the largest groups but groups like it were more important during perestroika than they are now.2. Freedom of Expression.In the late 1980's people were allowed more and more to speak publicly. By the end of 1989 glasnost became the same thing as freedom of speech and publication. Today the people are completely free, but it is a mixed freedom. It is dangerous for news people to investigate the Mafia and other forms of crime as well as key political figures. Also, those who own the newspaper even though there are no state controls limit editorial freedom. Television journalism is somewhat freer than print, but they are still conformist. The main television networks supported Yeltsin in 1996 and did not criticize him much in the time before he stepped down as president. Today they support current President Putin for the most part though they feel freer to make criticisms if necessary.3. The Right to Vote.The Soviet system never stopped people from voting. In fact, citizens were punished for not voting. As Dahl says, the right to vote is only important when the race is contested, when there is a choice. Early free elections in Russia were plagued with low voter turnout. They declined for most of the 1990's, however in the 1996 presidential elections the turnout was almost 65% and in this year's presidential election turnout was also high. The right to vote has never been questioned...
