Putin's Russia: is President Vladimir Putin's increasingly autocratic behavior a threat to Russia's fragile democracy?

• Author: Smith, Patricia

BACKGROUND

Russian President Vladimir Putin's rule is becoming increasingly authoritarian. His critics have landed in jail or died under mysterious circumstances, TV stations that criticized Putin have been shut down, and he recently signed a law that equates the libel of a government official with "extremism."

CRITICAL THINKING 1

* Discuss the explanation for Russia's long history of authoritarian rule: invasions and fighting off external enemies. How might this repeated experience tend to favor rule by a powerful--even repressive--government?

* How may events in a nation's history influence contemporary events and values?

CRITICAL THINKING 2

* Remind students of President Bush's meeting with pro-democracy critics of Putin and his statement that the U.S. "cares about the form of government in Russia."

* Ask students to offer a few reasons why the U.S. might be concerned about Russia's form of government.

* One reason: Russia is a major, increasingly authoritarian power. Throughout history, such regimes have tended to expand beyond their borders, threatening peace and security.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

* Will Russia be a democracy if Putin determines the choice of his successor? If he remains a power behind the scenes?

WRITING PROMPT

* Have students write five-paragraph essays in which they explain under what circumstances, if any, they think a government should be allowed to censor the press or punish its critics.

FAST FACT

* As a teen, Putin went to the K.G.B. office in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) and inquired about how to get a job with the notorious spy agency.

WEB WATCH

www.kremlin.ru/eng /articles/V_Putin_eng.shtmt

Russian government's brief biography of Vladimir Putin.

The story seemed to be ripped from the pages of a spy novel: A former Soviet K.G.B. agent with a lifetime of enemies is poisoned to death, setting off a round of international accusations and intrigue.

But that's exactly what happened to Alexander Litvinenko in London last year. Litvinenko was poisoned by polonium 210, a highly toxic radioactive substance. Shortly before his agonizing death in November, Litvinenko said he was sure the Russian government, and President Vladimir V. Putin, a former K.G.B. agent himself, were to blame.

Just the idea that Litvinenko would make such an accusation and that anyone would take it seriously--the British government has been investigating--speaks volumes about the extent to which democracy seems to be faltering in Putin's Russia.

Over the course of his seven years in office, Putin has steadily concentrated power in his hands. With elections on the horizon--for the Duma, or parliament, in December and the presidency next March--there is increasing concern about the future of Russia's fragile democracy.

"It's a political system that has democratic trappings, but a strong authoritarian core," says Rajan Menon, a Russia expert...