Putin s Federal and Constitutional Reforms and Democracy

This study evaluates five of President Putin's reforms: Enhancement of presidential powers; Federal Reforms: Seven Super-Regions Reform and Federation Council Reform; Constitutional Reforms: 2004 Duma reforms and Governors' Reform. It also examines Putin's approach towards oligarchs. There has been much criticism directed against those measures, claiming that they damage democratic principles in Russia. Employing a modified version of Georg Sorensen's definition of democracy I argue that those regulations do not necessarily preclude Russia from becoming a more democratic and open society. To support this argument I examine each reform and compare it with similar measures that were taking place in de Gaulle's and Mitterrand's France. In one case a comparison between Putin's and Thatcher's approaches is drawn. It is demonstrated that Putin's reforms that are perceived in the west as antidemocratic took place earlier in France. Those policies in turn enabled French leaders and later Putin to build a more cohesive and harmonized state that provided the president with institutional tools to create a better basis for the efficient implementation of laws.

Autorentext

Received her MAIS Degree at the University of Washington. Currently pursues PhD at the Graduate Sch. of Public and Int. Affairs at the University of Pittsburgh. Researcher in a project led by Dr. Dunn aimed at evaluating how policy-makers utilize knowledge created in academia. Researches on immigration policies in Russia and the US.

Klappentext

This study evaluates five of President Putin s reforms: Enhancement of presidential powers; Federal Reforms: Seven Super-Regions Reform and Federation Council Reform; Constitutional Reforms: 2004 Duma reforms and Governors Reform. It also examines Putin s approach towards oligarchs. There has been much criticism directed against those measures, claiming that they damage democratic principles in Russia. Employing a modified version of Georg Sorensen s definition of democracy I argue that those regulations do not necessarily preclude Russia from becoming a more democratic and open society. To support this argument I examine each reform and compare it with similar measures that were taking place in de Gaulle s and Mitterrand s France. In one case a comparison between Putin s and Thatcher s approaches is drawn. It is demonstrated that Putin s reforms that are perceived in the west as antidemocratic took place earlier in France. Those policies in turn enabled French leaders and later Putin to build a more cohesive and harmonized state that provided the president with institutional tools to create a better basis for the efficient implementation of laws.