James Lu: Week 11 - Power in Russia
Power in Russia
The Russian Federation is the largest country in the world, with the largest nuclear arsenal in the world and the internationally recognized second largest military in the world. However, the way power is distributed in Russia is different from most countries. On December 31, 1999, President Yeltsin resigned. President Yeltsin had in 1993 gone into a near civil war with the parliament. This would be known as the 1993 October Coup, and Parliament would be put down when Soviet (Russian) forces stormed the Russia White House and put an end to this constitutional crisis.
With the resignation of Yeltsin, Vladimir Putin, the prime minister at the time and the second-hand-man of Yeltsin ascended to Presidency. While Russia pre-Putin could be considered a constitutional republic, once Putin rose into power it would slowly move more right and right: eventually transitioning into what most countries consider to be an authoritarian state. Putin rose to power in 2000: he is still in power today. This should be impossible, for the constitution of Russia prevents anybody from serving three consecutive terms, and even Vladimir Putin himself was not above the constitution.
However, there are loopholes to the law. The Russian Constitution, Point 3 of Article 81, states "One and the same person may not be elected President of the Russian Federation for more than two terms running" (Russia). The spirit of the law was that a person could only ever run for two terms, but the wording of the law meant that in theory, one could serve two terms, give up a term, and then serve another two terms. This endless cycle would mean that a single man could hold massive power over the country legally, and while it was not keeping in the spirit of the law, it is within the letters of the law.
However, no man could possibly gain this much power and hold it. Could they?
Vladimir Putin has been in power for the last twenty years. By "swapping" with Dmitry Medvedev, Putin has managed to cheat the system. A running joke in European Union countries is that the most dangerous job in Russia would not be someone like the scientists that went to Chernobyl stop the leak and basically die but rather the political position of "opposition leader." The many rumors of Putin's opposition simply disappearing, or the story of Alexi Navalny, opposition leader who was poisoned with Novichok, was sent to a corrective labor colony, or a work prison for two years and has reported being tortured (Associated Press).
Putin, with his exploits in Ukraine, holds all the power in Russia. His presidential terms seem never-ending and his power seems limitless. Who would dare speak out against someone like Vladimir Putin?
There is no balance of power in Russia, no system of checks and balances. It will be years before we find out the extent of Putin's actions, but until then, just know that in Russia Putin is king, both figuratively and literally.
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Hi James! I might sound really ignorant, but I have only heard about Vladimir Putin, and all I knew about him was that he was Russian and I never cared enough to find out more. I remember last week Ms. Benedetti said something about how the current events summaries helped her learn more about what was going on in the world and that it was good to be knowledgeable about these things. I completely agree with her since I'm really disconnected from what happens in our country and in other countries and your blog posts always teach me about whatever happens in Russia and Ukraine that I hear so much about. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteHi James! The reference to showing that the county of the Russian Federation is one the largest that has been spread internationally is very interesting to know since this is when the Soviet Union was able to put a complete stop to the constitutional crisis that was occurring. Since the Constitution acts as a boulder for allowing anyone to serve more than three terms in a consecutive basis, it is reasonable to infer that the government is giving the country officials the right to also get a chance for serving for their country. In relation to how our current political system runs in America, it's fair to assume this as something that’s currently occuring because the authorities want to prevent any one man from reserving too much power for themselves. By holding a “political position” of one who wants to advance in their standing in the government, I definitely think it’s a tough job considering the large time commitment and rules you have to adhere to.
ReplyDeleteHello James! It was nice reading your blog post because it shows the consequences of not having a system of checks and balance. I wonder what America would be like today if we did not have a system where the president's power is kept in check and they can only run for two terms. America would probably be in a dictatorship. All it would take in a situation like that is to appeal to the majority: the middle and middle-upper class. Another thing that makes me feel especially lucky is that if we did not establish America with a checks and balance system the first time we established the country, it would have already been too late.
ReplyDeleteHi James! Before I read this blog, I only knew that Putin had been in power in Russia for seemingly forever. I had no idea that he was able to keep himself in power for this long by simply abusing a constitutional loophole. If anything, learning about Putin's Russia just makes me grateful for living in the United States, despite the fact that people here will always find something in politics to complain about. The fact that we can openly criticize our government at all is honesty a right that's overlooked far too often. And although having a two-party party political system will always lead to debate, the fact that there is active discussion over those in power is something that we should appreciate. Looking at the dysfunctional governments of other countries certainly makes me appreciate the insight that our founding fathers had in writing our constitution.
ReplyDeleteHi James, this is super interesting; I never actually knew how Putin managed to stay in power for so long. It definitely makes me grateful that our founding fathers were so detailed in the American constitution so that something like this wouldn't happen, but I do still think that politicians manage to find ways to evade the constitution and still maintain power here in America. Your last point definitely hits hard in the sense that it feels like almost like an absolutist monarchy in Russia right now, similar to the monarchies before in history. Thank you for this interesting blog post, and I look forward to reading more from you.
ReplyDeleteHey James, your blog was very educational and interesting. Personally, I do not really follow the news and world events really closely, so I am a bit ignorant about other countries' political structure. As anxiety continues to spread about potential conflict between Russia and Ukraine, which could maybe even lead to WW3, I think it is really important to educate ourselves about world powers and the current unstable balance of power. Your blog gave me the perfect opportunity to learn more about Russia and their government. I was really surprised to learn how Putin was able to exploit a loophole in Russia’s constitution, and how he was able to get away with clearly going against the spirit of the constitution. Evidently, Putin, like many other dictators, has support from his people. I was also astonished to hear how he was able to get rid of his opposition. All of these actions definitely sound really familiar, and very similar to how other dictators acted, and we all know what the implications of previous dangerous dictatorships were. Your blog definitely made me appreciate the rights I have in the United States a lot more. I wonder if there will ever be a time in humankind where true peace is achieved and all countries have a proper system of checks and balances that prevent autocracies from forming.
ReplyDeleteHey James, I found your blog post this week very interesting as you synthesized information about Putin in a way that reflects the oncoming nature of the conflicts in Ukraine and how exactly the power is held and controlled. Your context and background information indicating a sheer lack of checks and balances makes a lot of sense in the situation and circumstance of the escalating conflicts. This lack of balance to the immense power that leading a country is absolutely horrendous and will likely lead to massive disasters should Putin decide to take significant action, which I believe he has, following his "special military operations". Hopefully this doesn't start the next major conflict of the century, but it seems that it's likely well on its way.
ReplyDeleteHi James! Russian politics after the fall of the Soviet Union have been full of corruption and it’s terrifying to think that despite a majority of people disliking Putin’s policies, they cannot vote for another leader. The lack of checks and balances can really lead to disaster. It makes me finally appreciate something about the US government and the fact that reckless leaders will never hold full control over all policies in this country. What is happening in Ukraine is being met by near universal opposition. I’ve seen people from most Western countries in Europe and here in the US protesting in person and online, standing up for Ukraine. Along with economic sanctions and most Western companies protesting against Putin’s regime, even those in Russia are trying to get in a word against him. Most people there aren’t happy about the decisions he is taking. However at protests many are arrested indiscriminately. I saw a video where an old lady who was holding up a sign was taken away by the police. It’s very tragic to see.
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