Back in the USSR
He was the totalitarian leader of the Soviet Union, dying in 1953.
Who is Josef Stalin?
Russia's economy and legal system is this.
What is corrupt?
The legislature, particularly the lower house, of Russia.
What is the Duma?
What is United Russia?
The intelligence agency that Vladimir Putin worked for during the Cold War.
What is the KGB?
What is the politburo?
The name for people who held power in the old Soviet bureaucracy because of their loyalty to the party. They would hold important jobs in state, society, and the economy. Many became the early oligarchs.
What is "nomenklatura?"
This house of the legislature primarily serves to represent local interests and as "guarantor of the Constitution.
What is the Federation Council?
It's neither very "liberal" nor "democratic," in fact it's downright fascist.
What is the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia?
In 1999, Putin replaced this man as president of Russia.
Who is Boris Yeltsin?
The last leader of the Soviet Union.
Who is Mikhail Gorbachev?
The process of privatization and marketization that happens basically over night.
What is "shock therapy?"
These people select the members of the Federation Council.
Who are regional governors?
This party has support among the elderly and very young.
What is the Communist Part of Russia?
The man Putin transferred power to for one presidential term from 2008-2012.
Who is Dimitri Medvedev?
The policy of "political openness."
What is glasnost?
These "men of power" largely replaced the oligarchs in the realm of economics and politics in Russia.
Who are the "siloviki?"
Nominated by the president and confirmed by the Federation Council, this institution has the power of abstract and concrete judicial review.
What is the Constitutional Court?
Holding elections with at least some opposition, can lead political scientists to categorize Russia as this kind of political regime?
What is an illiberal democracy (or semi-democratic or procedural democracy)?
What is Chechnya?
The policy of "economic restructuring."
What is perestroika?
Mikhail Prokhorov is one of the richest men in Russia, ran against Putin in 2012, and used to own this professional basketball team.
What are the Brooklyn Nets?
The Russian electoral system has a mixture of single-member districts and this other electoral system.
What is proportional representation (and mixed member districts)?
The fourth largest party in the Russian Duma with 23 seats.
What is A Just Russia?
To help legitimize his authority, Putin has often associated himself with leaders of this long-established Russian institution.
What is Orthodox Christianity?