Editing Politics of Russia (section)

==Putin administration==
[[File:Vladimir Putin 22 March 2002-9.jpg|thumb|180px|Vladimir Putin laid flowers at a memorial to the victims of Soviet-era political repression, [[Norillag]] [[gulag]] camp, 2002]]

Since the [[2000 Russian presidential election|2000 presidential election]], Russian politics has been dominated by [[President Putin|Putin]], his [[United Russia]] party, and Prime Minister [[Mikhail Mishustin]]. At the [[2003 Russian legislative election|2003 legislative elections]], United Russia reduced all other parties to minority status. Other parties retaining seats in the [[State Duma]], the [[lower house]] of the legislature, are the [[Communist Party of the Russian Federation]], the [[Liberal Democratic Party of Russia]] and [[A Just Russia]].

The first presidential elections were held on 26 March 2000. Putin, who had previously been made [[Prime Minister of Russia]] and, following Yeltsin's resignation, was acting president of Russia, won in the first round with 53% of the vote in what was judged generally free and fair elections. (See [[2000 Russian presidential election]].) Putin won a second full term without difficulty in the [[2004 Russian presidential election|March 2004 presidential election]]. While the [[Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe]] reported that the elections were generally organized professionally, there was criticism of the unequal treatment of candidates by State-controlled media, among other issues.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.osce.org/odihr/elections/russia/33100?download=true |title="OSCE/ODIHR Election Observation Mission Final Report" |access-date=December 13, 2016 |archive-date=December 20, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220124504/http://www.osce.org/odihr/elections/russia/33100?download=true |url-status=live }}</ref>

After the election, on 24 February 2004, Prime Minister [[Mikhail Kasyanov]] and his cabinet were dismissed by Putin.<ref name=":0">{{cite news |last1=Baker |first1=Peter |last2=Glasser |first2=Susan B. |date=25 February 2005 |title=Putin Fires Premier, Cabinet In Surprise Pre-Election Move |work=The Wall Street Journal |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2004/02/25/putin-fires-premier-cabinet-in-surprise-pre-election-move/e0fa2a91-d55d-4982-9fbd-a2245df4d8cc/ |access-date=7 August 2022}}</ref> Pundits in Russia believed this not to be due to the president's displeasure with the government, but with Kasyanov himself, as the [[Constitution of Russia|Russian constitution]] does not allow the prime minister to be removed without firing the whole cabinet.<ref name=":0" /> Kasyanov later went on to become a stark Putin critic.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2023-11-25 |title=Mikhail Kasyanov: Russia labels ex-PM and Putin critic 'foreign agent' |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-67531475 |access-date=2024-02-10 |language=en-GB |archive-date=January 25, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240125051720/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-67531475 |url-status=live }}</ref> Although Russia's regions enjoy a degree of autonomous self-government, the election of regional governors was substituted by direct appointment by the president in 2005. In September 2007, Putin accepted the resignation of Prime Minister [[Mikhail Fradkov]], appointing [[Viktor Zubkov]] as the new Prime minister.<ref name="spbtimes210907">{{cite web|url=http://www.sptimes.ru/index.php?action_id=2&story_id=23058|title=St. Petersburg Times: Zubkov's Rating Rise After a Week|access-date=2007-09-25|archive-date=October 25, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071025012447/http://www.sptimes.ru/index.php?action_id=2&story_id=23058|url-status=live}}</ref>[[File:Moscow rally 12 June 2012, Petrovsky Boulevard (03).JPG|thumb|Anti-Putin protesters march in Moscow, 13 June 2012]]

In the 2008 Russian Presidential election, [[Dmitry Medvedev]]—whose nomination was supported by the popular outgoing President [[Vladimir Putin]]—scored a landslide victory. According to analysts, the country was now effectively ruled by a "tandem", with a constitutionally powerful President and an influential and popular Prime Minister.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/03/01/russia.election/index.html|title=Russia votes for Putin's successor|date=2008-03-02|publisher=CNN|access-date=2008-03-01|archive-date=March 5, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080305012351/http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/03/01/russia.election/index.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/03/03/russia.election/index.html|title=New Russian president: I will work with Putin|work=CNN|access-date=2008-03-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080305024307/http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/03/03/russia.election/index.html <!-- Bot retrieved archive -->|archive-date=2008-03-05}}</ref>

Russia has suffered [[democratic backsliding]] during Putin's and Medvedev's tenures. [[Freedom House]] has listed Russia as being "not free" since 2005.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2005/russia|title=Russia {{!}} Country report {{!}} Freedom in the World {{!}} 2005|website=freedomhouse.org|access-date=2016-12-30|archive-date=December 31, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161231075259/https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2005/russia|url-status=dead}}</ref> In 2004, Freedom House warned that Russia's "retreat from freedom marks a low point not registered since 1989, when the country was part of the Soviet Union."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://freedomhouse.org/article/russia-downgraded-not-free?page=70&release=242|title=Russia Downgraded to "Not Free" {{!}} Freedom House|website=freedomhouse.org|access-date=2016-12-30|archive-date=January 1, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170101001014/https://freedomhouse.org/article/russia-downgraded-not-free?page=70&release=242|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Alvaro Gil-Robles]] (then head of the [[Council of Europe]] human rights division) stated in 2004 that "the fledgling Russian democracy is still, of course, far from perfect, but its existence and its successes cannot be denied."<ref>{{cite web|last=Gil-Robles|first=Alvaro|title=Report by Mr Alvaro Gil-Robles, Commissioner for Human Rights, on his visits to the Russian Federation|publisher=Council of Europe|url=https://wcd.coe.int/ViewDoc.jsp?id=846655|access-date=2007-12-27|archive-date=March 4, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304231632/https://wcd.coe.int/ViewDoc.jsp?id=846655|url-status=live}}</ref>

The [[Economist Intelligence Unit]] has rated Russia as "authoritarian" since 2011,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.yabiladi.com/img/content/EIU-Democracy-Index-2015.pdf|title=Democracy Index 2015: Democracy in an age of anxiety|access-date=December 30, 2016|archive-date=March 5, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305143559/http://www.yabiladi.com/img/content/EIU-Democracy-Index-2015.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> whereas it had previously been considered a "[[hybrid regime]]" (with "some form of democratic government" in place) as late as 2007.<ref name="Democracy">{{cite news|last=Kekic|first=Laza|title=Index of democracy by Economist Intelligence Unit|newspaper=The Economist|url=http://www.economist.com/media/pdf/DEMOCRACY_INDEX_2007_v3.pdf|access-date=2007-12-27|archive-date=September 7, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190907193456/http://www.economist.com/media/pdf/DEMOCRACY_INDEX_2007_v3.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> The Russian Federation states that Russia is a democratic federal law-bound state with a republican form of government, which has been proven of not being acted upon today.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.democratic-erosion.com/2018/03/14/the-death-of-russian-democracy-under-putin-by-jordan-nakdimon-ucla/|title=The Death of Russian Democracy Under Putin by Jordan Nakdimon @ UCLA|website=www.democratic-erosion.com|date=March 14, 2018 |access-date=2019-11-21|archive-date=January 24, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210124151714/https://www.democratic-erosion.com/2018/03/14/the-death-of-russian-democracy-under-putin-by-jordan-nakdimon-ucla/|url-status=live}}</ref> Political scientist [[Larry Diamond]], writing in 2015, stated "no serious scholar would consider Russia today a democracy".<ref>{{cite journal |title=Facing Up to the Democratic Recession |journal=Journal of Democracy |date=2015-01-01 |issn=1086-3214 |pages=141–155 |volume=26 |issue=1 |doi=10.1353/jod.2015.0009 |first=Larry |last=Diamond |s2cid=38581334}}</ref>

Natalia Arno, former head of the International Republican Institute's operations in Russia, describes elections in Russia's "[[managed democracy]]" thusly,
<blockquote>Political actors who support the president are permitted to put their name on the ballot and to nominally run against him, but whenever a person arose who actually wanted to challenge the system, they always ran into bureaucratic barriers.

Maybe the Central Election Commission would find a problem with the signatures that the candidate collected in order to register, or maybe the candidate would be charged with a crime based on questionable evidence, but something would always happen ...<ref>{{cite news |agency=Newsweek |title=Putin Is Losing the War in Ukraine, But Winning the Battle at Home |author=MICHAEL WASIURA |url=https://www.newsweek.com/putin-losing-war-ukraine-winning-battle-home-1776408 |date=25 January 2023 |access-date=25 January 2023 |archive-date=May 10, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230510071308/https://www.newsweek.com/putin-losing-war-ukraine-winning-battle-home-1776408 |url-status=live }}</ref> 
</blockquote>

The arrest of prominent [[Russian oligarch|oligarch]] [[Mikhail Khodorkovsky]] on charges of fraud, embezzlement, and tax evasion was met with domestic and Western criticism that the arrest was political and that his trial was highly flawed.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/khodorkovsky-review/|title=In Russia, Khodorkovsky Case Drawing Comparisons to Sakharov|newspaper=PBS NewsHour|language=en-US|access-date=2016-12-30|archive-date=December 31, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161231170043/http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/khodorkovsky-review/|url-status=live}}</ref> However, the move was met positively by the Russian public and has largely undeterred investment from the country, which continued to grow at double-digit rates.<ref>{{cite news|last=Arnold|first=James|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4485361.stm|publisher=BBC|title=Why business is still wary of Russia|date=2005-05-31|access-date=2010-05-22|archive-date=January 22, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080122031624/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4485361.stm|url-status=live}}</ref>{{Until when|date=August 2022}}

In 2005, Russia started steadily increasing the price it sold heavily subsidized gas to ex-Soviet republics. Russia has recently been accused of using its natural resources as a political weapon.<ref>{{cite web|last=Pleming|first=Sue|title=Rice tells Russia not to use energy as weapon|website=International Business Times|date=October 22, 2007|url=http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20071022/rice-tells-russia-not-to-use-energy-as-weapon.htm|access-date=2007-12-27|archive-date=September 13, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120913075537/http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20071022/rice-tells-russia-not-to-use-energy-as-weapon.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> Russia, in turn, accuses the West of applying double standards relating to market principles, pointing out that Russia has been supplying gas to the states in question at prices that were significantly below world market levels, and in most cases remain so even after the increases.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Wintour |first=Patrick |date=2023-12-26 |title=Why US double standards on Israel and Russia play into a dangerous game |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/dec/26/why-us-double-standards-on-israel-and-russia-play-into-a-dangerous-game |access-date=2024-06-28 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> Politicians in Russia argued that it is not obligated to effectively subsidize the economies of post-Soviet states by offering them resources at below-market prices.<ref>{{cite news|last=Simpson|first=Emma|title=Russia, Ukraine argue over gas|newspaper=Taipei Times|url=http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2006/01/03/2003287250|access-date=2007-12-31|archive-date=July 25, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080725133824/http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2006/01/03/2003287250|url-status=live}}</ref> Regardless of alleged political motivation, observers have noted that charging market prices is Russia's legitimate right,<ref>{{cite news|last=Simpson|first=Emma|title=Russia wields the energy weapon|publisher=BBC|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4708256.stm|access-date=2007-12-27|date=2006-02-14|archive-date=March 8, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080308125440/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4708256.stm|url-status=live}}</ref> and point out that Russia has raised the price even for its close ally, Belarus.<ref>{{cite web|title=Belarus: What Does Future Hold For Gazprom's Deal?|publisher=Radio Free Europe|url=http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2007/01/AD863133-7C99-4DCE-9E6E-F396065DC231.html|access-date=2007-12-31|archive-date=January 9, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080109131704/http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2007/01/AD863133-7C99-4DCE-9E6E-F396065DC231.html|url-status=live}}</ref>