Political and Economic Changes in Russia Since the Fall of the Soviet Union

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia has undergone many changes. These changes were very profound and included the drastic restructuring of both the political structure and the economy. When the Russian people became dissatisfied with the communist system, they pushed for a regime change, which resulted in the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the introduction of a democratic system. Along with these political changes came the economic change from communism to a free market system. The new system and the old system, while initially seeming like they have many differences, are similar in the corruptness and oppression of the people. Because of this, the political and economic transitions from the old system of communism to the new democratic system in Russia have not been successful.

The Soviet Union had an official government structure, which included a legislative branch, and executive branch, and a judicial branch. However, the official government had no real power under Soviet rule and all of the actual power was held in the Communist Party. The Russian Federation, which emerged as a democratic nation after the collapse of Soviet Union, also includes the three branches of government. However, the power does not lie in the political party system but with the actual government. The executive branch consists of both a President and a Prime Minister. The President is directly elected every six years since 2012, and before that it was every four years. They are limited to two consecutive terms, but can run for an unlimited amount of non-consecutive terms. The Prime Minister is appointed by the President but must get approved by the lower house of the legislature, the Duma. Constitutionally the Prime Minister is the ...

... middle of paper ...

...cism of the Russian government, though a lot of the Russian political dissent is silenced. Despite this, the citizen’s dissatisfaction with the government has grown and has culminated into a series of protests in the past few years, which includes a reaction to rigged elections and to Putin’s policies in the Ukraine.

Russia has undergone many changes since the dissolution of the Soviet Union. It has gone through many key changes both politically and economically. The Russian government lies in between a democratic and a totalitarian system, with dissatisfaction from many of the citizens. Economically Russia’s transition has been more successful, but many of the citizen’s are in poverty and have low standards of living. In conclusion, the transition from the communist model a democratic, free market oriented model has not gone smoothly and has not been successful.