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Threat to Russian democracy found duringYelstin era

Nick D'Amico

Former Russian President Boris Yeltsin leaves a mixed legacy behind with his passing April 23. The first president of the Russian Federation, Yeltsin was regarded as a hero by many for his critical role in countering the August 1991 coup against and ushering Russia from the Soviet Union to its incipient democracy. But Yeltsin's presidency was also marked by a number of failures and affronts to the very democracy he tried to establish. As scholars question President Vladimir Putin's policies in Russia, it would be wise for them to return to the Yeltsin era for a better understanding of how Putin has amassed so much power.

A former communist official, Yeltsin became an extremely popular figure in the last years of communist rule as he led a faction of radical democrats who did not think President Mikhail Gorbachev was going far enough with reform. He was elected president in 1991 and began forming his own political power base. In August 1991, when hardline communists placed Gorbachev under house arrest and took control of the government Yeltsin went into the streets and called for the people to resist the coup. In a famous photograph, he is shown standing on a tank, marshalling the crowds outside of the White House, the Russian parliament building.

It is that very spot, two years later in 1993, when Yeltsin would assault the very democratic principles that he had previously stood up for. Yeltsin disbanded the body and declared his intent to rule by decree for a short duration. Parliament resisted and voted to remove Yeltsin from the presidency. Parliament made its stand at the White House, calling for the Russian people to resist Yeltsin. Yeltsin's response this time around was to shell the parliament building with tanks and to storm it with troops removing his opponents.

Yeltsin placed a new constitution before the Russia people for approval. The document gave the president inordinate amounts of power, at the expense of the legislature. This is the origin of Putin's own expansive presidential power. It is the outcome of a flawed constitutional document that was approved in a tense time of emergency.

Yeltsin's two terms as president were marked by economic crisis and rampant corruption. In his final act, Yeltsin performed another act detrimental to democracy, resigning from the presidency. This made his prime minister, Vladimir Putin, acting president, giving him a number of material advantages in the presidential contest.

Yeltsin was a fiery leader who did much for Russia, but also in his zeal made a number of significant mistakes that have likely helped push Russia along a different path toward democracy than other post-Soviet states in Europe. This journey will likely be a long and arduous one, and perhaps the most critical way to ensure that in ends well for the Russian people is to learn from the mistakes of Yeltsin. Putin may be able to have a critically important contribution to democratic development in Russia, even given all his other failings, if he steps down from the political stage and sets a precedent for future peaceful and regular transfers of power.