A Month after the Election

Looking back at my last blog post, I realized once again that I am still more American than Russian - you'd be hard pressed to find a Russian with such a naive sense of optimism...rather, it is possible to find such people, but they tend to be pitied, rather than taken seriously.

Source: polittech.org

At any rate, the results of the presidential elections corresponded to what the polls had predicted - Vladimir Putin gained victory in the first round. Also as many had predicted, there were signs of a degree of election fraud. To be fair, though, it was clear that the voting process itself (if not the campaign period) was a significant improvement over previous years; it is also obvious that Mr. Putin would have won in the first round even if all the allegations of wrong-doing at the polls were confirmed.


What does this mean for the country? Russia is not a terribly predictable, so it is a bit hard to say. It is generally acknowledged that Mr. Putin's reputation has taken a hit in the last year, and many Russians have begun to show and be active in political processes. Although I may again be showing my naivete, I believe that this means that the government is likely to be more responsive to calls for reform; the government's steps in the direction of more direct democracy (easing of rules for registering political parts and especially re-establishing the election of state governors) give me reason to hope.