Global Studies II

Unit II Russia

Name Casey Marshall

Date _11/17/14___________
Russian Democracy Has Disappeared?
- Clifford J. Levy, New York Times

Directions: After reading the article mentioned above, answer the questions below. Please
answer in complete sentence format.
1. What is human rights? According to the author, identify human rights issues the current
political regime in Russia have violated.
Human rights are the rights that are believed to be justifiable to every person. According to the
author, Putin has undermined the fledgling democracy by crippling opposition forces. He found a
way that would prevent him from losing his spot as president,

2. Identify political corruption issues Mr. Levy identifies in Russia today.

Vladimir Putin has basically corrupted the system and has made it so that he stays in power every
election. He wasnt remotely elected fairly, but he has the hearts of many Russian citizens today.

3. How does Mr. Gorbechev, the previous Russian premier, feel about the current leaders? Why
does he feel this way?
He dislikes Putin, and claims that undermining Russias growing and improving democracy by
crippling opposition forces. He believes this because he thinks that Vladimir Putin truly believes
that having a democracy stands in his way, which he completely disagrees with.
4. The caption for the picture on page one is titled, Batman and Robin. Explain this caption.
It is captioned that because Vladimir Putin took power and when he did, he made his friend Dmitri
Medvedev the prime minister, so that when elections came around, he would still ultimately have
say over the rule of Russia if something had happened.

5. According to the author [and Mr. Gorbechev, democracy begins with:

_Elections__________________,
___Accountability___________________, and
_____turnover____________.

6. In addition to the aspects of democracy identified above, which other key ingredient is
necessary for a democracy? According to the author, how does Russia meet this ingredient?
Back up your answer with facts.
Respect for the rule of law is another key to a democratic state. This is a big ingredient meeting
for Russia because the rule of law is constantly changing to meet with the governments needs.

7. Identify two cases the author identifies where the Russian government has failed the
democratic test.
One is the case of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who was a billionaire due to being the head of the Oil
Company. He offered political support to other opposing parties, and because of this has spent the
last seven years in prison. Second, jurors are many times intimidated by the authorities in court
and when they acquire a defendant, their arguments are usually overturned, which is a way the
democratic system fails.

MLA Citation:

Levy, Clifford J. "Russian Democracy Has Disappeared." KMBT_C364e-20141117091909 (n.d.): n. pag. The Week,
23 Mar. 2012. Web. 18 Nov. 2014.