Who is Russia?

Issue 1 of The Political Analysis Magazine

March 2015
A Case Study
Today, we will find out who exactly
Russia is as a country. Using all our
journalists to spread across the nation,
we have managed to get deep within
the political cleavages and talk to the
poor and wealthy. We also investigate
the history that made Russia why it is
today. At the end, we hope you realize
who Russia is. Please read this issue,
as there is more yet to come.
 Speaking to the Common People
We
approached a young college
student, Elena Stravinsky who was
eating her lunch. We asked if she
thought the current form of
government was ideal. Her eyes
widened. Of course! I believe that
our form of government is ideal. I
prefer our government over the type
the United States has. We asked
her why, again. The United States
has such, ah, how do you say it,
bumpy way of doing things. In
Russia, the government is stable.
Order and stability is good in the
world, especially in government. We
thanked her for comments and
wished her on her way.
As shown by Elena, it seems that

Russians seems to have the mindset

that autocracy is better than
democracy. They prefer order and
stability. To be sure, we tracked down
two other students in the university.
 We found a young man called
Erik who luckily enough for
us, worked for a political party
in Russia. We asked him the
same questions. He laughed.
Of course! I mean if we had a I joined a party to enter
system like the US we would this university to study
never deal with problems. about politics. Russian
Because our president has so politics is wonderful.
much centralized power, he We asked him if he
can make so many decisions. joined the party just to
We need those with all those enter university. He
Jewish and Chukchi
seemed flustered. O-Of
(Chechnya people) coming in
course not! Look, I
and ruining our country. Plus
we dont have much ideology dont have to answer
parties anymore, so we can any more questions.
have smoother elections.
 After Erik left us, we were
able to talk with a university
professor who decided not to
be named. I dont have
much choice but to leave. I
dont like teaching these kids
false stuff. But you know,
cant do nuthin without Everyone has such low
teaching the wrong stuff. The
government practically expectations of the
controls every media source, government, its no
and if they dont control it, wonder they believe in
they just take the media them. Even then, Id
source. Usually from the still say that there is no
oligarchy, and those who trust between us and
dont are sent to jail. Dont the government.
let those kids fool you, they
just as suspicious of the
government as me. And if
they do honestly believe in
the government, well, hah!
In Conclusion from the lower
class
We cant really tell who was telling the lies or
the truth. But we can conclude to some
extent that there is a huge distrust of the
government. Although the Russian people
seem to have huge hopes for democracy.
Despite the huge hopes for democracy, they
still seem to prefer more autocratic style of
ruling than democratic.
What do the upper-class
think?
We have managed to
get a telephone call
with an anonymous
sources for this
particular interview.
They do not want to
reveal their name, for
fear of the government
or mafia. Our
magazine was the only
source to publish such
interviews since most
media stations are
government owned.
 I cant say much about
myself, other than Ive
been in Russia since the
USSR fell. But I think the
government is too
unbalanced. The
president has too much
power, and Duma and the
Federal Council can do
little to stop them. The
president controls Duma Putinhas too much
and the Federal Council in power, though I do
the sense that the not dare say it out
President nominates the
regional governors to be
loud. I have already
approved by the regional said too much.
parliament and the
regional governors chose
the people going into the
Federal Council.
 Next we got an interview from a famed oligarch
named Vladimir Alexander who owns an oil business.
I dont care about Putin anymore! He cant take me
out. He took the other oligarchs businesses and
turned them over to the state, but he wont with me.
He threw people like in Khodorkovsky jail, but he
wont with me. We gave him his presidency through
United Russia! He may high approval rates, but its
because we control the media and made what he is.
The whole government is a farce! I wont let them
drag me down and take my business! Unfortunately
after this interview we could not reach Mr. Vladimir
for a follow up on his claims. He was dragged to court
immediately a day after this was published, and is
now on trial for corruption and slander.
Our last interview is with
another anonymous
person who is a politician
who does not prefer to be
named. We asked him his
thoughts on the
government. I am not
happy with the
government. Putin
changed the percentage
from 5 to 7 for a party to
get a seat in Duma. Putin
also got rid of single
plurality elections.
Because of that, not many
parties can win anything.
Including mine. United
Russia dominates the
elections! And it needs to
stop.
Conclusions from the Upper-class
We can know draw the conclusion that Russias
president has a lot of centralized power. The
system seems rather unbalanced, with the
Duma and Federation Council not being able to
really balance the power the president has. The
upper class men detest the government, or
more like the upper class men that are not
benefiting from it. This makes Russia a weak
state because it is riddled with corruption and is
not being to enforce laws and such properly
because of that. We have tried to get interviews
with other upper class men, but they have
rejected our offer calling our magazine,
blasphemous.
What is Russias history?
Here we look at the core of
Russia. The core of Russia makes
Russia what it is today. In this,
we can find out exactly who
Russia is.
Here we interview the
niece of Boris Yeltsin. Her
name is Anastasia. He
was troubled with so
many things, thats why
he drank so much
because he had so many
problems as the first
president. The USSR was
in shambles when the
coup failed in 1991. He
had so much stress. But
he tried so much
especially with the
Constitution of 1993 that
set up the three branch
government. We must
not forget the great
things he did.
Maliika is a Chechnyan
woman married to a
Jewish man. She has two
children with him and she
discusses her life with us.
Its very hard living in
Russia sometimes. We
are constantly ridiculed.
Our children suffer the
most because they are
Jewish and Chechnyan.
Those people are the
terrorists are not us. We
are not them. People
need to know that, we
are treated like animals.
I just came to Russia for a
better life.
We do our last
interview with an old
Bolshevik who prefers
not to be named. Our
government is now
lost, but I believe Putin
is bringing it back.
Gorbachev destroyed
the USSR with glasnost
and perestroika. He led
to our downfall and he
destroyed everything
that Lenin worked for.
In Conclusion About Russias
History
Russias history has been riddled
with racism and countless
autocracies. This has caused
Russia to have mistrust and
instability to able to deal with
problems democratically. Along
with the racism and not letting
Chechnya become independent
has caused countless terrorism in
Russia.
Works Cited
Hauss, Charles. Comparative Politics: Domestic Responses to Global Challenges. Belmont, CA: West/
Wadsworth Pub., 2000. Print.

Wood, Ethel. AP Comparative Government and Politics: A Study Guide, Third Edition. Reading: WoodYard
Publications, 2007. Print.