Russia's present day political system: democracy or authoritarianism?

The article is devoted to the analysis of specificity of the present-day political system of the Russian Federation. The author marks that Russia having been developing democratic institutes and procedures for more than 20 years, yet simultaneously proceeds experiencing authoritarian tendencies pressure, which emerged in the 1990s. Consequently, there exist both democracy and authoritarianism in Russia today. The article pointed out both democratic specific features, such as democratic values of the Constitution, possession of election procedures and institutes of a democratic law-governed state and civic society, a number of mass media liberal oppositions, and authoritarian ones, such as power unchangeability, power concentration in the hands of one person at all levels, the minimal role of opposition, society’s limited control over the executive power, etc. The political modernization into developed democracy has not been completed in Russia yet, but it went rather far in establishing democratic institutes. That is why at present it is logical to say about the hybrid political system in Russia.