Russian public initiative: paradoxes of e- democracy

The results of the Russian Public Initiative (ROI) operation for the two years are quite unusual. Only one of the nine petitions, which had overcome the threshold of 100,000 votes, was signed into law by authorities. Moreover, eleven others that had not received the required threshold of votes were satisfied. The article discusses the current situation and provides an analysis on this issue. According to the author, the main problem is the lack of the government's desire to develop the ROI website. ROI problems are well known and could be solved if the Russian authorities would have the real desire to solve them. Position of the Russian government is the key factor that determines the ROI future: whether ROI can be transformed into an effective communication channel between the state and civil society or becomes the next Potemkin’s e-village.