Global Studies II

Unit II Russia

Name ______________________________
Date ____________
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 t o the author, identify human rights issues the current
political regime in Russia have violated.
Human Rights is defined as the right that belongs to every person. An issue in the article is
present when the newspaper editor, Mikhail Beketov, was warned to stop writing about the corrupt
issues but did not. He was savagely beaten right outside of his house and left in a wheelchair. He
used to be a respected editor, and now he cannot speak a simple sentence.

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

Many corruption issues are found in Russias current leader, Putin. Putin gains the support of his
country appearing to them as cool. Many of these situations show to his people that he is a
prominent leader, but are corrupt. For example, he released photos of him discovering ancient
Greek urns while scuba diving. This image increased his popularity. Later it was proven that it was
staged and the ancient urns were placed there so he could promote himself as a leader.

3. How does Mr. Gorbechev, the previous Russian premier, feel about the current leaders? Why
does he feel this way?
Gorbachev feels that the changes Putin is promoting are only drastically changing in peoples
brains, not the country. He feels this way because the new reforms are progressively slow.

4. The caption for the picture on page one is titled, Batman and Robin. Explain this caption.

Putin handpicked Medvedev as his successor which is a strategy for him to lead the nation even
when it is not allowed for a leader to run a 2nd term. With Medvedev as the president, Putin is
given just as much power being the Prime Minister.

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.
The other key component is the respect for rule of law. Russia is frequently manipulated to serve
the needs of the government. Russia meets this ingredient by the power their police force holds.
For example: Eduard Limonov, a leader of a banned opposition group, said we still live in a police
state. This quote means that the people are subjected to harsh punishments by the police and
have little say in the government.

7. Identify two cases the author identifies where the Russian government has failed the
democratic test.
On case was the situation with Beketov. He was a writer who did not listen to the authorities when
they told him to stop berating Russia in his articles. After he did not listen, he was severely
beaten and his injuries left him in a wheelchair for the rest of his life, and left him not able to
utter a simple sentence.
And another reason is that Putin claims Russia is democratic, even when the people in Russia call it
authoritarian since hes been in control. The fact that Putin says Russia is one thing, when it is the
complete opposite is not passing the democratic test.