What happens when Putin is gone?

[Johnw1104]

WolfpackN64 said:

Johnw1104 said:

Yeah I didn't mean to suggest the two were really comparable in most ways, merely in that they're quickly graitating towards having power largely wielded by a single individual who eventually passes it on to a successor. Putin should not technically hold anywhere near the influence he does, but he's essentially established himself via friends occupying most of the important positions. 

I really do wonder if anyone could replace him, though... It's possible that when he's gone they'll revert to something more akin to what they had in the early 2000's.

Early 2000's? That's the start of Putin's presidency. Boris Yeltsin made so many mistakes that a western-style liberal democracy could never foster. Yeltsin himself was very anti-democratic in his mannerisms. If Yeltsin was even remotly fair in elections, the CPRF would have gottin into power and Russia would have been a very different place it is now.

I said early 2000's precisely because that was the start. Putin has accumulated power over time since then, basically establishing the Prime Minister as little more than his puppet. The picture in the early 2000's was not nearly so bleak as it is now, and I don't feel many others could have bent the system quite like Putin did.