Throughout its long history, Russia has been trapped in a continuous cycle of authoritarian regimes; only interrupted by brief periods of tumultuous democratic transitions, that were often plagued by the inability of the democratic system itself to function and ineptitude by the leaders who were in power. Therefore, by and by, Russia always turned towards authoritarianism. However, when the Soviet Union fell, it seemed as though the cycle would be broken, however once again, through exploitation of the semi-presidential system, democracy fell apart and authoritarianism came to be the predominant form of government. This recent transition from democracy into competitive authoritarianism was the result of a single overlying factor that has had
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Ultimately, this allows the resource curse the ability to prop up an authoritarian regime. If we look at when competitive authoritarianism arose in Russia, as well as when the Soviet Union fell, it not coincidentally coincides with the rise and fall of world oil prices. Russia currently is supported by a single market economy, and the political institutions during the Soviet Union before were based on performance legitimacy. During the rise of Putin and therefore competitive authoritarianism, as they are not mutually exclusive, we have seen extraordinary growth, around 6.7% average. However, much of this growth is directly due to rising oil prices. Rising oil prices has allowed Russia to eradicate foreign debt, establish massive reserves of hard currency, and create budget surpluses. This has in turn allowed Putin to accumulate massive amounts of wealth as well as improving his performance legitimacy. The performance legitimacy is a problem because it is based on a singular resource, which is oil. The resource curse is the biggest factor because of it’s ability to externally influence other factors, such as the Strongman effect and how it has solidified the already unfavorable views towards democratic values and thus its implementation in
Ultimately, this allows the resource curse the ability to prop up an authoritarian regime. If we look at when competitive authoritarianism arose in Russia, as well as when the Soviet Union fell, it not coincidentally coincides with the rise and fall of world oil prices. Russia currently is supported by a single market economy, and the political institutions during the Soviet Union before were based on performance legitimacy. During the rise of Putin and therefore competitive authoritarianism, as they are not mutually exclusive, we have seen extraordinary growth, around 6.7% average. However, much of this growth is directly due to rising oil prices. Rising oil prices has allowed Russia to eradicate foreign debt, establish massive reserves of hard currency, and create budget surpluses. This has in turn allowed Putin to accumulate massive amounts of wealth as well as improving his performance legitimacy. The performance legitimacy is a problem because it is based on a singular resource, which is oil. The resource curse is the biggest factor because of it’s ability to externally influence other factors, such as the Strongman effect and how it has solidified the already unfavorable views towards democratic values and thus its implementation in