Comparative Politics Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Comparative Politics - Research Paper Example Democracy can be perceived as equality and liberty. A democratic nation is liberal thereby allowing its citizens to have the power to rule it, to be equal before the law and have equal access to the law. Elections are periodically held to choose representatives for the governmental body that will exercise its supreme power. The distinctive principles of democracy include freedom of speech, press and political expression. Sovereignty, on the other hand, refers to a body that has independent power over people. A sovereign state can be regarded as having absolute authority of lawmaking (Almond et al. 101-120). Russia for a long time had been ruled by the Soviet Union using communism which attained its downfall in 1991. Thereafter, the United Russia party led by Russian Executive President Vladimir Putin introduced sovereign democracy in the Russian regime. However, the "sovereign democracy" practiced in Russian does not emanate democratic principles, a fact that has placed Vladimir Putin's political program under constant criticism (Almond et al. 355). According to Economist Intelligent Unit, the United Russian presidential political party aims at increasing its power of the international exchange system. The party intends to strengthen its powers to control the economic, political and administrative structure. The Russian doctrine of "sovereign democracy" emanates principles that are in contrast with democratic principles such as restrictions in the mass media and citizen's freedom (Almond et al. 356). The Russian democracy can, therefore, be viewed as managed democracy because the Russian political system is strictly supervised and regulated thereby denying Russian citizens freedom of expressing their political will. Although this fact is highly denied by the Russian authority for instance Vladislav Surkov who is the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office and advisor of the president as he provides analytical and organizational information which is crucial to the president insists that the Russian political system is governed by sovereign democracy (Almond et al. 356). According to the Russian doctrine of Sovereign democracy, no one can make attest to owning or having power over the Russian nation as explained in the Russian constitution. However, critically looking at the idea imposed by the Russian constitution the concept behind sovereign democracy can be viewed as nationalism. Russia perceives its state to be more superior than other states, therefore, it is ready to impose radical political force over other states if it senses any signs of threat. This means that Russia is a powerful nation which is not ready to be influenced by global monopolies or dictatorship (Almond et al. 362-370).Therefore, Russia can be perceived as indirectly opposing worldwide globalization which is encouraged by the western countries especially the United States. However, according to Surkov, the doctrine of Russian sovereign democracy aims at first prioritizing the interests of the country. This can be depicted in the economic, social and cultural success that the country has gained in global politics. Russia has managed to restore its governance in the Chechen Republic.