Aufsätze / Articles. Defizitärer Totalitarismus oder die Rückkehr der Diktatur: Putins Russland im Prozess fortschreitender Radikalisierung

Abstract

Abstract The article argues that Russia’s regime changed considerably under the rule of Vladimir Putin. It evolved from authoritarian and autocratic to a personal dictatorship with totalitarian elements. While Putin and his entourage initially tried to build an authoritarian system that relied more on mass-media than on violence they changed course after the crisis of 2011 and increasingly relied on repression and outright violence. The possibility of returning to a dictatorial rule may also be explained by pointing to pillars of the Soviet system that survived the collapse of communism unreformed, i.e. the secret police and the armed forces. The return of both Russia and China to personal dictatorships constitutes a challenge to the liberal order of 1989.