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A review of Defending Democracy: A Global Survey of Foreign Policy Trends 1992–2002, edited by Robert G. Herman and Theodore J. Piccone.
About the Author
Thomas O. Melia is deputy director of Freedom House and consulting editor for the World Encyclopedia of Parliaments and Legislatures. He is also an adjunct professor at Georgetown University and the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies.
President Vladimir Putin's lopsided election victory was assisted by an unlevel electoral playing field, but elections still matter in Russia and they will make more difficult the consolidation of authoritarianism.
