Reexamining Russia: Institutions and Incentives

Although his methods are hardly democratic, Putin’s efforts to strengthen the Russian state may help democracy in the long term.

Levels of regime strength and links to the West help to explain authoritarian breakdown, but the ruler’s popularity also matters.

While “autocracy promotion” presents a real danger, its influence so far has been limited. Because authoritarian regimes are concerned first with furthering their own interests, their interventions often have contradictory…