How and why has Russia moved from communism & totalitarianism to a weak democracy to possibly authoritarianism?

  It is important to understand that transition from one concept of power to the other is not an easy process, and it takes a lot of time and effort. At the time, when the Soviet Union moved away from the ideas of totalitarianism, they realized that the west was developing at a rapid speed, and they were lacking behind in so many ways. So, this was the point for Russia to move away from totalitarianism and communism. It was the time when they started showing their tilt towards democracy. This transition from communism to democracy was a hard one to achieve, and that’s why the model of democracy achieved by Russia was a bit weak, and it was not as strong as west had in their states (Hauss and Haussman)

            Different kinds of reforms were made to adopt the essence of democracy, but the issue was that communism and democracy are two extremes when compared to each other. So, adopting democracy was difficult in a variety of ways, which kept it weak. That’s why Russia tilted towards the essence of authoritarianism. It was observed that democratic rule in the country had many flaws, and it was becoming natural to steer away from democracy and move towards the rule of authoritarianism. This rule is even continued in a modern shape under the leadership of Vladimir Putin. In legislation, Russia is a democratic state, but in real terms, it has adopted the elements of authoritarianism, and no one can deny this fact that Russia is not a true democracy like other liberal democracies are (CARYL)