Putinism () is the social, political, and economic system of Russia formed during the political leadership of Vladimir Putin. It is characterized by the concentration of political and financial powers in the hands of "siloviks", current and former "people with shoulder marks", coming from a total of 22 governmental enforcement agencies, the majority of them being the Federal Security Service (FSB), Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, Armed Forces of Russia, and National Guard of Russia.Russia: Putin May Go, But Can 'Putinism' Survive? , By Brian Whitmore, RFE/RL, 29 August 2007.The Perils of Putinism , By Arnold Beichman, Washington Times, 11 February 2007.Putinism On the March , by George F. Will, Washington Post, 30 November 2004. According to Arnold Beichman, "Putinism in the 21st century has become as significant a watchword as Stalinism was in the 20th."
The "Chekist takeover" of the Russian state and economic assets has been allegedly accomplished by a clique of Putin's close associates and friendsThe Essence of Putinism: The Strengthening of the Privatized State by Dmitri Glinski Vassiliev, Center for Strategic and International Studies, November 2000. who gradually became a leading group of Russian oligarchs and who "seized control over the financial, media and administrative resources of the Russian state",What is 'Putinism'? , by Andranik Migranyan, Russia in Global Affairs, 13 April 2004. and restricted democratic freedoms and human rights. According to Julie Anderson, Russia has been transformed to an "FSB state".The Chekist Takeover of the Russian State, Anderson, Julie (2006), International Journal of Intelligence and Counter-Intelligence, 19:2, 237 – 288.The HUMINT Offensive from Putin's Chekist State Anderson, Julie (2007), International Journal of Intelligence and Counter-Intelligence, 20:2, 258 – 316. Mass de-politicization has been described as an important element of Putinism's social course. Mass social involvement being discouraged, politics are reduced to "pure management" left to those who are in power, free from interference by the masses. In foreign affairs, Putinism has been described as nationalist and neo-imperialist.
Terminology Putinism was first used in the article by Andrey Piontkovsky published on 11 January 2000 in Sovetskaya Rossiya, and placed on the Yabloko website on the same day. He characterized Putinism as "the highest and final stage of bandit capitalism in Russia, the stage where, as one half-forgotten classic said, the bourgeoisie throws the flag of the democratic freedoms and the human rights overboard; and also as a war, 'consolidation' of the nation on the ground of hatred against some ethnic group, attack on freedom of speech and information brainwashing, isolation from the outside world and further economic degradation".
Characteristics Sociologists, economists, and political scientists emphasize different features of the system. M. Urnov and V. Kasamara established among political scientists "direct signs of the departure of the current political system of Russia from the basic principles of competition policy".
Characteristics of Putinism highlighted by publicists and journalists Authoritarianism; Personality cult of Putin as a "national hero", through glorification in the media;Gennady Zyuganov, The Communists – 21, Algorithm Publishing House, 2012, , . "We are attacking, they are retreating."Rogozhina Evgenia Mikhailovna - Principles and technologies for modeling political leadership in modern Russia: Monograph, 2013 NGLU; , p. 243/299. Strong presidential power,Lonely Power : Why Russia did not become the West and why it is difficult for Russia with the West / Shevtsova L .; Mosk. Carnegie Center. - M .: Russian Political Encyclopedia (ROSSPEN), 2010. - 272 p. strengthened even in comparison with the era of Boris Yeltsin;cf. N. A. Goreva calls the system of state power built by Yeltsin "anarchist authoritarianism". Abstract of the dissertation "Transformation of the political regime in post-Soviet Russia" Strong state control over property; "sovereign democracy", i.e. a system where Putin works with the "oligarchs created by chaotic, free-market, crony capitalism", who in turn show "absolute fealty"; Elements of nepotism (cooperative Ozero); Reliance on siloviki (people from several dozen security agencies, many of whom worked with Putin before he came to power); Selective application of justice,Putin would be happy to help Russian business, but worries about consumers . // Interfax, 28 October 2011. "I fully agree with this thesis. Believe me, many of those present in the hall know that I am trying to put it into practice. "M. Prokhorov on a straight line with V. Putin: A directed show . // RBC, 25 April 2013. arbitrary application of the law ("Everything is for the friends, the law is for the enemies"); Relatively liberal but non-transparent financial and tax policies; "manual control" mode,Putin's manual control . // Segodnia.ru, 25 April 2013.Manual control session. Putin did not close another Deripaska plant to close. // Lenta.ru, 9 December 2011. a weak technical government that does not have any political weight, with real control of the country from the presidential administration; Utmost secrecy of power and backstage making of key decisions; "conservative resistance" to the Western "decadence" of irreligion, "same-sex marriage, radical feminism, homosexuality, mass immigration", that is being globalized "under the cover of democracy and human rights"; Embrace of the values of orthodox Christianity against liberal cosmopolitanism but also support for other anti-liberal, hard right authoritarians outside of Russia; Using the claim of protecting "our common Fatherland, Great Rus", as a "spiritual cover for ... kleptocracy"; Authorities' dislike of freedom to express their opinion, censorship; Christopher Walker . Ten Years of Putinism. // InoSmi, translated from The Wall Street Journal, 14 August 2009 "However, the most striking feature of Putinism is its dislike of freedom to express one's opinion." Strategic relations with The Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church, protecting the property interests of the church, and a policy of promoting clericalization of society;Academicians' letter Eurasianism that posits that Russian civilization does not belong in the "European" or "Asian" categories but instead to the geopolitical concept of Eurasia, therefore making Russia a standalone civilization; All-Russian variant of ultranationalism; In the international arena, Putinism is characterized by nostalgia for Soviet times and a desire to regain the situation before 1989 when the Soviet Union competed on a strong footing with United States in international affairs. Energy is used as an instrument of international politics (so-called "pipeline diplomacy"); In response to the Russo-Ukrainian war, Putinism has been characterised by Western politicians as "authoritarianism, ... imperialism, ... ethno-nationalism."
Characteristics of Putinism highlighted by political scientists Centralization,Dutch sociologist Marcel Van Herpen Putinism . Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan; January 2013. f Dutch sociologist Marcel Van Herpen Putinism . Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan; January 2013. strong presidential power, weakening of the political influence of regional elites and big business; Establishment of direct or indirect state control over the main television channels of the country, censorship; The ever-increasing use of the "administrative resource" (fraud) in elections at the regional and federal levels; The actual elimination of the system of separation of powers, the establishment of control over the judicial system; Non-public style of political behavior; Monopolization of political power in the hands of the president; Priority of state interests over the interests of the individual, restriction of the rights of citizens, reprisals against civil society; Creating an image of a "besieged fortress", equating opposition activities with hostility, and ousting it from the political field;Марлен Ларюэль — Путинизм как голлизм , the embodiment of state succession in it after a serious injury from the collapse of the Soviet Union; Bureaucratic authoritarianism,What is 'Putinism'? , by Andranik Migranyan, Russia in Global Affairs, 13 April 2004 (рус. ) the presence of the ruling party merged with the bureaucratic apparatus; State corporativism;социолог и политический аналитик Леон Арон: Strong state control over property; Aggressive foreign policy (jingoism); Focus on order and conservative values; Ideology of national greatness; Anti-Western sentiment.
Silovik influence
A sociological investigation unveiling the phenomena was done in 2004 by Olga Kryshtanovskaya, who determined the proportion of siloviks in the Russian political elite to be 25%.Mission "intrusion" is complete! by Olga Kryshtanovskaya, 2004, Novaya Gazeta (in Russian) In Putin's "inner circle" which constitutes about 20 people, the amount of siloviks rises to 58%, and fades to 18–20% in Parliament and 34% in the Government. According to Kryshtanovskaya, there was no capture of power as Kremlin bureaucracy has called siloviks in order to "restore order". The process of siloviks coming into power allegedly started in 1996, Boris Yeltsin's second term. "Not personally Yeltsin, but the whole elite wished to stop the revolutionary process and consolidate power."
When silovik Vladimir Putin was appointed prime minister in 1999, the process was boosted. According to Kryshtanovskaya, "Yes, Putin has brought siloviks with him. But that's not enough to understand the situation. Here's also an objective aspect: the whole political class wished them to come. They were called for service... There was a need of a strong arm, capable from point of view of the elite to establish order in the country."
Kryshtanovskaya has also noted that there were people who had worked in structures "affiliated" with the KGB/FSB. Structures usually considered as such are the Soviet Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Governmental Communications Commission, Ministry of Foreign Trade, Press Agency News and others. "The itself work in such agencies doesn't involve necessary contacts with special services, but makes you think about it."Fradkov: jacket over straps , by Olga Kryshtanovskaya, 2004 (in Russian) Summing up numbers of official and "affiliated" siloviks she got an estimate of 77% of such in the power.
Putin's chief national security adviser, Nikolai Patrushev, who believed that the West has been in an undeclared war with Russia for years, was a leading figure behind Russia's updated national security strategy, published in May 2021. It stated that Russia may use "forceful methods" to "thwart or avert unfriendly actions that threaten the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Russian Federation".
2020 amendments to the Russian Constitution Following a referendum, with Putin's signing an executive order on 3 July 2020 to officially insert the amendments into the Russian Constitution, they took effect on 4 July 2020. Vladimir Pastukhov, a Russian political scientist, advocate and honorary senior research associate of the University College London's School of Slavonic and East European Studies, and Alexander Podrabinek, a Soviet dissident, journalist and Russian human rights defender, state that Russia has been taking on the characteristics of a totalitarianism as a result of the constitutional amendments. This is reflected in incremental but steady and aggressive process of the seizing of full control over public and private life, and de facto criminalization of any opposition and dissidence.
Classification
Intelligence state