title: A Failed Experiment?
abstract: Three and a half decades ago, the Russian Federation emerged as the successor state of the USSR. In the years that followed, there were high hopes that Russia would evolve into one of the world’s leading democracies. However, today, those democratic aspirations lie in ruins. This is the case as political breakthroughs came to a halt in the 21st century, when Vladimir Putin rose to power and solidified his grip on power. However, Russia’s democratic trajectory remains an interesting case within t