Global Studies II

Unit II Russia

Name ______________________________
Date ____________
Russian Democracy Has Disappeared?
- Clifford J. Levy, New York Times

Directions: After reading the article mentioned above, answer the questions below. Please
answer in complete sentence format.
1. What is human rights? According t o the author, identify human rights issues the current
Political regime in Russia have violated.

The rights given to humans to be free. An issue would be the violations on minority
ethnic groups.

2. Identify political corruption issues Mr. Levy identifies in Russia today.

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One political issue was that Putin stopped people from running a second time. Also he
thinks that democracy still stands in the way.

3. How does Mr. Gorbechev, the previous Russian premier, feel about the current leaders? Why
does he feel this way?
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He in a way applauses him for improving russias economy but isnt too fond of how the
country has become less free.

4. The caption for the picture on page one is titled, Batman and Robin. Explain this caption.
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That Putin and Medvedev are always going to be partners in crime.

5. According to the author [and Mr. Gorbechev, democracy begins with:

____elections__________________,
_________accountability_____________,
and ____turnovers_____________.

6. In addition to the aspects of democracy identified above, which other key ingredient is
necessary for a democracy? According to the author, how does Russia meet this ingredient?
Back up your answer with facts.

Respect for the rule of law. Russia is always manipulated to do that because they are all
controlled by the government. Anyone who goes against that will see the consequences.

7. Identify two cases the author identifies where the Russian government has failed the
democratic test.