What Kind of Authoritarian Regime Is Possible in Russia Today?

Abstract

It so happened that, in 1989, A. Migranian and I initiated a long discussion over whether we, like many other countries, are fated to go through a period of authoritarian government during the transition to a modern market economy. It has also transpired that some people (as a rule from the ranks of the most radical democrats) who at the time refused even to pose the question of a "firm hand" and who saw no difference between pointing out the possibility of authoritarianism and calling for its introduction now cannot even imagine further progressive development of our homeland without such a "firm hand" and are placing all their hopes in this (guided, of course, by an enlightened head).