[All Systems Go]

By the end of the year I need to write a 5000 word essay on democracy in Russia.

Now, I would like some assistance from the good people of GD. Out of 19 awful, awful questions I have managed to pick out 4 which I shall now present to you.

1) to what extent are the failings of Russia's recent quest for democracy attributable to the stunted development of (a) a Russian 'bourgeoisie' (as distinct from an 'intelligentsia') and (b) a Russian 'civil society'? And vo what extent are a well-developed 'bourgeoisie' and a well-developed 'civil society' prerequisites for democracy?

2) Did the Yeltsin regime do more to impede than to promote the establishment of liberal democracy in post-Soviet Russia? And were there politically viable alternatives to the Yeltsin regime between 1992 and 1996?

3) to what extent is the Putin regime doing more to hinder than to promote liberal democracy in Russia?

4) Why has the majority of Russia's population been plunged into poverty since end of the Soviet regime, what (if anything) can be done to allieviate this poverty in the near future, and how has such widespread impoverishment affected the process of democratisation?

I would like your opinions on the questions, and any links to articles that are of relevence would be greatly appreciated.

thanks.