Observers of Russia since the fall of the Soviet Union have noticed a variety of problems, in particular the development of violence tied to corruption. The reason for this turn of events lies in the longer history of Russia. Any solution will have to have a strong impact on the everyday life of Russian citizens, which will require a fundamental shift in the nature of the relationship between the average Russian citizen and Russian government.

             When the U.S.S.R. broke apart and Russia embraced democracy over communism, some Western observers imagined that the new Russia would become a democratic society in the way that the United States and Great Britain, to give two examples, are democratic societies. In those two countries, individuals can act politically at a local level, for instance by voting in local, regional and national elections, organize into groups with other like-minded individuals, and cause change in their government and in the rules that govern their everyday lives. People in these and similar democratic societies can directly affect what their national leaders do (DiFranceisco & Gitelman, p. 604). These countries could be thought of as the offspring of their history, which is a long history of evolving and ever-increasing levels of citizen participation in politics at all levels. .

             By comparison, present day Russia is still strongly influenced not only by its recent communist history but by its Tsarist feudal history as well (DiFranceisco & Gitelman, p. 605). Under both those systems, the individual had little or no influence over the national laws. Since people had no power at the national level, what mattered to them was how the laws were implemented at the local level (DiFranceisco & Gitelman, p. 603). In spite of heavy voter participation in Russia (DiFranceisco & Gitelman, p. 609), Russians have minimal influence on laws, so they continue to focus on how to get what they need for everyday life.