ABSTRACT
What has the experience of Russia taught us about the relationship among elections, television and voters? It suggests that it is important to think about several different aspects of the relationship that are not always as clear in Western democracies as they can become in regimes that are less attuned to the habits of elective democracy. Notably, although television is broadly perceived as a broadcaster of information, it also is a political institution that shapes and refines political power. In a situation such as in Russia, in which democratic institutions including social movements and political parties are quite weak, television can become more a tool for suppressing democracy than a force for empowering the public. In the long run, that will short-circuit the development of democracy, even if democratic institutions such as elections are established. Elections, without a free media dedicated to the notion of serving the public, will merely become tools for the consolidation of the power of political elites.
