ABSTRACT
“Elected” to the presidency of the Russian Federation on March 26, 2000, and inaugurated on May 7, Vladimir Putin's public embrace of democratic values cannot easily be reconciled with his evident belief that the Russian state can be strengthened by making its actions increasingly illegible to the public. His first actions on taking office were aimed at weakening public and private agencies designed to monitor the government, suggesting from the very outset that he identified an effective state with political arrangements that immunize office holders from criticism by the public. Kremlin policies during the past two years have only confirmed such suspicions.
