In October 2011, Mikhail Khododrkovsky wrote this essay in Novaya Gazeta in which he reflects on the possible reasons behind the ineffectiveness of state officials today.

Khodorkovsky comments that two reciprocal processes are taking place today in many countries with authoritarian regimes: more and more people who had previously been satisfied with authoritarian stability are starting to feel oppressed by it and demanding changes, meanwhile, autocracies are using democratic slogans, the names of democratic institutions and procedures, and covering up the anti-democratic substance.

Read the full English-language translation below.

Mikhail Khodorkovsky: Modern-Day Social Liberalism in Russia