It came as no surprise to Russian citizens that parliamentary elections held Dec. 4 were neither free nor fair. Elections in Russia have become increasingly managed since Vladimir Putin's first stint as prime minister in 1999.
Even before Putin, under President Boris Yeltsin, elections were manipulated by the Kremlin and their oligarchic friends in the media. In 1996, the ailing Yeltsin barnstormed to victory in presidential elections, despite approval ratings of just 3 percent mere months before polling day. Since then, Russian voters have viewed official election results with a large degree of skepticism. But until now, few voters were willing to actively challenge the legitimacy of the electoral system or that of the regime manipulating its results.
The protests seen in Moscow since last Sunday's elections suggest that Russian civil society is slowly awakening. Protests against the ruling regime over the past decade have rarely drawn more than about 200 people. But the rally held after last week's election attracted closer to 5,000 demonstrators.