🇷🇺 Russia: Politics & Democracy
By V-Dem's measure, no — Russia scores 0.056 on the 0–1 liberal democracy index, which places it firmly in the autocratic range.
Current leaders
Vladimir Putin
Head of State · United Russia
Mikhail Mishustin
Head of Government
Democracy trend
Upcoming elections
2026 Russian legislative election
2026-09-20T00:00:00ZVoting alignment
Russia's closest UN General Assembly voting partners since 1946:
Frequently asked questions
Is Russia a democracy?
By V-Dem's measure, no — Russia scores 0.056 on the 0–1 liberal democracy index, which places it firmly in the autocratic range. It ranks #158 of 179 countries in 2024.
Is democracy in Russia improving or declining?
Russia's V-Dem liberal democracy score has declined by 0.052 points over the past decade, standing at 0.056 in 2024 (1-year change: -0.006).
Who leads Russia?
Vladimir Putin is Russia's head of state (United Russia); Mikhail Mishustin serves as head of government.
When is the next election in Russia?
2026 Russian legislative election is scheduled for 2026-09-20T00:00:00Z.