To understand whether the governance regime that has been established in the Russian Federation since leaving Yeltsin’s policy can be called a policeman, let's try to impartially determine what a police state is, what its main features are, how such forms of government are established and, most importantly, how they manage to hold out for so long.
A description of such regimes appeared in the XVIII – XIX centuries. This is the name of the country in which all the levers of governing the country were in the hands of the elite, which used various power structures (no matter what they were called: police, security service, carabinieri or police) to maintain control over all authorities.
Under what conditions does a police state arise? Historical examples show that the environment of general anarchy and chaos is very favorable for its creation. The “war of all against all” leads to a catastrophic stratification of society. Those who cannot "fish in troubled waters" begin to nostalgic for times of calm and yearn for a "strong hand." At that moment, yesterday’s mafiosi / racketeers came to power under the slogans “Stability and Order”. Such statements tend to appeal to the majority of the population.
The police state may declare respect for human rights and democratic freedoms. However, more and more often, in the rhetoric of rulers, words are heard about “hard restoring order”, “discipline” and “a clear vertical of governance”. Tired of "lawlessness", society agrees with this. The role of the police and other law enforcement agencies seems very important in this process: after all, who will “tame” the bandit, if not the person whose job it is to protect the law? True, over time, the strictest control covers all spheres of public life.
The desired stability still does not come. This blame, of course, is external enemies, "who are trying to put us on our knees," as well as "saboteurs, saboteurs," acting from the inside. The police state calls on citizens to be vigilant and to cooperate in every way with security agencies. One can recall the phrase of the Russian Emperor Nicholas I: “The revolution is on the threshold of Russia, but I won’t let it in.” Similarly, Vladimir Putin spoke out about the Orange Revolution in Ukraine.
An example of the classical states where the power structures "ruled the ball" are Spain of the times of Franco, Chile under the fifth Pinochet, the regime of "Kemalism" in Turkey. There is no doubt that such a form of government is opposed to civil society. Neither slogans on the commitment to democracy nor a flirty new police uniform (especially sexy for women) will make this country more attractive. The population pays too much for “stability”: state structures tightly control the country's political and social life, laws are interpreted very freely, a simplified practice of leadership of the judiciary is created, unfavorable media are emasculated and the opposition is suppressed.
So what is modern Russia? A police state, authoritarianism, an oligarchy, or something in between? The most striking examples of police regimes show that all the power of the power apparatus was aimed at protecting the ruling elite (as a rule, entrepreneurs, large monopolists, sometimes the middle class). Representatives of these layers can feel very comfortable, for which he is supported. In Russia, the fate of Khodorkovsky and Lebedev showed that class membership is not a “vaccine” against repression. Most likely, here we are dealing with an oligarchy, which eliminates competitors or objectionable persons from the path of power structures.