In the opinion of people who are usually called Russophobes, the regime of government in our country, established after 2000, is called "police". Certain political forces, which do not like the firm hand of the state, are in favor of such a judgment, of course. They often cite statistics according to which Russia ranks first in the world in terms of the number of police officers per 100 thousand people. And according to this indicator, our country is significantly ahead of the United States and the EU countries.
In order to objectively understand the question of the degree to which the concept of "police state" belongs to Russia, it is necessary to carry out a certain consistent analysis that would be able to prove or refute this judgment accurately and in fact. It is important here to define the main features and forms of government that fall under this category, as well as to understand how stability and long-term stability of this regime is achieved against the background of world democratic processes.
The formulation "police state" appeared in the 18-19th centuries, and it began to refer to countries where all management was consolidated in the hands of an elite group of people using power structures to assert and control their power. Historical examples of the emergence of this form of government indicate that the nature of its appearance is based solely on general chaos and anarchy. After all, the maximum stratification of society in this case contributes to the emergence of a desire among the majority of people to create a strong government capable of establishing order. It was at this time that the recent leaders of bandit groups under the slogan "Stability and Order" begin to make their way to the top of the state hierarchy.
How do states with the prefix "police" appear?
As a rule, countries that fall under the concept of a "police state" vividly declare respect for human rights and the protection of democratic freedoms. However, in the rhetoric of government officials, phrases about "a tough vertical of management", "discipline" and "establishing proper order" are regularly heard. Naturally, in conditions of destabilization of the social order, most people, tired of mass atrocities and anarchy, agree to such measures. Accordingly, the role of law enforcement agencies, including primarily the police, becomes dominant in this process.
Therefore, representatives of the police department, whose official duties directly include the protection of legal norms governing public order, become the most important instrument of power. A characteristic phenomenon in this case is the fact that over time, this kind of serious control begins to spread to all spheres of society. Moreover, the stability declared by the authorities cannot come.
And in response to topical thematic issues of the public, addressed to the authorities, the official representatives of the elite declare that there is a serious external and internal threat. The police state appeals to citizens to establish the necessary security measures that are associated with vigilance and cooperation with the security forces.
In this regard, the statements of the leaders of our country in various historical epochs are very indicative. Nicholas I: "The revolution is on the threshold of Russia, but I will not let her inside." And Vladimir Putin made very similar expressions about the Orange Revolution in Ukraine.
Historical examples
World history knows a sufficient number of classic examples of police states. After all, any change in the regime of power implies an objective tightening of measures to keep it. And in the past century, there were many such events on the planet.
Spain under Franco's rule, Chile under Pinochet's yoke and Turkey under "Kemalism" can be attributed to the most indicative cases of the establishment of a police state regime. The world community was then shocked by the despotic actions that took place in these countries. And the saddest thing is that these manifestations of tyranny and trampling on all political and social freedoms were aimed not at establishing order and discipline, but at fostering fear and unquestioning obedience to the will of the ruler in society.
It is clear to everyone that modern civil society must with all its might oppose such forms of government. In this context, it is important to understand that the country cannot actually be transformed on the basis of only the proclaimed slogans. After all, political and social freedoms and adherence to democracy do not depend on their declaration, but solely on their implementation based on actual performance.
It turns out that for its stability, society often allows the government to tightly control the social and political spheres of life in the country. Moreover, the legal norms that protect citizens are beginning to be interpreted so freely that a simplified practice of managing the judiciary is created, unwanted media are emasculated and the opposition is suppressed.
The concept of "police state" and Russia
Of course, it is very important for the citizens of Russia to understand what the modern state structure is in our country. After all, certain forms of authoritarianism, oligarchy and police state cannot be considered reasonable and satisfactory in terms of dynamic development and establishment of democratic freedoms.
The most typical examples of police states from international life are very revealing. Usually, these regimes direct the entire resource of law enforcement agencies to protect the interests of the ruling elite, which, as a rule, includes large monopolists and entrepreneurs (less often representatives of the middle class). Thus, only these segments of the population can feel protected and live in comfortable conditions. That is why they support this police regime with all their might.
However, in our country there are illustrative examples that unequivocally interpret this norm of state power, when class affiliation is not a guarantee of immunity. The fate of Khodorkovsky and Lebedev has become an eloquent testimony to the fact that the economic elite of Russian society does not have the status of “celestials”. On the other hand, the citizens of the country have witnessed a situation when, at the level of the Russian oligarchy, unwanted competitors are eliminated by the hands of law enforcement agencies. In this case, thematic experience may indicate that public administration is beginning to interfere with the fundamental foundations of the economy, which have not been shaken just because of the current loyalty of society.
Statistics and thematic conclusions
Despite numerous examples of violation of democratic freedoms in Russia, it is impossible to unequivocally apply the concept of "police state" to our country outside of officially recognized facts, which are statistical data. And according to them, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation currently has 914,500 people. This number of police officers makes Russia the third country in the world in absolute terms. Only the PRC (1.6 million people) and India (1.5 million people) are ahead of our country in terms of the number of police departments.
However, this statistical indicator does not fully reflect the level of rigidity of public administration, because the population in these countries significantly exceeds their Russian counterparts. Therefore, it is logical to refer specifically to the number of police officers per 100 thousand inhabitants of the country. And here Russia is among the world leaders, since in China this figure is 120 people, in India - 128 people, in the USA - 256 people, EU countries - 300-360 people. Only some dwarf states, exotic island republics, Serbia, Belarus and South Sudan are ahead of our country. Even during the authoritarian regime in the Soviet Union, this figure was almost three times less.
Considering that the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation is not the only power structure that protects the authorities in the country (there are about 400 thousand people in the National Guard), it can be stated with confidence that the level of "police" in our country has very significant indicators. In this regard, it should be understood that Russia is still very far from a real democracy based primarily on the mentality of its citizens. So, in all likelihood, the current situation can only change due to the evolution of the entire society, which will force the state to overestimate its basic values in favor of the overwhelming majority of the citizens of our country.
