Like Building a Human Being : The Construction of Democracy in Contemporary Russia

This thesis explores the themes and tropes of democracy that appear in Russian Presidents\u27 Federal Assembly Addresses from 2008-2013. Based on its analysis of these important political texts, the thesis argues that Presidents Medvedev and Putin\u27s democratic discourse places more value on economic security as a marker of citizens\u27 ability to participate in society than on Western liberal values such as free speech, fair elections, etc. Additionally, the thesis suggests that this conception of democracy as a regime defined by the values of economic security and socio-political stability is fueled by a sense of nostalgia for the Soviet era