Russia: The cunning of authoritarianism

In December 2013, Russian President Vladimir Putin marked the 20th anniversary of the Constitution by signing an amnesty which allowed for both the liberation of nu- merous common-law prisoners serving short sentences and the early release of the two Pussy Riot members sentenced to two years in a labor camp for staging an anti- Putin performance in Moscow's Cathedral of Christ the Savior. At the same time, the Russian president granted a reprieve for Mikhail Khodorkovsky, former head of Yukos, who had spent ten years in jail on charges of embezzlement and tax evasion and, im- plicitly, for his support of opposition activists. These unexpected releases were gener- ally perceived as the authorities' intention to improve their international image before the start of the Sochi Winter Olympic Games in February 2014. However, beyond this sporting-event and diplomatic deadline, they point to something deeper and address the issue of government practices in Russia today. In order to analyze these practices properly, one must both observe the Kremlin's - at times - contradictory decisions and focus attention on social practices in the country