From federalism to authoritarianism to totalitarianismAn authoritarian government is one that believes in a blind domination of authority, in little individual freedom and focuses on the wills and needs of those who they hold authority before others in the country. This can create a lot of corruption in an authoritarian society, as those in control focus their decisions on how they can personally benefit, meaning that the opinions and needs of society as a whole are overlooked and ignored. Totalitarianism goes a step further, giving the state all the power to dictate every aspect of its citizens' lives. A totalitarian government is one that cannot be challenged or stopped, leaving citizens with no hope of obeying every rule the state decides to impose. Russia shows less and less of being a federation and shows more and more signs of an authoritarian type of government, which could lead to a totalitarian regime in the near future. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essayThe main reason for this assumption is the Russian "State Duma", which is the lower house of the federal assembly of the Russian Federation. The State Duma became an issue in 1993, when the Russian constitution gave the executive branches much more power than the parliament (Roski et al., 2013, p. 74). This has given the State Duma immense power against the Upper House and Parliament, giving it the ability to not only approve or stop virtually anything that passes through its doors, but also has extreme decision-making weight when it comes to elections. This alone is a big problem for any society, but what makes it truly scary is that of the 450 seats in the State Duma, 238 of them belong to “United Russia,” a party led by Vladimir Putin (Orttung 2014). . This means that 49.5% of Russia's main decision-making branch is controlled by their leader, Putin. Many believe that Putin was reinstated in control by the rigged State Duma. Protesters of over 80,000 citizens walked the streets of Moscow claiming that Putin had no chance of failing if he had nearly 50% of the vote in his pocket (Gessen, 2014). Have you wondered if the figure of 80,000 citizens protesting is small? That's because it is. The imbalance and corruption worry few Russians, most of whom would prefer a strong leader who prevents anarchy and stabilizes the economy rather than pushing for greater individual freedoms. This is due to the way many Russians were educated and the culture that still exists today (Gessen, 2014). This is a cause for concern since Russia is still a country that outlaws many aspects of free speech and homosexuality, to name just a few. If the Russian people as a whole do not see a problem with the way their society functions and continue to blindly obey whatever Putin dictates, then they are already on their way to a totalitarian regime. Another force pushing Russia towards an authoritarian regime is the Kremlin, the executive branch of the Russian government that is primarily concerned with foreign affairs. Beneath the surface, however, the Kremlin is a sort of “secret police,” working under the radar of the law to keep Russia's status quo in check. Television and radio remain largely controlled by the Kremlin, which bans all forms of public media that cast Russia in a negative light (Becker, 2014). A worrying aspect is that around 90% of the population gets their news from television and over 50% cite it as the most popular form of information..