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Originally Posted by fooie
The greatest growth in soviet-style government is here in the US. The Bush administration has placed politically-indoctrinated commissars at virtually every level of government, editing scientific research papers and suppressing others which don't conform to the administration's ideology
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While this might be soviet-style, it isn't socialism. If anything, the current U.S. government is driven by theocratic elements.
It's a bit of a stretch, either way, to assume that things such as socialism and theocracies are indicators of a failed democracy. A failed democracy occurs with the corruption of power. In the case of the U.S., there may be a number of causes: corporate greed, religious zealotry, racism, elitism, etc.
Russia is a different case altogether. As a post-Soviet system, Russian "democracy" is more of an oligarchy informed by a dramatic and violent past. It will never be the same; not when you can manipulate a capitalist system with much better results than having manipulated a socialist system. Russia's still working out the kinks, but give them time. They will learn much by observing China. The East will rise like never before, and America doesn't have the wherewithal to do anything about it. They've become too much of a passive market when you consider the impact of globalization. It's only a matter of time before we start seeing Russia export far more goods and services than we've seen.