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By popular vote, Mikhail Gorbachev was elected president of Russia in 1991.

When Communist parties staged a rebellion to depose Gorbachev, Yeltsin led the fight to withstand the Communist coup. After Gorbachev’s resignation as Soviet president, Yeltsin became a dominant player in Soviet politics and has since tried to improve the condition of his country. He began by reforming the Soviet government.

Despite the democratic shift of the early 90s, Russia’s economy remains unstable. Unemployment and corruption are still very common and the unstable political front hinders the possibility of a recovering economy. President Yeltsin implemented many changes in his administration. Decentralized corruption in the government system has driven prospective businesses to look elsewhere. Corruption also affects the tax revenue that the new government receives. Items such as aspirin are still difficult to find and buy.

Russia’s inability to modernize production operations causes drastic devaluation of their markets. The country’s low quality of domestic consumer goods continues to limit all enterprises' profits. Ever since the collapse of communism, Russia has started running a trade deficit. Property rights and free market-oriented bureaucracy are new and unfamiliar to the Russian people. Russian political history does not include much, if any, popular participation, as matters of economics and government were always in the hands of the leading parties. Democracy is still a foreign concept to the Russian citizens who have become accustomed to living under autocracy and authoritarian rule. The newly introduced western ideals have yet to entrench themselves in Russian society.

In the past, Russian businesses produced high amounts of capital, but they did not have the technological advancement to catch up to and compete with other more productive countries. The factories were soon deserted and a population was quickly out of employment. The closed economy of Russia did not stimulate domestic economic growth and many trade opportunities were lost. Minimal international trade did not give Russia any comparative advantages. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has made billions of loans to Russia, but poverty is still the prevailing economic status of most Russian citizens. Formerly state-owned businesses have been auctioned off at insanely cheap prices to very few high bidders.

These businesses have collapsed because of poor management and labor disputes. Meanwhile, interest rates have multiplied and the black market has grown immensely. Russia’s gross domestic product is very low, and the ruble, Russia’s currency, loses value as foreign investors decide to invest elsewhere. Many of the institutions characteristic of democratic systems remain weak in the former communist nation.