How they leave: a comparison of how the first presidents of the Soviet successor states left office

How leaders leave office, or how they approach the prospect of leaving power, is one part of their legacy that has implications for a country's democratic development. The impact of this legacy is magnified when the leader in question is the first of a new political system. By examining the post-Soviet example, it is possible to discern a variety of legacies. Some promoted democracy; others did not. Those who left office when they were defeated, such as Leonid Kravchuk, Mircea Snegur, Stanislau Shushkevich and the leaders of the Baltic states, left legacies that could promote democracy. Those who stayed in power through unfair, or even fraudulent, elections, such as Boris Yeltsin, Levon Ter-Petrossian and most of the Central Asian leaders, damaged the democratic development of their country.