Is Vladimir Putin a strong leader?

A strong leader – i.e. an individual who concentrates great power in his hands and uses it to solve the country’s problems – is often considered a good thing in contemporary politics. Vladimir Putin has always presented himself as precisely this kind of leader. This article considers whether Putin actually is a strong leader who has used his powers to do great things for Russia. The analysis begins by considering whether Putin is a strong leader in terms of the powers that he holds. It then assesses whether Putin has used these powers to solve Russia’s problems in terms of economic development, order, and national standing. Russia here is compared to the other states of the Former Soviet Union, as they all share a common Soviet heritage and have been subject to comparable structural forces. The study utilizes the data (arguably underused in the field) provided by institutions such as the World Bank to examine a large number of socio-economic factors. If Putin really is a strong leader who has transformed Russia, we would expect performance in Russia to be better than in these other countries. The article finds that Russia’s record is average at best and that Putin is an unexceptional leader.