Vladimir Putin has more than made good on his promise when he became president eight years ago to impose "a dictatorship of law" on Russia's unruly young democracy. When he made the remark it was reasonable to assume that he really meant to say that he would use "the rule of law" to restore order in Russia. Time has shown that his intention was to place the emphasis of governance on dictatorship, not the law.

When President Medvedev was sworn in he did pledge to uphold human rights and respect individual freedoms, which The Associated Press noted was in direct contradiction to government action before and after his election to the presidency. Anti-government demonstrations were banned and protesters and dissidents were harassed and their meetings broken up.