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Parliamentary government and political competition are the oldest traditions in Russian politics. Where did they come from, and why did they disappear? Writer Mikhail Zygar explains in a new film.

It’s hard to believe today, but Rus’ had a parliament before Britain did and a woman with the political stature of a prime minister five centuries before Margaret Thatcher. The Novgorod Republic was a state in which the prince was a hired manager, major decisions were made by the veche or popular assembly, and political culture resembled that of Western Europe in many ways. In his new film, Mikhail Zygar explains how this system emerged, why it lost out to Moscow, and why Vladimir Putin is so fond of Alexander Nevsky.

The Novgorod Republic: How Russia could have taken a different path

ZYGAR

At Meduza, we are committed to transparency about our use of artificial intelligence in the newsroom. The story you’re reading was written by one of our living, breathing journalists and translated from Russian using an AI model configured to follow our strict editorial standards. This translation process is the result of extensive testing and refinements to ensure our English-language coverage is timely and accurate. A Meduza editor reviews every draft before publication.

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Parliamentary government and political competition are the oldest traditions in Russian politics. Where did they come from, and why did they disappear? Writer Mikhail Zygar explains in a new film.

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Parliamentary government and political competition are the oldest traditions in Russian politics. Where did they come from, and why did they disappear? Writer Mikhail Zygar explains in a new film.

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