[literallycancer]

Russia had an elected parliament since 1905.

>You realize that communism didn't drag Russia down but actually improved their quality of life from the reign of the Czars right?

Did it improve faster than it would have under democratic rule?

And then there is the whole business with making half of Europe a 'starving shithole'.

[nullymcnull]

I'm going to assume that you are just reaching out for counterfacts without being particularly well-versed on the history here, because the Russian Duma was, from inception to the revolution, a very bad joke. It was only barely tolerated by Nicholas, and dissolved for years at a time whenever it tried to compel the autocracy toward meaningful reforms. That parliament has a very great deal to do with why events took the radical course they did - it effectively discredited everyone who tried to work within the system.

[rospaya]

> Did it improve faster than it would have under democratic rule?

That wasn't an option for Russia at any point, as it isn't even today.

[nasredin]

It's sad. Russia only had less than a decade of somewhat democratic rule over the last... I don't even know... years.