Dmitriy Medvedev was inaugurated as Russian President in May 2008, bringing to a formal end the eight years of Vladimir Putin's presidency. However, it was Putin more than the Russian citizenry who was responsible for Medvedev's ascent to the presidency, and Medvedev immediately appointed Putin as his Prime Minister. Together Putin and Medvedev established what came to be known as a “tandemocracy” in which they share power. From the beginning, Medvedev developed a reputation as more “liberal” than Putin, railing against corruption and “legal nihilism.” In the terminology of this book, Medvedev marked improving “state quality” as one of his key priorities, something that he noted at his inauguration was a weak point for the Russian state.

This chapter concludes with a look at the future of Russian state building. To address that issue, we need to evaluate the extent to which presidential agency can change the trajectory of the Russian state; perhaps Russia is “doomed” to have a certain type of state due to its circumstances. Historically the strength of the Russian state has varied over the centuries, but a disregard for state quality has been fairly constant.