‘Representative democracy’ was an oxymoron at the moment of its emergence. Representation (especially, representation by election) had always been considered an aristocratic institution. Rousseau saw it as a ‘modern’—that is, a medieval, feudal—form of government, linked to the institution of estates. In general, one may argue that representative democracy as such is the creation of revolution. Revolution is an event in which a society turns against itself—a moment of internal conflict. It is also, however, an internal fold in which society aspires to constitute itself from within. In the Russian post-communist revolution, the democratic institutions emerged out of the Soviet communist regime’s frozen, relict forms of representation. In the same way, the Soviets themselves emerged in 1905 out of artificial, police-inspired organs for achieving social consensus. Unfortunately, the current Russian political regime has contrived to hold the legislative and presidential elections within half a year of each other, which facilitates the subordination of the Duma to a popular president.