For their part, the Russian people have shown no great hunger for Western-style democracy. Polls indicate that if Putin stayed on for another term, he would be greeted with little dissent and something akin to relief or applause. Still, it would be a mistake to say that Russians yearn for authoritarianism, or that the country is generally reverting to Soviet-style repression. While the Kremlin dominates television and has cracked down on the opposition, a diversity of voices flourishes in newspapers, where criticism of Putin is not uncommon, not to mention on the Internet.

The turmoil after the fall of Communism seems to have deepened Russia’s tendency to be drawn to a strong leader, leaving it with a kind of post-traumatic stress disorder. Russians these days crave stability, consumer goods and travel —the things they were denied before.

Vyacheslav A. Nikonov, president of the Politika Foundation, a Moscow research institute, said political structures are still developing, the rule of law is shaky and people in power do not have accountability. As a result, the government’s shape and character are moulded, to a large extent, by the leaders’ instincts about what the people expect and will bear. “Every country has a genetic code,” Nikonov said. “In many societies, the patterns of government last for centuries, or last for a millennium, and I think that Russia is the same. There is only one thing that Russians do not like in their leaders. That is weakness.”