美國經濟學家理查德·W·拉恩(英语:Richard W. Rahn)在2007年9月指普京主義為“俄羅斯政府的民族主義獨裁,偽裝成一個民主的自由市場”,這“比共產主義更接近法西斯主義”[8],而普京主義令俄羅斯的經濟迅速增長,使大多數人因生活水平提高而願意忍受的“軟鎮壓”[28],他更預測隨著俄羅斯經濟的命運改變,普京主義會更鎮壓民眾[28]。一名俄羅斯歷史學家曾指,如果民主是由多數人統治,保護少數人的權利和機會,目前的政治體制至少在形式上可以說是民主的。俄羅斯存在多黨政治體系中,反對派在國家杜馬有席位[28]。
^The West must start to hit Russia where it hurts – in the roubles (页面存档备份,存于互联网档案馆), Simon Heffer, Telegraph (U.K.): "Few in the outside world were enthused in an election that was stage-managed through the constructs of electoral machinery that thrived on exclusivism and partisan majoritarianism, to make sure that former President Putin's hand-picked successor was elected. And, it was. Medvedev was a vehicle for institutionalizing Putinism – a draconian authoritarianism and xenophobic foreign policy – in Russia. It worked for Putin. And, the question became: Who will be calling the shots after Putin engineered his way back to behind-the-scene power, when he took the position of the prime minister?", retrieved 18-Jan-2009
^Europe is skeptical facing the Russian presidentialsArchive.is的存檔,存档日期2012年7月31日,, euro|topics Spanish site, English language summary of Swedish press article in Expressen, quoting the article: "Whatever Putin is contemplating, Putinism will emerge as the victor in the upcoming transfer of power," writes the paper. "Well-staged events like the presidential election cannot belie the fact that it's been a while since Russia was a democracy. Yesterday, Amnesty International published a report that finds a dramatic drop in freedom of expression in Russia. Independent media have been silenced, the murder of journalists remains unexplained and police put down protests by the opposition. Today's Russia is led by gangs with close ties to the FSB security service.... The only pluralistic element in Russian politics is the conflict between these gangs. And the Russian people have no say in this power play.", retrieved 18-Jan-2009