Russia: NGO registration, democracy, and civil society

If I were a Russian citizen, I would be somewhat troubled by recent Russian legislation requiring foreign-funded Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) to register as foreign agents. However, as a social scientist I see the Universe unfolding as it should in Russia. The widespread view that civil society is being rolled back rests on a mistaken assumption that civil society can be rolled back by actions of governments. On the contrary civil society is autonomous, by definition. It has a life of...