When President Putin came to power in Russia the political philosophy (communism) began to shift to a dictatorship. Now, Russia could be fully categorized as a dictatorship and will likely remain that way until Putin steps down. Once Putin steps down Russia will either go back to communism, continue being a dictatorship, or possibly adapt to a new form of government. For now at least the world has seen the last of communist Russia (Soviet Union). The new Russia, however, might not be that much better.