As post-communist countries struggle to modernize and adopt democratic rule, Russia and China each face obstacles unique to their own political and historical context. The main findings of this article reveal that economic and political liberalism are closely linked and that economic liberalization facilitates democratization. Thus, the lack (rather than excess) of economic liberalization has contributed to Russia's democracy deficit and has been one of the main obstacles to democratization for Russia. However, in China, only economic reforms took place under a total political dictatorship. Without political reform, there would be no democracy, even if economic modernization was in full swing. Both countries stopped short of abandoning communist bureaucratic rule, but instead integrated a market economy with heavy bureaucratic control. This persistence of bureaucratic control over the economy hampers democracy in both countries. One of the most controversial and politically important debates in the social sciences concerns the relationship between economic policy and political rule. Political scientists continue to debate whether or not measures that enhance the freedom of private economic actors promote democracy. This debate is immediately relevant to Russia's post-communist experience. As we discussed in class, there is evidence that economic freedom and democracy go hand in hand. This makes sense if we consider the market as an ally of open politics. Autonomous economic activity constitutes a bulwark against despotism. This perspective is consistent with the idea that capitalism and democracy are both based on free choice and that capitalism separates economic power from political power and therefore...... middle of paper ..... .itique. Control and governance of a nation as large as Russia would require authoritarian control. This gave rise to forced economic modernization, half-hearted political reform towards democracy. We can conclude that today's Russian democracy is after all a semi-democracy. Similarly, in China, economic reform was carried out under a total political dictatorship. Perhaps the Chinese learned from the Soviet Union and its semi-democracy and understood that economic reform could be carried out without political reform. However, there is evidence of development in both countries. China has become the world's most dynamic and dynamic economy over the past ten years. This allows for a greater degree of liberty and freedom in their economic, social and private lives. These new developments indicate that the transition towards political liberalization has begun in China..