In Authoritarianism Russia, Vladimir Gel'man discusses how he sees government in two simple forms: democracies and non-democracies (authoritarianism falls into the “non-democratic” category). Vladimir Putin carries out a model of electoral authoritarianism using facade democracy. Putin manipulates political elites and the masses to gain maximum power. Gel'man offers readers insight into the ways in which Putin's model is both helping him gain power and hurting him. Putin uses electoral authoritarianism to strengthen his power through a façade of democracy, conducting unfair elections and controlling the media. This allows him to control the outcome and provide legitimacy to democracy. It also allows him to control what citizens know, altering their view of his government. Within its façade of democracy, its power is also weakened by the limitations imposed on its power of oppression, its obligation to follow the constitution, its dependence on the economy and its need to conform to the demands of elites. This is harmful to him because it allows the formation of revolts and oppositions that force him to resign from office and risk his popularity on uncontrollable factors. WithAt the end of his second term, he had the opportunity to amend the constitution to grant himself more mandates. However, using this capability would be seen in a negative light from a democratic perspective. Which led to a “temporary job exchange between Putin and Dmitry Medvedev…” directly taking power away from Putin and handing it over to Medvedev. This weakness is the most paralyzing because it takes away Putin's presidential power. This was a huge weakness in his model of electoral authoritarianism because it risked the possibility that Medvedev, or future presidents, could gain elite support, keeping him out of business.