Only somebody who didn't live in russia during the 90s would suggest it were a "functioning democracy." The regime in russia is not about putin, it's the spooks meet apparatchik's regime, and have been such for decades. You're really lucky to have intelligent people in the US intelligence community.
It was a mess, but we had actual elections that mattered. The parliament had factions that were fighting each other. The president didn't run everything.
But people wanted a "strong hand", and so they got sold one.
