Is Vladimir Putin a dictator or not?

The Wikipedia article on Putin is quite balanced, and gives a brief summary of his career. It should help you understand what kind of leader Putin is. Whether or not Putin can reasonably be called a “dictator” is a more difficult question to answer. The concept “dictator” is vague, used in many different senses, and its meaning is in large part in the mind of the beholder. You can read the Wikipedia article on dictatorship, but it won’t help you much. Some dictatorships...