True democracy is not created overnight. Society must be ready for democratic mechanisms. The majority of the population must feel they are citizens and be ready to devote attention, time and effort to participating in the process of government.

In the 1990s we encountered both anarchy and oligarchy. Society consisted of people who had freed themselves from communism, but who had not yet learned how to be masters of their own destinies. Society went through a difficult process of development. And this enabled us all, working together, to drag the country out of the mire, to revive the state, and restore the sovereignty of the people, which is the basis of true democracy.

If we look at the list of rights that Russian people consider essential, those they treasure the most are the right to work, free medical care, and education for children. However, today our society is completely different from what it was at the turn of the century. Many people are becoming more affluent, educated and demanding. These changing demands on government, and the fact that the middle class is exiting the narrow world of increasing its own prosperity, are the results of our efforts. We worked for that.

Our civil society has become much more mature, active and responsible. We need to modernise the mechanisms of our democracy so that they correspond to this increase in social activity. The political climate, like the investment climate, demands constant improvement.

But I strongly believe we do not need a circus of candidates competing with each other to make increasingly unrealistic promises. And spin doctors and image-makers should not control politicians.

We must create a political system in which it is possible – and necessary – to be honest. Whoever puts forward a proposal or a programme should be responsible enough to carry it out. Those who elect decision-makers should understand who and what they are voting for. This would produce trust, constructive dialogue and mutual respect between society and the government.

Modern democracy as government by the people cannot be limited to simply casting votes. Democracy, in my view, is the fundamental right of the people to elect their government as well as to continuously influence it and the decision-making process. In this regard, I propose introducing a rule for a mandatory parliamentary review of any legislative initiative that has more than 100,000 supporting signatures on the internet. A similar practice exists in the UK.

Internet-based democracy should be integrated into the overall development of institutions, especially at the municipal and regional levels, creating a referendum-based democracy.

Local self-government is a school of civil responsibility. Today, at a new stage of our development, we are reintroducing direct elections of governors. And I also propose that municipalities be entitled to manage all the taxes collected from small businesses, which are currently subject to preferential taxation. Stronger economic independence is particularly relevant to big and medium-sized cities. Cities are drivers of economic growth and sources of civic initiatives.

The federal centre should know how to delegate and redistribute authority – and not only authority, but also sources of financing for both local and regional budgets. At the same time, we must ensure the country does not become uncontrollable in the process. Government authority is not to be squandered. It is inadmissible to mechanically reshuffle resources and powers between various government levels. Neither centralisation nor decentralisation should be followed blindly.

Crucially, we need to oversee a shift in the mindset of public service to build a competitive environment for living, creating and doing business in Russia. Talk about corruption in Russia is commonplace and in our history there have been attempts to curb it through repression. Of course, the fight against bribery relies on repressive measures. But the problem is much more profound. It comes from the lack of transparency and accountability of government agencies to society, and the poor motivation of civil servants. And here, in my view, we are facing huge difficulties.

Polls tell us that the teenagers who, back in the 1990s dreamed of becoming oligarchs, now aspire to be public servants. Many view public service as a source of fast and easy cash. As long as this incentive exists, purges will be useless – unmasked thieves will only be replaced by others.

In order to combat systemic corruption we need not only to unbundle power and property but also to separate executive power from the system of checks over it. The political responsibility for the fight against corruption must be shared by the government and the opposition.

We should identify corruption-prone functions both within the executive power and the management of state corporations. An official in such a role should be eligible for a high salary but should agree to absolute transparency, including declaring their expenses and big family purchases, current place of residence, how they pay for vacations and so on.

Above all, we should make justice available to everyone by introducing administrative proceedings not only for businesses but also to hear disputes between citizens and officials. Civic organisations will be granted the right to file lawsuits with the aim of defending their members' interests. A common database of all arbitration court decisions is presently operational and accessible to all. We now have to set up a similar database across the courts of general jurisdiction.

We will act consistently, reasonably and with determination. We will eliminate the root causes of corruption and punish particular officials. We defeated oligarchy. We will surely defeat corruption.

• This is an abridged version of a piece that originally appeared in Kommersant

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