The results of the votes in Russia and Venezuela this past weekend shed interesting light on the state of democracy in two countries led by strongmen on opposite political poles.

In Russia, Vladimir Putinís United Russia party won a resounding victory in parliamentary elections Sunday. His backers are interpreting the election results as an endorsement of his leadership. Thus, the authoritarian Putin is likely to remain in control even after he steps down as president.

Following a tense-but-successful Kremlin campaign that wielded both persuasion and intimidation, several opposition leaders accused the Kremlin of rigging the vote. Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov called the election ìthe most irresponsible and dirtyî in the post-Soviet era and party officials vowed to challenge the results. The Bush administration called for a probe into voting irregularities.

With 72.5 percent of the precincts counted, the results were reported as 63.1 percent for United Russia and 11.7 percent for the Communists.

Putin is constitutionally prohibited from running for a third consecutive term, but he has made it plain he wants to remain in power ó whether in the spotlight or behind the scenes.

Meanwhile, across the globe, Venezuelans rejected President Hugo Ch·vezís proposed constitutional overhaul that would have tightened his grip on power in a referendum.

Roughly 51 percent of the votes were cast Sunday against the two packages of constitutional articles, while 49 percent backed Ch·vez.

As with Putin, Ch·vez doesnít want to give up his power anytime soon, so the defeat of the articles, which included eliminating presidential term limits, was a decided failure for him, although, characteristically, he shrugged it off and said, ìThis is not a defeat. Itís another ëfor now.íî