Good tsar, bad boyars

Uncommon card · No. 183516

"Good tsar, bad boyars" (Russian: Царь хороший, бояре плохие, romanized: Carʹ xoróšij, bojáre ploxíje [t͡sarʲ xɐˈroʂɨj | bɐˈjærʲe pɫɐˈxʲije]), sometimes also known as naïve monarchism, is a Russian phrase referring to a political phenomenon in which positive actions taken by the government are viewed as being the result of the leader, while negative actions taken by the government are viewed as being caused by lower-level bureaucrats unbeknownst to the leader. Originating from the Russian Empire, the term has since been used to refer to the leaders of the Soviet Union and post-Soviet Russian Federation, particularly during the rule of Vladimir Putin.

Read on Wikipedia · Image Sailko, CC BY 3.0