Thanks for the linking us to the opinions from ‘Ramez Naam’s blog’, ‘opinions’ being the operative word in the case of Mr Naam.
Get back to me when he’s also peer-reviewed Princton professor.
I forget where I saw this, but years ago, I saw a fictional piece of satire in which Lenin and Kerensky met in secret in 1917. Kerensky was sick and tired of trying to deal with Russia’s problems, and gladly handed over power to the Bolsheviks. But before they parted, Kerensky asked Lenin, “What did I do wrong? I gave the Russian people freedom and democracy for the first time ever. Why did they choose YOU instead?”
Lenin snorted, “Alexander, freedom means nothing to a Russian. A Russian only wants one thing from his rulers. The Mongols gave it to him. The tsars gave it to him. I’ll give it to him. But you never could.”
Kerensky asked, “So, what does he want?”
“An excuse to get drunk.”
And thanks for the appeal to authority on what is obviously a headline grabbing shock ‘study’ designed to appeal to people who are going to be impressed by a ‘peer-reviewed Princton(sic) professor’. 
Of course not. Don’t be stupid.
So, if Putin has a fatal horseback-riding accident or Siberian-tiger-riding accident (he’s that macho!) or something tomorrow . . . what happens next?
The usual Soviet-style power struggle among people who have been pre-positioning themselves all along.
Okay, thanks.
Oh 
I believe Dr Evil takes over, and things kind of get better.
The orthodox church also seems to be a powerful player, as well and seems to be on Putin’s side. As the church has a strong influence on people’s lives, I would vote for totalitarianism.
I don’t know how strong the Orthodox Church is in Russia, but Putin is trying to restore its prominence. The Church will never have the independent power it once did, but it’s useful cover for a man like Putin.
Putin is clearly trying to re-establish the old motto of Tsarist Russia: “Autocracy, Orthodoxy and Nationality (more closely translated as “nationalism” in English).”
Not in a culture that can now produce Pussy Riot, it won’t.
And after that, we can look forward to the mediocre (but composed of practical evil) reign of Scott.