The article is devoted to the main stages of Russian political transformation since 1985. The problem is considered in the context of the general theory of democratic transition and consolidation. On the basis of historical facts the author analysis the particularities both of the process of liberalization and of initial stages of democratic transition in Russia. The last has been passing unevenly, in very complex and contradictory conditions. At the modern stage the hybrid political system formed in Russia is a bizarre combination of democratic, authoritarian beaurocratic and oligarchic tendencies. Which of them gain the upper hand in near and distant future will depend of veriety of economic, social and political factors.