The Novgorod Veche Republic is one of the first examples of democratic governance in Russia. Over several centuries of existence, Novgorod democracy has gone through a difficult path from a simple meeting, where disputed issues were resolved with the cries of the townspeople, and even with fists, to a complex elective system of city government. The experience of Novgorod democracy was needed in Russia only five centuries later. But aren't the current elites repeating the same mistakes that once weakened the Novgorod Republic and led it to defeat?