The author seeks to demonstrate that liberal democracy can present orienting objective for political development of post-totalitarian societies. Basic principles of liberal democracy are outlined in the article, with their universality stressed. The article offers explanation of the reasons for the spread of the so-called delegative models of democracy. The conclusive part of the article contains analysis of the complicacies of Russian society democratization. It is liberal democratic values that should be taken, in the author's opinion, as its qualitative criterion. And it is first and foremost on their assimilation by both the elites and the masses that success of Russian political modernization depends.