MOSCOW — Viewed from outside the United States, the ongoing election drama — and the acrimonious recount in the state of Florida — is a shocking departure from the usually smooth transition of power in this much-vaunted democracy. For some, the arcane electoral college system is only now really coming to light, raising inevitable questions. For others, used to being lectured by the United States about democracy, it is an opportunity for a little payback.

“This is simply quite stupid. The American electoral system needs modernizing,” said Boris Nemtsov, a leading liberal and former deputy prime minister in Russia, a frequent recipient of U.S. advice on democracy-building.

“I believe Americans will be forced to draw up amendments in Congress to get rid of the electoral college and move toward direct elections. They would then catch up with Russia, where the electoral system is better in this respect,” Nemtsov said.

Under the system created in 1787, an electoral college of representatives from the federal states chooses the president. The winner in each state takes all that state’s electoral votes, except in Maine and Nebraska, which operate under different rules that allow for them to be split.

Historians say the system was designed to give the political establishment a brake over the ordinary voter.

“Thank goodness we have no such system in Russia! In our conditions of non-mature democracy it would be completely unproductive and might end up in disorder and clashes,” said Sergei Karaganov, deputy director of the Institute of Europe.

“The American system is indeed very difficult for voters to understand. It is a luxury that only a wealthy country like the United States can afford,” he said.