It's not an uncommon thought, albeit one that's decidedly out of date in academic circles. A few of the unrepentant Cold Warriors do continue to hold out though that Russia is an inherently conservative/authoritarian country, one that craves 'strong government'. Richard Pipes is probably still the most prominent advocate of such a view, a theme he recently explored (again) in his Russian Conservatism and Its Critics.

I'm not going to go into more detail on the view because, frankly, I think it's bollox. I go into a bit of detail on alternative reasons (ie other than Russians craving the whip) for the emergence of Communist autocracy here.