THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION

System of Government

The System of Government Federation of 21 autonomous republics, 49

oblasts, 10 autonomous okrugs, and 1 autonomous oblast Autonomous republics are akin to ethnic

enclaves within Russia Oblasts are similar to provinces and are

headed by governors, traditionally selected through elections since 2004 appointed by president

Constitutional Structure

Constitutional Structure Government defined by a constitution adopted in 1993 It is a super-presidential system with a bicameral

parliament, the Federal Assembly The Federation Council

The upper house The Federation Council Consists of 178 seats; two for each of the Russian

Federation’s 89 units The Lower House

The State Duma Has 450 seats elected in two ways

Half the seats are selected in single mandate districts Half chosen on a proportional, party-list basis

Members serve a 4 year term

Constitutional Structure Continued

Constitution vests tremendous powers in the presidency Potential for dictatorship is considerable The president

Nominates the Prime Minister (who is then confirmed by the Duma) May dissolve the government, call referendums, and issue decrees

No vice president The Russian Judicial system

Has changed little since its soviet days Corruption a significant problem Three main courts

The constitution court rules on constitutional issues The Supreme Court deals with criminal and civil matters The higher court of arbitration deals with business issues

Defendants are often kept in pretrial detention for months or years are locked in metal cages in the courtroom during trial Have few opportunities to appeal findings against them

States can ask for new trials without any concern over double jeopardy

Party System

Party System Very weak After one-party soviet rule many Russians

hesitated to join political organizations The constitution prohibits the president from being

a member of any party No one party power The Kremlin has hurriedly assembled parties for each

Duma election, only to allow them to collapse before the next election

Parties are consolidating slowly Any party must receive 5% of the vote to claim the

party-list Duma list

Other Players

Regional and business leaders have been key players in post-Soviet Russia

The oligarchs, a powerful group of seven businessmen who had made personal fortunes from privatization deals, also influenced post-Soviet Russia

Corruption of the rule of law, the lack of institutionalization of the rules of power, and the military threaten political stability

Links among mafia, corrupt bureaucrats, former red directors (Soviet-era managers of state enterprises), and private bankers helped drain capital into pockets of a select few

Regional and Local Government

Regional and Local Government Split between the three branches A governor heads each oblast, each republic,

the Moscow region, and the St. Petersburg region

Municipal and oblast legislatures are unicameral bodies

Conflict between power of central and regional governments Not clarified by constitution No judicial power or precedent to clarify

The Electoral System

The Electoral System President’s term is for five years, thus elections are held every

five years Whether this political practice has become regular and

institutionalized is not clear President could have the power to call off elections Official version of the electoral system and procedure hinges

on fragile agreements to play by the rules Presidential Elections

Candidate must secure 1 million signatures supporting his candidacy before being allowed on the ballot

After the first round of elections, the two candidates with the highest vote totals continue to a second round of voting

Winner is declared only is he receives a majority of votes Voters have an option of voting against all candidates

THE RUSSIAN FEDERATIONHistorical Developments in Relation to the Modern

Society

Vladimir Lenin Through a policy known as democratic centralism, Lenin

eluded the secret police of the tsar and created an efficient political machine with Marxist ideals

Due to WWI, the tsar lost control of Russia and was replaced by the Bolsheviks who were lead by Lenin, transforming Russia into a Communist State

To control the chaos of the changing Russia, the Bolsheviks created the Cheka, their first secret police, which laid the foundation for the CPSU’s control of all aspects of life

In 1921, the Bolsheviks took full control of the country, formally creating the USSR The communist party was given the leading role in

supervising and policy making Unlike the complete dictatorship under Stalin, there were still

open debates within the party and dissent was acceptable

Joseph Stalin Under Lenin’s successor Stalin, as many as 20

million Soviet citizens lost their lives for little or no reason

For Stalin, reversing the historical Russian backwardness remained his primary goal throughout his reign By means of centralization, the entire agricultural

economy become controlled by the state with the intent of promoting increased growth

Through the five-year plan, Gosplan—the central state planning commission—sought to revitalize and industrialize the Russian economy

At a large human cost, Russia industrialized quicker than any country in history

Joseph Stalin Continued

Foreign Policy The third international, or comintern, was the inter

world war coalition of Communist parties directed by Moscow It was designed to spearhead the worldwide

communist revolution that Stalin foresaw After the German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941,

Stalin allied with Britain and the United States in WWII. Following the war, tensions between the United States

democratic system and the Soviet Union communist system arose in what has been dubbed the Cold War

Purges These purges and executions were carried out all the

way up and down the party hierarchy, resulting in the Soviet Union’s categorization as totalitarian

Millions were sent to the gulag, or network of concentration camps

Nikita Khrushchev

As Stalin’s successor, Khrushchev ended many of his most egregious policies In his 1957 secret speech, he detailed and condemned

many of Stalin’s offenses Through his reforms, freedom of speech expanded and

some decentralization of the economy occurred Through a policy termed peaceful coexistence,

he tried to relax tensions between the U.S. and the Soviet Union

Due to his liberal reforms and the Cuban missile crisis of 1962, Khrushchev was ousted in 1964

Leonid Brezhnev

Following Khrushchev, Brezhnev ended the previous reforms, coveting the Lenin system that included the Communist party’s monopoly on power and the centrally controlled economy

Due to this conservatism, limited reforms were implemented under his reign

By the beginning of the 1980s, the average age of Politburo members was about seventy

Mikhail Gorbachev From the new generation, Gorbachev sought changes that

the old guard before him refused Three major reform movements

Glasnost Soviet Policy that opened up the political system and

allowed for freedom of expression Perestroika

Ill-fated program to restore the Soviet economy in the late 1980s

Basically the Thatcherism of the Soviet Union Democratization

The process of developing democratic states By allowing dissent and expanding freedom, glasnost

played a large role in the fall of the Soviet Union Through his foreign policy initiatives, the Soviet Union and

the Cold War entered their finale

Boris Yeltsin Yeltsin favored a policy known as shock therapy.

Through shock therapy, the Soviet Union sought to swiftly shift from a centralized to a market economy, deeming potentially beneficial long-term economic stability worth the expense of short-term unemployment and displacement (much more moderate in means than Stalin’s attempts to improve Russia’s economy)

The policy emphasized privatization, as opposed to state ownership, of major industries

By sending troops to attack the Russian White House, he consolidated his power from conservatives opposed to his more liberal ideas

In 1993, the first parliamentary elections were held and the Russian constitution was approved Despite the approval of the constitution, the conservative

parties won majority control in the State Duma, or lower house of the new parliament, resulting in a gridlock between Yeltsin and the State Duma throughout his term

Due to the State Duma, Yeltsin could not implement many of the swift and sweeping changes that he desired

Vladimir Putin

Following Yeltsin’s surprise resignation, Putin became Russia’s president and centralized Russia behind a more powerful leader than his predecessor

Since his political party, United Russia, scored resounding victories in the polls, Putin has been able to implement his programs and secure his control without much opposition Since the 1990s, power has been concentrated in the

power ministries—defense, foreign affairs, interior (including the police), the State Security Bureau (FSB), and the security council

Although a lot of power may be concentrated in wealthy oligarchs, Putin has increased his control by prosecuting and exiling some of the corrupt oligarchs

A.P. U.S Government Comparison

James Madison’s Federalist Paper 51 “If men were angels, no government would be

necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself.”

Citizens, Society, and the State of Russia

Ethnic, religious, and class differences and conflicts

85% of the Russian population consists of the Slavs, including Russians, Ukrainians, and Belarusians

There are over 100 different national minorities that make up the Altaic group, the Uralic group, and the Caucasus group

In a quest for independence, the Caucasus group is involved in most of the conflicts

Conflicts and Religion In the past year, there have been 540 casualties

(including 54 deaths) due to ethnic conflict primarily between the Cossacks, Chenens, and Armenians.

These conflicts have been spurred by racial prejudice and territorial claims.

Russia’s main religion is the Russian Orthodox Church, encompassing around 15-20% of the Russian population

The other minority religions include Islam, and other forms of Christianity.

Civil Society Due to the recent fall of the Soviet Union, Russia

lacks any real form of a Civil Society Russia is currently building a new society around

the ideas and values of western democracy and capitalism

Russian social organizations, however, have had a huge boom, vastly increasing in volume; these include trade unions, veterans groups, youth organizations, women’s associations, and sports clubs

Media

Still under the influence of the government, the Russian media continues to attempt to break free from the governmental restrictions imposed on it

The Russian government has recently put pressure on the media to portray the government in a “positive light” Eight Journalists fighting for freedom of

speech and the press were recently fired for breaking the above editorial policy

Political Participation

Political participation is currently growing, especially among the young new generation who have been assimilating a very western ideology in governmental matters

Distrustful of corrupt politicians, many young people avoid involvement in social movements and political parties

They also want to do away with anything that still portrays the old regime

Social movements

The main issues right now include trade unions, the environment, and social issues including: human rights, disabled organizations, and failed government policies

31 listed Political Parties representing each viewpoint

Not as violent as in the past

Citizen influence

Used mainly through the growing number of social organizations

The upcoming voters of the younger generation carry a huge influence right now as they decide what they want Russia’s future to entail

Many are still fighting for freedoms constricted under Putin