RUSSIA Russia Government What is the capital of Russia? Country Name Russia Full Country Name Russian Federation Local - Long Rossiyskaya Federatsiya Local - Short Rossiya Former Name Russian Empire, Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic Etymology- history of name Russian lands were generally referred to as Muscovy until PETERI officially declared the Russian Empire in 1721; the new name sought to invoke the patrimony of the medieval eastern European Rus state centered on Kyiv in present-day Ukraine; the Rus were a Varangian (eastern Viking) elite that imposed their rule and eventually their name on their Slavic subjects Government Type semi-presidential federation Capital Name Moscow Capital - geographic coordinate 55 45 N, 37 36 E Capital Time Difference UTC+3 (8 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time) note: Russia has 11 time zones, the largest number of contiguous time zones of any country in the world; in 2014, two time zones were added and DST was dropped Independence 24 August 1991 (from the Soviet Union); notable earlier dates: 1157 (Principality of Vladimir-Suzdal created); 16 January 1547 (Tsardom of Muscovy established); 22 October 1721 (Russian Empire proclaimed); 30 December 1922 (Soviet Union established) National Holiday Russia Day, 12 June (1990) Constitution several previous (during Russian Empire and Soviet eras); latest drafted 12 July 1993, adopted by referendum 12 December 1993, effective 25 December 1993; amended 2008, 2014 Russia Capital City Map Source: Google Maps Russia Government and Politics Who is the president of Russia? Executive Branch: chief of state: President Vladimir Vladimirovich PUTIN (since 7 May 2012) head of government: Premier Mikhail MISHUSTIN (since 16 January 2020); First Deputy Premier Andrey Removich BELOUSOV (since 21 January 2020); Deputy Premiers Yuriy Ivanovich BORISOV (since 18 May 2018), Tatiana Alekseyevna GOLIKOVA (since 18 May 2018), Dmitriy Yuriyevich GRIGORENKO, Viktoriya Valeriyevna ABRAMCHENKO, Aleksey Logvinovich OVERCHUK, Marat Shakirzyanovich KHUSNULLIN, Dmitriy Nikolayevich CHERNYSHENKO (since 21 January 2020) cabinet: the "Government" is composed of the premier, his deputies, and ministers, all appointed by the president; the premier is also confirmed by the Duma elections/appointments: president directly elected by absolute majority popular vote in 2 rounds if needed for a 6-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held on 18 March 2018 (next to be held in March 2024); note - term length extended to 6 years from 4 years in late 2008, effective after the 2012 election; there is no vice president; premier appointed by the president with the approval of the Duma election results: Vladimir PUTIN reelected president; percent of vote Vladimir PUTIN (independent) 77.5%, Pavel GRUDININ (CPRF) 11.9%, Vladimir ZHIRINOVSKIY (LDPR) 5.7%, other 5.8%; Mikhail MISHUSTIN (independent) approved as premier by Duma; vote - 383 to 0 note: there is also a Presidential Administration that provides staff and policy support to the president, drafts presidential decrees, and coordinates policy among government agencies; a Security Council also reports directly to the president Citizenship Criteria: citizenship by birth: no citizenship by descent only: at least one parent must be a citizen of Russia dual citizenship recognized: yes residency requirement for naturalization: 3-5 years Legal System: civil law system; judicial review of legislative acts Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal Legislative Branch: description: bicameral Federal Assembly or Federalnoye Sobraniye consists of: Federation Council or Sovet Federatsii (170 seats; 2 members in each of the 83 federal administrative units (see note below) - oblasts, krays, republics, autonomous okrugs and oblasts, and federal cities of Moscow and Saint Petersburg - appointed by the top executive and legislative officials; members serve 4-year terms) State Duma or Gosudarstvennaya Duma (450 seats (see note below); as of February 2014, the electoral system reverted to a mixed electoral system for the 2016 election, in which one-half of the members are directly elected by simple majority vote and one-half directly elected by proportional representation vote; members serve 5-year terms) elections: State Duma - last held on 18 September 2016 (next to be held in fall 2021) election results: Federation Council (members appointed); composition - men 145, women 25, percent of women 14.7% State Duma - United Russia 54.2%, CPRF 13.3%, LDPR 13.1%, A Just Russia 6.2%, Rodina 1.5%, CP 0.2%, other minor parties 11.5%; seats by party - United Russia 343, CPRF 42, LDPR 39, A Just Russia 23, Rodina 1, CP 1, independent 1 note 1: the State Duma now includes 3 representatives from the "Republic of Crimea," while the Federation Council includes 2 each from the "Republic of Crimea" and the "Federal City of Sevastopol," both regions that Russia occupied and attempted to annex from Ukraine and that the US does not recognize as part of Russia note 2: seats by party as of December 2018 - United Russia 341, CPRF 43, LDPR 39, A Just Russia 23, independent 2, vacant 2; composition as of October 2018 - men 393, women 57, percent of women 12.7%; note total Federal Assembly percent of women 13.2% Judicial Branch: highest court(s): Supreme Court of the Russian Federation (consists of 170 members organized into the Judicial Panel for Civil Affairs, the Judicial Panel for Criminal Affairs, and the Military Panel); Constitutional Court (consists of 19 members); note - in February 2014, Russia’s Superior Court of Arbitration was abolished and its former authorities transferred to the Supreme Court, which in addition to being the country’s highest judicial authority for appeals, civil, criminal, administrative cases, and military cases, and the disciplinary judicial board, now has jurisdiction over economic disputes judge selection and term of office: all members of Russia's 3 highest courts nominated by the president and appointed by the Federation Council (the upper house of the legislature); members of all 3 courts appointed for life subordinate courts: Higher Arbitration Court; regional (kray) and provincial (oblast) courts; Moscow and St. Petersburg city courts; autonomous province and district courts; note - the 14 Russian Republics have court systems specified by their own constitutions Regions or States: 46 provinces (oblastey, singular - oblast), 21 republics (respublik, singular - respublika), 4 autonomous okrugs (avtonomnykh okrugov, singular - avtonomnyy okrug), 9 krays (krayev, singular - kray), 2 federal cities (goroda, singular - gorod), and 1 autonomous oblast (avtonomnaya oblast') oblasts: Amur (Blagoveshchensk), Arkhangel'sk, Astrakhan', Belgorod, Bryansk, Chelyabinsk, Irkutsk, Ivanovo, Kaliningrad, Kaluga, Kemerovo, Kirov, Kostroma, Kurgan, Kursk, Leningrad, Lipetsk, Magadan, Moscow, Murmansk, Nizhniy Novgorod, Novgorod, Novosibirsk, Omsk, Orenburg, Orel, Penza, Pskov, Rostov, Ryazan', Sakhalin (YuzhnoSakhalinsk), Samara, Saratov, Smolensk, Sverdlovsk (Yekaterinburg), Tambov, Tomsk, Tula, Tver', Tyumen', Ul'yanovsk, Vladimir, Volgograd, Vologda, Voronezh, Yaroslavl' republics: Adygeya (Maykop), Altay (Gorno-Altaysk), Bashkortostan (Ufa), Buryatiya (Ulan-Ude), Chechnya (Groznyy), Chuvashiya (Cheboksary), Dagestan (Makhachkala), Ingushetiya (Magas), Kabardino-Balkariya (Nal'chik), Kalmykiya (Elista), KarachayevoCherkesiya (Cherkessk), Kareliya (Petrozavodsk), Khakasiya (Abakan), Komi (Syktyvkar), Mariy-El (Yoshkar-Ola), Mordoviya (Saransk), North Ossetia (Vladikavkaz), Sakha [Yakutiya] (Yakutsk), Tatarstan (Kazan'), Tyva (Kyzyl), Udmurtiya (Izhevsk) autonomous okrugs: Chukotka (Anadyr'), Khanty-Mansi-Yugra (KhantyMansiysk), Nenets (Nar'yan-Mar), Yamalo-Nenets (Salekhard) krays: Altay (Barnaul), Kamchatka (Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy), Khabarovsk, Krasnodar, Krasnoyarsk, Perm', Primorskiy [Maritime] (Vladivostok), Stavropol', Zabaykal'sk [Transbaikal] (Chita) federal cities: Moscow [Moskva], Saint Petersburg [Sankt-Peterburg] autonomous oblast: Yevreyskaya [Jewish] (Birobidzhan) note 1: administrative divisions have the same names as their administrative centers (exceptions have the administrative center name following in parentheses) note 2: the United States does not recognize Russia's annexation of Ukraine's Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the municipality of Sevastopol, nor their redesignation as the Republic of Crimea and the Federal City of Sevastopol Political Parties and Leaders: A Just Russia [Sergey MIRONOV] Civic Platform or CPI [Rifat SHAYKHUTDINOV] Communist Party of the Russian Federation or CPRF [Gennadiy ZYUGANOV] Liberal Democratic Party of Russia or LDPR [Vladimir ZHIRINOVSKIY] Rodina [Aleksei ZHURAVLYOV] United Russia [Dmitriy MEDVEDEV] note: 78 political parties are registered with Russia's Ministry of Justice (as of October 2015), but only six parties maintain representation in Russia's national legislature, and two of these only have one deputy apiece International Law Organization Participation: has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; non-party state to the ICCt International Organization Participation: APEC, Arctic Council, ARF, ASEAN (dialogue partner), BIS, BRICS, BSEC, CBSS, CD, CE, CERN (observer), CICA, CIS, CSTO, EAEC, EAEU, EAPC, EAS, EBRD, FAO, FATF, G-20, GCTU, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (national committees), ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), LAIA (observer), MIGA, MINURSO, MONUSCO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OIC (observer), OPCW, OSCE, Paris Club, PCA, PFP, SCO, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNISFA, UNMIL, UNMISS, UNOCI, UNSC (permanent), UNTSO, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU (NGOs), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC Russia's Domestic and Foreign Policy Challenges KENNAN INSTITUTE "No one in the Russian political elite in the Kremlin is thinking about what will happen after the election, which says a lot about the Russian political system and its sustainability," said Lilia Shevtsova, senior associate, Carnegie Moscow Center. Speaking at a 21 May 2007 Kennan Institute talk, Shevtsova said that the upcoming Russian presidential election poses a great challenge to the Russian state because of this lack of foresight. She noted that although President Vladimir Putin has enjoyed great popularity, he has not yet named a "favored candidate" to replace him or allowed two candidates to compete, she noted. The resulting uncertainty is intensifying the struggle over who will replace him. For Shevtsova, Russians and observers of Russia can generally be divided into two groups: "pragmatists" and "idealists." Pragmatists are generally cautious, and believe that Russia will prosper through gradual reform. Their emphasis is on securing economic growth through the introduction of capitalism and the formation of a middle class, she explained. Idealists, on the other hand, question why democracy seems to recede with continued economic growth, and observe a rising tide of nationalism with a certain amount of unease. She said this proves that there is no causal link between economic growth and democracy. Placing herself in the "idealist" group, Shevtsova stated that, for the time being, the liberal project has failed to take off in Russia, while Putin's project appears to have succeeded. The president has brought Russia both social and economic stability, united the often factional Russian elite, and changed the style of leadership Russians expect from their politicians. Three major factors have contributed to stability in Russia. First, high oil and gas prices have put the Russian budget into a surplus. Second, Putin's approval rating has given many in the elite and in the population as a whole confidence in the system. Third, there is hope that things will improve in the future. In spite of these successes, Shevtsova cautioned that the current "stability" merely preserves the status quo and limits Russia's chances at modernizing itself. She questioned whether the ruling elite have a longer-term strategy. In her opinion, the current system is characterized by several tactics on the part of the leadership: 1) aggressively struggling over the redistribution of property; 2) creating a model for succession; and 3) lulling the population into complacency through national initiatives and debates over the allocation of money from the stabilization fund. In essence, Shevtsova said, "the tactics are the strategy." For this reason, in her opinion, it matters little who will win the 2008 presidential election, because the essential elements of the state system will remain in place. At the same time, the Kremlin is offering Russia several succession scenarios, she said. Two scenarios are symbolized by the two leading candidates, First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and former Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov. According to Shevtsova, Medvedev represents a softer, more pro-Western Russia, while Ivanov represents a more conservative state-centered Russia. Should a third candidate arise, he could take Russia in an even more statist and nationalist direction, which would include more "bullying" behavior in foreign policy, she cautioned. In spite of the change in leadership, she noted, the substance of the system will remain the same. One irony of the succession struggle is that Putin's interests and the interests of the elite diverge, Shevtsova noted. For Putin, it is advantageous to maintain a level of uncertainty about whom he will choose as his successor, because this allows him to avoid becoming a "lame duck" president. The elites, on the other hand, want to know who the next president will be as soon as possible, so that they can secure their property rights and begin to build ties with the new leadership, she said. Overall, Russian foreign policy during Putin's term "fits the domestic landscape perfectly," meaning that it has become a tool of domestic policy, Shevtsova stated. Russia's "new assertiveness" has been one of the keys to Putin's popularity. In terms of Russia's relations with Western Europe and the United States, Shevtsova explained that Putin has offered several bargains to these countries collectively. Russia will allow Western energy companies access to upstream development projects in exchange for access to Western distribution networks. It is unclear how various Western countries will react to this proposal, she said. Russia also wants to renegotiate the terms of the foreign policy model worked out in the 1990s. Russia does not want to be the junior partner of the West in international relations, she observed; rather, it wants to be alternately a partner and a competitor. Although the Russian system as a whole seems stable, there is a lot of political uncertainty, according to Shevtsova. This has led the Russian elite to act out of fear and their own self-interest, she continued. There are potential problems inherent in this system, she noted, including the contradictions between stability and the periodic upheaval of elections, between capitalism and the needs of the market, and within the federal system between the needs of the center and the individual needs of the regions for self-government. Russian elites are aware of these problems, and have found a variety of ways of managing the risk associated with the succession process.