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The System of Government
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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
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Constitutional Structure
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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
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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
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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
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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
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 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 partylist Duma list
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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
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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
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The Electoral System
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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
Historical Developments
in Relation to the Modern
Society
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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
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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
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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
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Foreign Policy
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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
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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
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As Stalin’s successor, Khrushchev ended many of his
most egregious policies
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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
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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
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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
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Through his foreign policy initiatives, the Soviet Union and the
Cold War entered their finale
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Yeltsin favored a policy known as shock therapy.
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Through shock therapy, the Soviet Union sought to swiftly shift from a
centralized to a market economy, deeming potentially beneficial longterm 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
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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
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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
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James Madison’s Federalist Paper 51
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“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.”
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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
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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.
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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