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.