Russia transitioned from communism to a semi-presidential system with a complex set of checks and balances between the president and parliament. After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Boris Yeltsin became president and oversaw economic reforms but also consolidated power, dissolving parliament. The current constitution of 1993 established a strong presidency balanced by a bicameral parliament, with powers divided between the national and regional governments.

1. Politics in Russia
Difficult transition from
communism

2. Largest country in the world

3. Russian population
• 142,893,540 (July 2006 estimate)
– comparison
• larger than that of Japan (127 million)
• smaller than that of US (296 million)
• 82% Russian
– largest minority: Tatars 4%
• 72% Orthodox
– largest minority: Muslim 6%

4. Legacies of the tsarist era
• A millennium of autocratic rule
– hereditary monarchy
– not constrained by a constitution

5. Legacies of the tsarist era
• need of governing a vast territory
– modernization of military & economic potential
– growth of state power
– mobilization and unity to defend country
– national feeling based on pride
• in the greatness of the country
• in the strength of its people

6. Russian Revolution of 1917
• Tsarist regime fell during World War I
• Bolshevik revolution in October 1917
• Vladimir Ilyich Lenin (1870 - 1924)
• Communist Party of the Soviet Union
– controlled all levels of govt.
– nomenklatura
• party state

7. Soviet Union (USSR)
• Joseph Stalin
– totalitarian regime
– centralized political power
– industrial and military might
• staggering human cost
– collectivization
– purges
– World War II

8. Stalin’s legacies
• rule of personalities (versus rule of law)
• succession crisis (versus regular elections)
• reliance on military and police
• bureaucratic distortions, resistance, and
inertia
• de-stalinization (1950s & 1960s)
– collective leadership
– deteriorating economic conditions

9. Gorbachev
• General Secretary of CPSU (85-91)
– glasnost: openness in political relations
– improve economic well-being
– contested elections
– law-governed state
– private enterprises
– informal social associations
– concessions to US
– revolutions in East Europe in 1989

10. Collapse of the Soviet Union
• Unintended consequence of Gorbachev’s
reforms
– communist party rule broke down in the 15
soviet republics
• ascendance of Boris Yeltsin in elections
– elected Russian president in 1991 (57% vote)
– outlawed the Communist Party of Soviet Uni.
• Gorbachev resigned as president

11. Yeltsin as president (1991-1999)
• Yeltsin demanded extraordinary powers
from parliament to cope with the country’s
economic problems
– power to carry out a program of radical
market-oriented reform by presidential decree
– named himself acting prime minister
– young, Western-oriented government leaders
– determined to carry out decisive
transformation

12. Reformers versus opponents
• Economic reforms took effect in 1992
– prices skyrocketed (inflation rate 2323%)
• political opposition to reform policies
• developments in 1993
– Yeltsin dissolved parliament
– bombed the parliament
– parliamentary election
– constitutional referendum

13. The Yeltsin Constitution of 1993
• Yeltsin called a
“presidential republic”
• President
– is directly elected by
voters
– can dissolve
parliament
– can issue decrees

14. presidential power
• head of state
• “guarantor of the constitution”
• appoint government
• choice of prime minister is subject to the
approval of parliament
• after three refusals to confirm president’s
choice, president dissolves State Duma

15. The Parliament
• Federal Assembly
• lower house
– State Duma
• upper house
– Federation Council

16. The Parliament
• submission of draft legislation to State
Duma
– by government
– by president
– or by members of the Federal Assembly
• individually or collectively

17. Federation Council
• Every constituent unit of the federation is
represented by 2 representatives
• populations of small ethnic-national
territories are greatly over-represented
• after Putin’s reform in 2000, each governor
and each regional legislature is to name a
representative to the Federation Council
• after 1996, all governors are elected

18. Legislative process
• State Duma => Federation Council =>
President
• if Federation Council rejects a bill
– State Duma may override (by 2/3 vote), or
– bicameral conciliation commission
• if president rejects a bill
– State Duma may override (by 2/3 vote), or
– bicameral conciliation commission

19. Limit on presidential power
• President can not dissolve parliament
– within one year of parliamentary election
– if the parliament has filed impeachment
against president
– if president has declared state of emergency
– within 6 months of expiration of president’s
term

20. Limit on presidential power
• Impeachment of president
– 2/3 majority in State Duma
– affirmation by the Supreme Court
– rule by the Constitutional Court
– 2/3 majority in Federation Council

21. Constitutional Court
• judicial review by the
Constitutional Court
• 19 members are
– nominated by the president
– confirmed by the Federation
Council

22. Constitutional Court
• empowered to consider the
constitutionality of actions of
– the president
– the parliament
– lower level government
• ruled on relations
– between the 2 chambers
– between central and local governments

23. Russia’s GDP growth rate (%)
-16
-14
-12
-10
-8
-6
-4
-2
0
2
4
6
1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2002

24. Decline and recovery (GDP)
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2002