Russian Political Structure

Perhaps you have read about the politics class I'm taking here in Moscow, and if not, to update you, I had to write a 10 page midterm paper on a topic of my choice.  This topic of course, would turn out to be something that interested me and be what I really want to learn from the course.  For my topic I chose to write about the layout of power among the president, the prime minister, and the Federal Assembly.  All of my information comes directly from the Russian Constitution, government websites, and wikipedia when I couldn't translate the Russian websites into English.  It wasn't a difficult paper, however I definitely feel like I have a much better idea on how the government works, which is important for everyone to learn if they plan on keeping an active part on what goes on in their society.  Without further adue, here it is, enjoy!

The Distribution of Powers Within the Russian Federation

            The heart of a country begins at the center, where all the vital branches are.  Without the branches connecting to the heart, much like a human being, it would fall into chaos and die.  Russia has experienced many chaotic times in which the government had failed to keep the country running.  It first started off with the Tsars in which the church and state worked together, then moved onto Communism where religion was almost destroyed and the country was ruled by a dictator, once that fell Russia turned into a democracy with a President at the head.  In this paper we will explore the different branches of government and try to figure out who has more power and who is calling the shots within the following branches: the president, the prime minister, and The Federal Assembly.

            Russia became democratic when Boris Yeltsin buried the Soviet Union, and once he retired from office, Vladimir Putin came next, people loved him and still do.  Next in line and the current president of the Russian Federation is Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev.  In order to become President one must be thirty-five years or older with a permanent residence record in the Russian Federation of not less than 10 years.  A term of Presidency lasts for six years, and the election is held by a secret ballot.  According to the Constitution of the Russian Federation which came into force December 1993, the President is the head of the state.  It is his job to balance all the branches of the state, guarantee and protect the rights of citizens, preserve security and integrity, to protect all aspects of the Constitution, and to make sure that all foreign and internal affairs are handled appropriately. He creates guidelines for foreign policies, but to say if every president changes them around is a question in itself, and the answer is probably yes, when he sees fit.

            The president has the responsibility of appointing people to certain areas of office.  He appoints, with the agreement of the State Duma, the Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation.  He has the right to sit in chair meetings, and to adopt decisions regarding the registration of the government.  He also has the right to appoint and dismiss the chairman of the Central bank of Russia, and when the chairman of the Government proposes it, he can dismiss the deputy chairmen of the Government of the Russian Federation and federal ministers.  Much like the President of the United States of America he picks out candidates for the Supreme Court of judges. The Russian president presents to the Council of the Federation candidates for appointment as judges of the Constitution Court of the Russian Federation, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, the Higher Court of Arbitration of the Russian Federation, as well as a candidate for the post of the Procurator-General of the Russian Federation, and to other federal courts.

            The President plays a vital role in national security. He heads and forms the security council, and is the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces. He has the right to appoint and dismiss the supreme command of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation and within that responsibility he approves the military doctrine of the Russian Federation.  If a threat or aggression against the Russian Federation occurs, the President reserves his right to introduce in the territory of the Russian Federation martial law and immediately informs the Federal Assembly.  When the President believes that the country is in a state of emergency he has to announce it to the Federal Council and the Duma.  The regime of the martial law that the President follows is defined by the federal constitutional law, and not by him.

            It is within the powers of the president to issue decrees and orders in which all citizens must follow, and they run obligatory for the entirety of the Russian Federation.  These decrees and orders, however, cannot run counter to the constitution or federal laws already in place.  The moment the president takes his oath, he can immediately exercise all of his powers, and has to cease using them when a new president has been sworn in.  Other reasons as to why a president may have to cease using his powers include: the inability due to poor health, his resignation, or impeachment. When the President of the Russian Federation is unable to fulfill his duties to do any of the reasons listed above, the Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation fulfills them temporarily. The President is not all powerful, and does have barriers.  He cannot dissolve the State Duma, appoint a referendum, or do anything to change the provisions of the Constitution of the Russian Federation.

            The chairman of the government of the Russian Federation is also known as the prime minister.  The current prime minister of Russia is Vladimir Putin, the previous president.  The role of prime minister is the second most powerful in the government, and many believe that even though Medvedev is the president, Putin is still the most powerful man in the country.  They believe that Putin carries the most influence, and even though it is the President’s duty to tell the prime minister what to do,  in reality many people believe that it is the other way around.

The Prime Minister serves an administrative role, in which he nominates members of the Cabinet and implements domestic policy. He has many duties and responsibilities that affect the government directly, and could have influence on the president’s plans.  The prime minister organizes and decides on the operating priorities of the government and its work in accordance with the Constitution, federal constitutional laws, federal laws and Presidential decrees. However, he has to submit to the President any proposals on the structure and functions of the central institutions of the executive branch for approval. The president is not the only one with powers of appointing people.  The prime minister gets to nominate the vice prime ministers, federal ministers and other officers and presents them to the President.  If he feels that certain members of the government stepped out of line or committed some fort of offense he submits, to the president, proposals on punishments, or even sometimes rewards for the government members who did exemplary work.

The prime minister represents the Government as an institution in foreign relations and inside the country.  During government meetings he is the head of the sessions and he has the decisive vote over whatever it is that is being decided upon.  Once the vote comes to a close he signs the acts of the Government and systematically informs the President about the Government activities. This could be of what was going on in meetings or about the duties that he distributed among the members of the Government.

Aside from sitting in with meetings of the government, the prime minister is a member of quite a few different councils such as: The Security Council of the Russian Federation, The Council of the Heads of Government of the Commonwealth of Independent States, The Council of the Heads of Government of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, The Interstate Council of the Eurasian Economic Community.   
While having influence in such important places he is also the head of the President’s cabinet and coordinates and consulates multiple bodies of the Russian government.  These bodies include: government commission monitoring foreign investments in Russia, council on competitiveness and enterprise in the Russian government, governmental commission on drafting budget for the next fiscal and planning period, and state border commission.

After listing all of the above, it is clear as to why people today believe that Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has more power than Medvedev, but there is still more.  He holds positions as chairman in various places such as on the Supervisory Board of the Bank for Development and Foreign Economic Affairs, the first deputy chairman of the presidential council on national priority projects and demographic policy, and he is the chairman of the Ministers of the Union State of Russia and Belarus.  It is difficult to believe that one man can handle all of the different positions.  It is well known that Putin is technically the non-partisan leader of the United Russia party, which is the largest political party in the State Duma.  The question is, do all prime ministers handle all of this responsibility, or is it just Putin who wishes to have as much power as he can grasp?  It is difficult to say, because of how short a time Russia has been a democracy, and so, only the future can tell us.

The Federal Assembly is the parliament of the Russian Federation,  and is the representative and legislative body.  It is made up of the Federal Council and the State Duma, which is the lower house. The Duma contains four political parties which are: United Russia, Communist Party of the Russian Federation, Liberal Democratic Party of Russia, and Fair Russia; also known as A Just Russia.  A term in the Duma lasts for five years.  In order to be elected to the State Duma as a deputy, a Russian citizen must be at least twenty-one years of age, however it is impossible to be both a member of the Federal Council and the Duma.  It is also not possible to be a deputy of other representative bodies of state authority and local self-government, if said person is already a deputy of the State Duma.  In order to be a deputy of the Duma one has to accept that their duties as a deputy is a permanent and full time position.  They are not allowed to work for other parts of the state, or engage in paid activities. Deputies can only participate in teaching, or scientific and creative work.  As a member of the Federal Assembly, during the time of their mandate, they hold immunity, and are not to be searched, arrested, or detained unless they are at the scene of a crime, and the safety of other people is in jeopardy.

Thirty days after an election is the first time the State Duma assembles for a meeting, the President however, can call for the meeting to happen at an earlier time if he desires.  It is by tradition that the oldest deputy opens the first sitting.  On this first meeting, a new mandate is written, and the old one expires.  The Federation Council has separate meetings, and can choose to have closed doors during them.  When the President of the Russian Federation sends messages regarding the Constitution Court of the Russian Federation or speeches of leaders of foreign states, the Federal Council and the State Duma can choose to have a joint meeting.

Both chambers elect a chairman and his deputies.  Their duties include internal routine work of their specific chamber.  Since December 2001, the chairman of the Federal council has been Sergey Mironov, of the political party of Fair Russia, which has only 38 seats in the Duma. The chairman of the state Duma is Boris Gryzlov, from United Russia. The Council and the Duma both have to set up committees and commissions to hold parliamentary hearings in order to solve issues in their authority. With that in mind, both chambers need to come up with procedural rules to follow when it comes to hearings, or events which call for procedures.  In order for the Assembly to control the federal budget, they create another branch called the Accounting Chamber.  The composition of the Accounting chamber, and it’s rules of work are already fixed by the federal law.

The Federal Assembly has the ability to decide on quite a few different subjects.  When it reaches a jurisdiction its boundaries lie in all of the following:  approval of changes in borders between subjects of the Russian Federation; approval of the decree of the President of the Russian Federation on the introduction of a martial law; approval of the decree of the President of the Russian Federation on the introduction of a state of emergency.  In times of a threat or national emergency they decide on the possibility of using the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation outside the territory of the Russian Federation. The Federal Council not only decides on the appointment of elections of the President of the Russian Federation, but also on his impeachment.  They appoint judges of the Constitution Court, of the Supreme Court, and of the Higher Arbitration Court.   Appointment and dismissal of the Procurator-General of the Russian Federation and of the Deputy Chairman and half of the auditors of the Accounting Chamber, is also within the Federal Council’s power.  The Federal Council can only form resolutions based on the majority vote, unless otherwise stated in the Constitution.

The State Duma holds power in jurisdiction as well. The President has the ability to appoint the Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation, but the Duma has to give their consent.  If the Duma does not like the appointed person, they have the ability to tell the President no, who then has to search for someone else.  This is a decent bit of power for the Duma, especially for a specific political party.  If a certain political party gets a chairman who supports them, then they have a helpful deciding vote on future decisions. The Duma has the jurisdiction in deciding the issue of confidence in the Government of the Russian Federation.  In other words, if they think that the President is not doing a good job, they can put up a vote of no confidence up which if passed would start new elections.

It is the Duma’s right to hear annual reports from the Government of the Russian Federation on the results of its work, including on issues raised by the State Duma.  The Duma has the ability to appoint and dismiss people as well; they include: the Chairman of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, the Chairman and half of the auditors of the Accounting Chamber, the Commissioner for human rights, who acts according to the federal constitutional law. The Duma does not have as much power in the impeachment of the President as the Federal Council, but they can in fact advance charges against the President of the Russian Federation for his impeachment.  The State Duma, much like the Federal council, can only form resolutions based on the majority vote, unless otherwise stated in the Constitution.

            Whenever a bill is proposed, even by the Federal Council, it has to go through the State Duma first.  If the majority of the Duma agrees on it, the Federal Council has fourteen days to place the bill on its calendar, based on the draft law.  Once the Duma approves of a bill, the Council cannot make changes to it, but can then decide to reject it.  If the Council rejects a bill passed by the Duma, they can form a commission to work out the bill and make a compromise. However, if a compromise cannot be reached, and the Duma wants to pass the bill as it is, then the Federal Council can be overridden, only if two thirds of the Duma’s vote is in favor of it.

Russia likes to argue that they are more democratic than America, because they offer more political choices for people to be part of.  It is true that people will have more areas to express their views on, but who has more power?  In almost all aspects of life, the majority rules and that does not exclude the world of politics.  According to current statistics, United Russia has the most seats in the State Duma taking up 315 out of the 450. Next follows the Communist party with 57, the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia having 40 seats, and that leaves Fair Russia with 38 seats.

It is believed that the key to United Russia’s success has been through former President Vladimir Putin.  He managed to do quite a bit of good, which caught the eyes of Russian citizens, such as: taking control over the oligarchs, and bringing the economy back from the grave by creating high prices on oil, gas, and raw materials.  Through these actions, Putin’s approval rating sky rocketed and gained many supporters. United Russia has 315 out of 450 seats in the State Duma, but on the federal council, they only have informal influence, as it is illegal for political parties to take part in decision making.  As of April 2008, party membership was at 1.98 million and about thirty percent of the Russian population are loyalists.

The party’s platform includes ideals that would be greatly welcomed in any society.  Their goal is to unite the political powers of the country, aiming to minimize the differences between rich and poor, young and old, state, business and society.  The economy ideally should join together state regulation and market freedoms, with the benefits of further growth distributed for the most part to the less fortunate.  They emphasizes pragmatism and anti-radicalism, and regard themselves to be one of the heirs to Russia's tradition of statehood, both tsarist and communist.

The Communist party of the Russian Federation is seen as the successor from the Soviet Union, however, many of its ideologies have changed.  The leader is Gennady Zyuganov, and is a deputy of the State Duma. Officially, they idealize patriotism, Marxism-Leninism, left-wing nationalism, and Communism. A major change is that they celebrate Joseph Stalin’s birthday, and in fact on the 21 December 2010, Zyuganov,  called for the "re-Stalinization" of Russian society in an open letter to President Dmitry Medvedev.  They no longer support atheism, and are agree that it’s fine to allow people to worship how and who they want.  According to the Russian Federal Registration Service, 164,546 voters have registered with the government as members of the current Communist party.

The Liberal Democratic Party of Russia was founded in 1991, and since then has been led by Vladimir Zhirinovsky. The party’s ideals lie in Russian nationalism, Pan-Slavism, Corporatism, National Conservatism, and Imperialism.  They oppose the views of the Communists, and of Capitalism from the 1990s that made all of Russia’s reforms.  On an official note it describes itself as a centrist, pro-reform democratic party which calls for a mixed economy and a revival of Russia's great power status. The party’s platform takes a look back at what Russia once was, and wants to restore its “natural borders,” which include Belarus, Ukraine, and other soviet borders.  They see the United States and other Western civilization as an external threat, and suggest that they should take the side of the Islamists in the fight against the United States.  They do believe that ethinic Russians in the Baltic States should be given Russian citizenship, so they can be protected from discriminatory legislature.  This party claims 600,000 members, and as of 2008, only four percent of the population are loyalists.

Fair Russia is a social democratic political party, and was formed in October 2006 as a merger of Rodina, the Russian Party of Life, and the Russian Pensioners' Party.  The leader of the party is Sergey Mironov, who is also the chairman of the Federal Council.  It is known that this party wants to challenge United Russia, however, it supported Vladimir Putin, and Dmitri Medvedev in the recent election.  Mironov believes that the creation of Fair Russia provides a two-party system, which will help to keep an eye on United Russia’s dominant stand in the Duma’s proceedings.  After the last presidential election, Mironov claims that Fair Russia will no longer support any candidate or nominee from United Russia, but will be putting in their own nominee for the 2012 election.  Fair Russia contains over 400,000 members, and is the largest party among the leftists.

Russia’s political structure is a complex system full of many different beliefs and ideologies.  I believe that it is safe to say that the powers among the president, the prime minster, and the Federal Assembly are not divided evenly.  Whether or not this democratic system will hold until the end of time is impossible to say regarding all of Russia’s political past. The heart of this political system, whether that be the president or the prime minister is currently holding a steady beat, and all of its branches pulling their own weight, even if it is tilted slightly in one direction.  One can only hope for the body to keep on fueling good decisions, to better help the smaller bodies it rules over.

Bibliography

"Communist Party of the Russian Federation." 2011. Web. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communist_Party_of_the_Russian_Federation>.

Russian Federation. About Us. , Web. 29 Mar 2011. <http://www.spravedlivo.ru/international/party_english/english_foreword/>.

Russian Federation. Constitution of the Russian Federation. Rossiiskaya Gazeta, 1993. Web. 19 Mar 2011. <http://www.constitution.ru/en/10003000-01.htm>.

Russian Federation. Prime Minister, Web. 19 Mar 2011. <http://www.premier.gov.ru/eng/>.

"United Russia." 2011. Web. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Russia>.