Politics of Russia

The politics of Russia function within the framework of a federal semi-presidential republic, as established by the Constitution of Russia. The President is head of state, and executive power is exercised by the government headed by the Prime Minister, who is appointed by the President with parliamentary approval. Legislative power is vested in the two houses of the Federal Assembly. Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union in late 1991, Russia has faced considerable difficulties in constructing a new political system to replace nearly seven decades of Soviet rule. Early on, leading figures in the legislative and executive branches clashed over the country’s political direction and the proper governmental instruments to pursue it. This conflict culminated in September and October 1993, when President Boris Yeltsin used military force to dissolve the parliament and called for new legislative elections, an event known as the Russian constitutional crisis of 1993. This crisis ended Russia’s first constitutional period, which had been defined by the heavily amended 1978 constitution of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic. A new constitution, which created a strong presidency, was approved by referendum in December 1993. Under this new framework and a parliament representing diverse parties, Russia’s political structure began to stabilize. As the transition continued into the mid-1990s, the national government’s power diminished as Russia’s regions extracted political and economic concessions from Moscow. However, following the election of Vladimir Putin as President in 2000, reforms were implemented to strengthen federal control, rolling back the gains made by the regions, including the 22 Republics. Putin has since become the dominant figure in Russia’s political system, pursuing economic reforms and strong foreign engagement, and has become the longest-serving Russian leader since Stalin. His policies are collectively referred to as Putinism. The Soviet inheritance shaped this trajectory: the RSFSR, as the largest Soviet republic, lacked certain institutions typical of other republics, such as its own communist party or academy of sciences. During perestroika and glasnost in the late 1980s, ethnic Russians began demanding distinct Russian institutions, leading to a revival of national identity. In 1990, the RSFSR asserted the primacy of its laws