According to topschoolsintheusa, the political system of the Russian Federation is based on democratic principles: the principle of separation of powers into legislative, executive and judicial; The Constitution enshrined ideological and political pluralism, multi-party system, equality of citizens before the law, rights and freedoms of man and citizen in accordance with generally accepted principles and norms of international law.
Russia is a secular state. Religious associations are separated from the state and are equal before the law. RF is a presidential republic. State power in Russia is exercised by the president of the Russian Federation, the bicameral parliament – the Federal Assembly, the government of the Russian Federation and the courts of the Russian Federation.
The head of state is the president, elected by popular vote for a term of 4 years. At the same time, the Constitution stipulates that the same person cannot hold the office of President of the Russian Federation for more than two consecutive terms.
The President occupies a central place in the system of government bodies of the Russian Federation. According to the Constitution, it determines the main directions of the country’s domestic and foreign policy. In some cases, the president may perform functions that are normally performed by the legislature and judiciary. As head of state, the president is the guarantor of the observance of the Constitution, the rights and freedoms of citizens. He has a leading role in the appointment of senior officials of the Russian Federation. The president, with the consent of the lower house of parliament, appoints the chairman of the government of the Russian Federation; on the proposal of the Prime Minister, appoints his deputies and federal ministers. The President also appoints and dismisses the high command of the Armed Forces, heads of other power structures, diplomatic representatives of the Russian Federation abroad, plenipotentiary representatives of the president in the federal districts, forms and heads the Security Council of the Russian Federation, forms the presidential administration. The President submits candidates for appointment by the Parliament of the Chairman of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, judges of the Constitutional, Supreme and Higher Arbitration Courts of the Russian Federation, the Prosecutor General of the country. The President has the right to dissolve the lower house of parliament in cases provided for by the Constitution, to set a date for a national referendum, elections to the lower house of parliament, both regular and early. The President acts as an arbiter in disputes between state authorities of Russia and the constituent entities of the Federation, between authorities of the constituent entities of the Federation. In the absence of a legislative framework regulating certain aspects of public life, the president has the right to issue decrees, having the force of law until the relevant regulations are adopted by Parliament. The President has the right to veto laws passed by the Federal Assembly, after which they are submitted for re-consideration by Parliament. The President of the Russian Federation may be removed from office in the manner prescribed by the Constitution of the country.
The supreme body of the representative and legislative power of the Russian Federation is the Parliament – the Federal Assembly, consisting of two chambers: the lower – the State Duma and the upper – the Federation Council.
The State Duma, elected by popular vote for a term of 4 years, consists of 450 deputies. Its main function is the adoption of laws of the Russian Federation. The jurisdiction of the State Duma includes: giving consent to the President of the Russian Federation for the appointment of the Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation, resolving the issue of confidence in the Government of the Russian Federation, appointing and dismissing the Chairman of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, the Chairman of the Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation and half of its auditors, appointing and dismissing the position of the Commissioner for Human Rights, the announcement of an amnesty, the filing of charges against the President of the Russian Federation to remove him from office.
The State Duma may be dissolved by the President of the Russian Federation in cases provided for by the Constitution of the country, which are associated with a refusal to approve the candidate proposed by the President for the post of Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, as well as with the rejection of a vote of confidence proposed by the Government and the expression of a vote of no confidence in the Government. In accordance with the law, deputies of the State Duma may create deputy associations – factions and deputy groups.
The Federation Council represents the interests of the regions of the Russian Federation. It is formed according to the principle of 2 members of the upper house from each subject of the Federation. The Federation Council without fail considers laws adopted by the State Duma on issues of the federal budget, federal taxes and fees, financial, currency, credit, customs regulation, money emission, ratification and denunciation of international treaties of the Russian Federation with other states, the status and protection of the state border of the Russian Federation, war and peace.
The exclusive competence of the Federation Council includes: approval of borders between the subjects of the Russian Federation, approval of decrees of the President of the Russian Federation on the introduction of martial law and a state of emergency on the territory of the country, resolving the issue of the possibility of using the Armed Forces of the country outside the territory of the Russian Federation, calling elections of the President of the Russian Federation, dismissal of the President of the Russian Federation from office, appointment of the Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation, judges of the Constitutional, Supreme and Higher Arbitration Courts of the Russian Federation, the Deputy Chairman and half of the auditors of the Accounts Chamber. The current regulations of the Federation Council do not provide for the creation of factions on the basis of a party principle. The influence of the political preferences of members of the Federation Council (the name “senators” is also common) on the political position of the upper house of parliament is noticeably lower than in the State Duma.
Parliament plays a limited role in the political life of Russia. This is explained by the fact that the Parliament, according to the Constitution, is practically devoid of control functions.
The electoral system of the Russian Federation. Citizens of Russia have the right to participate in elections of government bodies from the age of 18. The minimum age for being elected to the authorities is established by the relevant legislative acts. Thus, the President of Russia cannot be younger than 35 years old, a deputy of the State Duma – younger than 21 years old. In addition, the law establishes the age limit of 65 years, at which a citizen can participate in elections as a candidate for the presidency of the Russian Federation.
The State Duma is elected by a mixed, proportional-majority system. Half of the deputies (225 people) are elected according to a proportional system – according to party lists. Until the 1999 elections, inclusive, political parties and electoral blocs, which included political parties and public associations, participated in voting on party lists.
Starting with the 2003 parliamentary elections, electoral blocs are only allowed if they must include at least one political party. In the future, it is planned to grant the exclusive right to participate in elections only to political parties. In elections based on party lists, seats in the State Duma are given to parties and blocs that receive at least 5% of the votes. From the Duma elections in 2007, the percentage barrier will be raised to 7%. Elections are considered valid if St. 50% of registered voters. The other half of the deputies are elected in single-mandate districts, the boundaries of which are determined by the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation. Groups of citizens and political parties have the right to nominate candidates for deputies of the State Duma. The law also allows self-nomination of candidates.
Elections of deputies in single-mandate constituencies are held in one round. The winner is the candidate who receives a simple majority of votes. At the same time, the number of votes given for the winner must not be less than the number of voters who took part in the elections and voted against all candidates. The principle of formation of the Federation Council since 1993 has changed three times. Between 1993 and 1995, the upper house of parliament consisted of senators directly elected by the population of the subjects of the Federation. Since 1995, the chamber has been formed on the principle of representation in it of the heads of the subjects of the Federation and the chairmen of the regional parliaments (Legislative Assemblies) of the subjects of the Federation.
In 2000, the principle of forming the upper house was changed again. Senators began to be delegated by the head of the executive branch of the subject of the Federation and the regional parliament. At the same time, the replacement of the former composition of the members of the Federation Council was carried out gradually as re-elections were held in the constituent entities of the Federation. The transition to the new system of formation of the Federation Council was fully completed by January 2002. Under current legislation, the term of office of senators corresponds to the terms of office of the body of power of the subject of the Federation that delegated them, which has the right to recall a member of the Federation Council if its actions do not properly correspond to the interests of the region.
The President of the Russian Federation is elected by universal suffrage. Groups of citizens and political parties have the right to nominate presidential candidates. At the same time, in order for a candidate to be officially admitted to participate in the elections, at least 1 million signatures of citizens in his support must be collected. In order for the elections to be recognized as valid, more than 50% of the list of voters must participate in them. The winner is the candidate who receives more than half of the votes of the voters who took part in the voting. If in the 1st round none of the candidates could achieve this result, then the 2nd round is appointed, in which the two candidates who received the most votes in the 1st round take part. The candidate who receives more than 50% of the votes of the voters who took part in the 2nd round becomes the President.
The executive power of the Russian Federation in accordance with the current Constitution is exercised by the Government of the Russian Federation. However, the Constitution does not state that the government is the highest executive authority in the country. This is due to the fact that the President of the Russian Federation performs the most important functions of the federal executive power. The Government of Russia ensures the operational management of the national economy by pursuing a unified financial, credit and monetary policy. The government develops and submits to the State Duma the federal budget and ensures its execution. The Government of the Russian Federation is appointed by the President of Russia and resigns before the newly elected head of state. The government of the Russian Federation can also be dismissed if the president of the Russian Federation agrees either with a vote of no confidence passed to the government by the State Duma, or with the fact that
The head of government is its chairman (the term “prime minister” often appears in the literature), who is appointed to the position by the president and approved by the State Duma. The Prime Minister submits proposals on the structure of executive power and the composition of the government for approval by the President of the Russian Federation. The government, engaged in the operational management of the national economy, performs the functions of a center for coordinating the most important economic interests. The effective performance of these functions under the leadership of a strong prime minister provides a significant weight of the government as a body of power in the political life of the country.
The system of power at the level of subjects of the Federation is characterized by significant differences. The Federal Law “On the General Principles of Organization of Legislative (Representative) and Executive Bodies of State Power of the Subjects of the Russian Federation” (1999) formulates only basic approaches to the organization of the system of local authorities. As for the rest, the subjects of the Federation, on the basis of their constitutions and charters, themselves determine the system of authorities. In all subjects of the Russian Federation, citizens living in their territories by direct universal suffrage elect the highest official of the subject of the Federation – the governor (for territories, regions, autonomous regions, autonomous districts), the president (for republics within the Russian Federation), who forms the executive power in the region. In some subjects
Federation, the positions of the head of the subject of the Federation and the head of the executive branch are separated.
The highest officials of the subjects of the Federation are elected for a term of 4 or 5 years. In 2000, a legislative mechanism for federal intervention was created to remove them from office in case of systematic violation of federal laws. However, this mechanism has not yet been applied in practice. In the overwhelming majority of subjects of the Federation, legislative bodies (regional parliaments) in the 1990s. formed on the basis of the majoritarian electoral system. Only in some subjects of the Federation there was a mixed proportional-majority electoral system. However, in connection with the changes made to federal laws in 2001-02 aimed at strengthening the multi-party system, from 2005 it is planned to carry out a transition to a mixed electoral system in the elections of Legislative Assemblies of regions in all subjects of the Federation.
For regional political systems, as well as for the political system of Russia, an imbalance in the relationship between the executive and representative authorities in favor of the institution of the governor (president of the republic) is characteristic. This ensures the dominance of the executive power in political processes in the subjects of the Federation. After the creation of federal districts and the establishment of the institution of presidential plenipotentiaries, who are entrusted with coordinating the work of all local authorities, the process of state building at this level began. An institute of chief federal inspectors was created to oversee the work of government bodies in specific subjects of the Federation. Federal government bodies began to form their own district structures.
