politics in russia difficult transition from communism
TRANSCRIPT
Politics in Russia
Difficult transition from communism
Largest country in the world
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%
Legacies of the tsarist era
• A millennium of autocratic rule– hereditary monarchy– not constrained by a constitution
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
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
Soviet Union (USSR)
• Joseph Stalin– totalitarian regime– centralized political power– industrial and military might
• staggering human cost– collectivization– purges– World War II
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
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
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
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
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
The Yeltsin Constitution of 1993
• Yeltsin called a “presidential republic”
• President– is directly elected by
voters– can dissolve
parliament– can issue decrees
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
The Parliament
• Federal Assembly
• lower house– State Duma
• upper house– Federation Council
The Parliament
• submission of draft legislation to State Duma– by government– by president– or by members of the Federal Assembly
• individually or collectively
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
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
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
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
Constitutional Court
• judicial review by the Constitutional Court
• 19 members are– nominated by the president– confirmed by the Federation
Council
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
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
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