Legislative

Under the provisions of the 1993 constitution, Russia’s national legislature, the Federal Assembly, is composed of a two-chamber body, the State Duma (lower chamber) and the Council of the Federation (upper chamber). The Council of the Federation is composed of 166 members, two representatives from each of the 83 administrative units that make up the Russian Federation. These two representatives are the local executive and legislative heads of each unit.

The State Duma has 450 members. Voters elect the Duma members by casting a vote for a specific party listed on the ballot; these seats are then divided among the qualifying parties by proportional representation.

Judiciary

The highest judicial body in Russia is the Constitutional Court, The court’s mandate is to rule on the constitutionality of legislative and executive actions, and its members. There are two other high courts; the Supreme Court, which rules on civil, criminal, and administrative law; and the Supreme Arbitration Court, which handles economic suits. Judges for all three courts are appointed by the president and approved by the upper house of the legislature.

Political Parties

Since the late 1980s the political scene in Russia has undergone a dramatic change from a single-party, totalitarian state to a chaotic, fractious, multiparty democracy. The Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) has been replaced by hundreds of political groupings, factions, movements, and parties that span a wide political spectrum from monarchists to Communists.

Russia’s political parties can be divided into three general categories; Communist or nationalist parties; reformist, or pro-market democratic parties; and centrist or special interest parties

Local Government

Russia is composed of 83 administrative divisions, including republics, krays (territories), okrugs (national areas), an autonomous region, oblasts (districts), and the cities of Moscow and Saint Petersburg, which have federal status and their own local government.