Political system of Russia

Political system of Russia

In terms of constitutional law , Russia's political system is primarily laid down in the Constitution of December 12, 1993 , in the Federation Treaty of April 10, 1992 and individual laws such as those relating to the Constitutional Court.

Constitutional classification and designation

There is no unanimous opinion about the correct name for the Russian system of government.

In Article 1 of the Constitution, Russia is referred to as a “democratic federal constitutional state with a republican form of government”.

Klaus von Beyme classifies it as a complicated parliamentary-presidential hybrid form. It corresponds to the semi-presidential form of the parliamentary system of government , but also contains elements of the presidential system of government based on the model of the USA or the Fifth French Republic.

There is a “gaping world” between the claim of the constitution and the real constitutional reality; Further characterizations are therefore: patronal presidentialism, hegemonic presidentialism, network state, dual state , Russian system, electoral monarchy, constitutional electoral autocracy, delegative , illiberal , electoral, halved, manipulated, controllable, controlled or defective democracy , systemless system, hybrid system or regime or system Putin .

Margareta Mommsen shows that even the highest officials do not have a “clear understanding of the constitution”. Dealing with the constitution is pragmatic, the “practiced authoritarianism” is justified as a necessary provisional solution (“rule by hand control” according to Putin's statement). According to Petra Stykow , none of the current interpretations and categories of comparative government doctrine fit the Russian constitution, since the Russian president is already constructed as an institution beyond the three state powers under the constitution. According to William Partlett, it is a "separation of powers without checks and balances" .

In the self-perception of some Russian politicians and academics, the political system was sometimes critically, sometimes affirmatively referred to as “sovereign democracy”, an expression that Vladislav Surkov is said to have coined in 2006 during Putin's second term. The term was used affirmatively to characterize Putin's understanding of the state as early as 2005.

Head of state

The head of state is the President of Russia . He is elected in a popular election , i.e. directly by the eligible population, for six years (up to the 2008–2012 legislature for four years). The post of president is allowed by the same person for more than two parliamentary terms are successively occupied. However, after an interruption, the former president may run again. The office of vice-president existed in Russia from 1990 to 1993, but was abolished with the entry into force of the 1993 constitution.

legislative branch

The legislature in the Russian system of government is exercised through the Federation Assembly. This in turn consists of two chambers: the Federation Council as the upper house and the directly elected State Duma as the lower house .

In the Federation Council there are two representatives from each federation subject , one from the executive and one from the legislature of the subject. Up until a legislative reform in 2000, the respective heads of the regional executive and legislative branches represented their subjects in the Federation Council, since then they have been gradually replaced by specially appointed representatives. The length of the term of office of the representatives corresponds to the length of the legislative period of the institutions they represent.

The Duma is made up of MPs for whom a mixed system of proportional and majority voting ( trench voting system ) applies until the 2003 election and again since the 2016 election . In between there was a proportional representation system. The Duma legislative period is five years. Its function is to pass laws, each law having to be approved by the Federation Council and signed by the President as proposed by the Duma. If the Federation Council has vetoed the passing of a law, the Duma can still pass it if it confirms it with at least two thirds of the votes of the MPs. A presidential veto can only be overcome with repeated confirmation of the law by the respective two-thirds majority in both the Duma and the Federation Council.

executive

The executive power lies with the government of the Russian Federation , whose key departments are, however, directly subordinate to the president.

The Prime Minister of Russia - also known as the Prime Minister or the Chairman of the Government - is the head of government. It is proposed by the President and has to be approved by the Duma. If the Duma rejects a candidate even after three votes, or if it gives the government a vote of no confidence , the president can dissolve it by decree and order early new elections.

In addition to the Prime Minister, the government consists of his deputies, known as the Vice Prime Minister, and ministers. Subordinate to the government is the state executive system consisting of ministries, federal services and federal agencies.

Judiciary

The top judicial institutions in Russia are the Constitutional Court , the Supreme Court and the Higher Arbitration Court . Their judges are confirmed by the Federation Council on the proposal of the President. The Russian system of ordinary jurisdiction is subordinate to the Supreme Court, and the system of arbitration to the Supreme Arbitration Court . The constitutional courts of the federal subjects are not part of the federal system of jurisdiction. The public prosecutor's office is also part of the judiciary in Russia , although it is not part of the federal judiciary system and, according to the constitution, enjoys independence from all other power structures. The Public Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation stands above the public prosecutor's office. Its chairman, the Attorney General , is confirmed by the Federation Council on the proposal of the President.

Since August 2013, the highest commercial court has been merged with the highest ordinary court, in fact subordinate. For analysts, this "weakened the more reliable pillar of the Russian judiciary".

Formal comparison with other systems of government

The Russian one essentially differs formally from the classic presidential system (example: USA ) in the presence of a prime minister as head of government, who is subordinate to both the president and parliament in forming and exercising government.

Although the offices of president and prime minister exist side by side, as in the semipresidential system , the Russian variant differs from the classic semipresidential system (example: France ) in that the legitimation and control of the government by parliament (vote of no confidence) is generally weaker: According to the constitution, the president always has the option of appointing a prime minister in a manner deviating from the will of parliament and, if he is reluctant, to dissolve parliament. According to Article 83 of the Constitution, the President, with the consent of the State Duma, appoints the Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation and decides on the question of the resignation of the Government. According to Article 84, he can dissolve the State Duma in the cases and according to the procedure provided for in the Constitution of the Russian Federation. Article 111 provides that if the President of the State Duma has rejected his proposed candidacies three times, he can appoint the President of the Government of the Russian Federation, dissolve the State Duma and call new elections. Under Article 117, the President of the Russian Federation can make a decision on the dismissal of the Government of the Russian Federation. The government must then continue to operate according to his instructions until a new government is appointed.

literature

• Margareta Mommsen : The Russian political system. In: Wolfgang Ismayr (Ed.): The political systems of Eastern Europe. VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, 3rd edition. Wiesbaden 2010, p. 465ff.
• Angelika Nussberger : Constitutional and administrative law. In: Angelika Nussberger (Ed.): Introduction to Russian law. Verlag CH Beck , Munich 2010, ISBN 978-3-406-48391-2 , p. 19ff.
• Eberhard Schneider: The political system of the Russian Federation. An introduction. VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, 2nd edition. Wiesbaden 2001.

Web links

• http://www.constitution.ru/de/ - Constitutional text in German
• Federal Agency for Civic Education: Dossier Russia - Political System

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Chapter l. Basics of the constitutional order | The Constitution of the Russian Federation. In: www.constitution.ru. Retrieved August 10, 2018 . 
2. ↑ [e-mail]: Federation Treaty (Russian Federation, 1992). In: www.verfassungen.net. Retrieved December 3, 2016 . 
3. ↑ Hans-Joachim Lauth: Political Systems in Comparison: Formal and Informal Institutions in the Political Process . Walter de Gruyter, 2014, ISBN 978-3-486-77906-6 ( google.de [accessed on December 3, 2016]).
4. ↑ Chapter l. Basics of the constitutional order | The Constitution of the Russian Federation. In: www.constitution.ru. Retrieved December 3, 2016 . 
5. ↑ Klaus von Beyme: The parliamentary democracy: emergence and functioning 1789-1999 . Springer-Verlag, 2013, ISBN 978-3-658-03517-4 , pp. 37, 85 ( google.de [accessed on December 3, 2016]).
6. ↑ Manfred Quiring: Putin's Russian World: How the Kremlin Divides Europe, page 16, Ch.Links Verlag 2017, ISBN 978-3-86153-941-4
7. ^ Henry E. Hale: Regime Cycles. Democracy, Autocracy, and Revolution in Post-Soviet Eurasia. In: World Politics. 58, October 2005, p. 138.
8. ↑  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives ) wpsa.research.pdx.edu ( Memento of the original from December 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
9. ↑ zeitschrift-ip.dgap.org
10. ↑ zeitschrift-osteuropa.de
11. ↑ Jonas Grätz: Russia as a global economic player: resources for action and strategies of the oil and gas companies . Walter de Gruyter, 2013, ISBN 978-3-486-72978-8 ( google.de [accessed on December 3, 2016]).
12. ↑ Ellen Bos, Margareta Mommsen, Silvia von Steinsdorff: The Russian Parliament: School of Democracy? Springer-Verlag, 2013, ISBN 978-3-663-09553-8 ( google.de [accessed on December 3, 2016]).
13. ↑ Jörn Knobloch: Hybrid systems: political practice and theory using the example of Russia . LIT Verlag Münster, 2006, ISBN 3-8258-9602-1 ( google.de [accessed on December 3, 2016]).
14. ↑ Margareta Mommsen, Angelika Nussberger: The Putin system: controlled democracy and political justice in Russia . CH Beck, 2007, ISBN 978-3-406-54790-4 ( google.de [accessed on December 3, 2016]).
15. ↑ Federal Agency for Civic Education: Constitutional Order versus Political Reality | bpb. In: www.bpb.de. Retrieved December 3, 2016 . 
16. ^ Petra Stykow: Russia. In: Hans-Joachim Lauth: Political Systems in Comparison: Formal and Informal Institutions in the Political Process . Walter de Gruyter, 2014, ISBN 978-3-486-77906-6 , p. 303 ( google.de [accessed on December 3, 2016]).
17. ↑ A Russian Constitutional Revolution | Brookings Institution . In: Brookings . ( brookings.edu [accessed December 3, 2016]).
18. ↑ Surkov's “Sovereign Democracy” - Formula for a special Russian path? by Margareta Mommsen, Munich http://www.laender-analysen.de/russland/pdf/Russlandanalysen114.pdf
19. ↑ О политической философии Владимира Путина. Retrieved February 26, 2017 . 
20. ↑ Sovereign Democracy . In: д ekoder | DECODER | Journalism from Russia in German translation | . December 4, 2015 ( dekoder.org [accessed February 26, 2017]).
21. ↑ Gesine Dornblüth: Small losses for democratic paint
22. ^ Growing doubts about Russia's justice system , NZZ, October 10, 2014.
23. ↑ Chapter 6. Government of the Russian Federation | The Constitution of the Russian Federation. Retrieved February 26, 2017 .