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On the federal level, Russia elects a president as head of state and a parliament, one of the two chambers of the Federal Assembly. The president is elected for, at most, two consecutive six-year terms by the people (raised from four years from December 2008).[1] The Federal Assembly (Federalnoe Sobranie) has two chambers. The State Duma (Gosudarstvennaja Duma) has 450 members, elected for five-year terms (also four years up to December 2008). The Federation Council (Sovet Federatsii) is not directly elected; each of the 89 federal subjects of Russia sends 2 delegates to the Federal Council, for a total of 208 (178 (delegates from regions) + 30 (Russian representatives), members.[2]
Since 1990, there have been seven elections for the presidency and seven for parliament. In the seven presidential elections, only once, in 1996, has a second round been needed. There have been three presidents, with Boris Yeltsin elected in 1991 and 1996, Vladimir Putin in 2000, 2004, 2012, 2018 and 2024, Dmitry Medvedev in 2008. The Communist candidate (of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union or the Communist Party of the Russian Federation) has finished second in every case: Nikolai Ryzhkov in 1991, Gennady Zyuganov in 1996, 2000 and 2008 and 2011, Nikolay Kharitonov in 2004 and Pavel Grudinin in 2018. Only in 1996 has there been a third candidate who gained more than 10% of the votes in the first round, Alexander Lebed.
In the parliamentary elections, the Communist Party was the largest party in the 1995 and 1999 elections, with 35% and 24% of the votes respectively. The Liberal Democratic Party of Russia has ranged from 5 to 15% of the votes, and Yabloko won 10% of the votes in 1995 and around 5% in the other three elections. The only other parties that have achieved more than 10% of the votes have been Democratic Choice of Russia with 16% in 1993, Our Home – Russia with 12% in 1995, and, in 1999, Unity with 23%, Fatherland – All Russia with 13% and People's Deputies Faction with 15%. United Russia, an alliance of Unity and Fatherland – All Russia, became the biggest party with 38% in 2003.
Elections in Russia have been criticized as unfair elections under Putin's rule. Political opponents have charges dug up and are jailed and repressed, independent media is intimidated and suppressed, and the elections have been claimed as fraudulent.[3][4][5][6][7] The Economist Democracy Index characterized Russia as authoritarian in 2022.[8] Russia was ranked 22nd least electoral democratic country in Asia according to V-Dem Democracy indices in 2023 with a score of 0.209 out of 1.[9][10]
- ^ "The This is no longer the case with Putins recent extension of a 3rd term. Constitution of the Russian Federation". Garant Service. Retrieved 14 February 2012.
- ^ "The Constitution of the Russian Federation". Garant Service. Retrieved 17 May 2019.
- ^ Levitsky, Steven; Way, Lucan A. (2010). Competitive Authoritarianism: Hybrid Regimes after the Cold War. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-139-49148-8.
- ^ Geddes, Barbara; Wright, Joseph; Frantz, Erica (2018). How Dictatorships Work: Power, Personalization, and Collapse. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-107-11582-8.
- ^ Gill, Graeme (2016). Building an Authoritarian Polity: Russia in Post-Soviet Times (hardback ed.). Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-107-13008-1.
- ^ Reuter, Ora John (2017). The Origins of Dominant Parties: Building Authoritarian Institutions in Post-Soviet Russia (E-book ed.). Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/9781316761649. ISBN 978-1-316-76164-9.
- ^ Frye, Timothy (2021). Weak Strongman: The Limits of Power in Putin's Russia. Princeton University Press. p. [page needed]. ISBN 978-0-691-21246-3.
- ^ "Democracy Index 2022: Frontline democracy and the battle for Ukraine" (PDF). Economist Intelligence Unit. 2023. p. 3.
- ^ V-Dem Institute (2023). "The V-Dem Dataset". Retrieved 14 October 2023.
- ^ Democracy Report 2023, Table 3, V-Dem Institute, 2023