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The State Duma is the lower house of the Federal Assembly of Russia, with the upper house being the Federation Council. It was established by the Constitution of the Russian Federation in 1993.
The Duma headquarters are located in central Moscow, a few steps from Manege Square. Its members are referred to as deputies. The State Duma replaced the Supreme Soviet as a result of the new constitution introduced by Boris Yeltsin in the aftermath of the Russian constitutional crisis of 1993, and approved in a nationwide referendum.
In the 2007 and 2011 Russian legislative elections a full party-list proportional representation with 7% electoral threshold system was used, but this was subsequently repealed. The legislature's term length was initially 2 years in the 1993–1995 elections period, and 4 years in 1999–2007 elections period; since the 2011 elections the term length is 5 years.
After the 1907 electoral reform, the third Duma, elected in November 1907, was largely made up of members of the upper classes, as radical influences in the Duma had almost entirely been removed. The establishment of the Duma after the 1905 Revolution was to herald significant changes to the previous Russian Imperial autocratic system. Furthermore, the Duma was later to have an important effect on Russian history, as it was one of the contributing factors in the February Revolution of 1917, the first of two that year, which led to the abolition of the Tsarist autocracy in Russia and the overthrow of the Tsardom.
In the December 1993 elections pro-Yeltsin parties won 175 seats in the Duma versus 125 seats for the left bloc. The balance of power lay with the sixty-four deputies of the ultranationalist Liberal Democratic Party of Russia. Only parties that won more than five percent of the vote were given party-list seats: eight passed the threshold in 1993. In addition to those eight parties, a pool of thirty-five deputies was entitled to form a registered group to reflect regional or sectoral interests. Business was governed by a steering committee, the Duma Council, consisting of one person from each party or group. The most important task was dividing up the chair positions in the Duma's twenty-three committees, which was done as part of a power-sharing "package" deal.
Despite the fact that the Russian Constitution states that the State Duma is elected for four years, it was decided to elect the first State Duma for two years. The 1995 election resulted in a strong boost for the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, which became the first political party of Russia and elected 157 seats: a Communist, Gennady Seleznyov, was elected as Speaker of the State Duma. The "presidential party" Our Home – Russia won 55 seats.
During the second half of the 1990s, the Duma became an important forum for lobbying by regional leaders and businessmen looking for tax breaks and legislative favors. The work of the leading committees, such as those for defense, foreign affairs, or budget, attracted a good deal of media attention and lobbying activity.
After the 2003 elections, a dominant-party system was established with the newly formed pro-presidential United Russia party dominating. In all subsequent elections, United Russia has always received an absolute majority of seats (more than 226). During the presidency of Vladimir Putin, the State Duma became increasingly referred to as a rubber stamp, (2025). 9780415728300, Routledge. ISBN 9780415728300 with there being a shift to electoral authoritarianism.
After the 2007 elections, a four-party system was formed with a United Russia, Communist Party, Liberal Democratic Party and A Just Russia. Other parties could not get enough votes to go to the State Duma. Only in 2016 elections, two other parties, Rodina and the Civic Platform, were able to get one seat.
In 2008, after the adoption of amendments to the Constitution, the term of the State Duma was increased from four to five years.
In 2018, it became known that the State Duma building would be reconstructed. Repairs began in May 2019 and ended in September 2020. During this period, the State Duma was temporarily housed in the House of Unions. In addition, a draft of a new conference room, which would be an amphitheatre, was presented.
The State Duma adopts decrees on issues relating to its authority by the Constitution of the Russian Federation.
Relatively few recorded vote have been published that identify individual deputies' votes. The votes of individuals are recorded only if the voting is open and the electronic method is used. While not all votes are officially roll call votes, every time a deputy electronically votes a computer registers the individual deputy's vote.
Membership
Any citizen of the Russian Federation aged 21 or older who has the right to participate in elections may be elected as a deputy to the State Duma. However, that same person may not be a deputy to the Federation Council. In addition, a State Duma deputy cannot hold office in any other representative body of state power or bodies of local self-government. The office as deputy of the State Duma is a full-time and professional position. Thus, deputies to the State Duma may not be employed in the civil service or engage in any activities for remuneration other than teaching, research or other creative activities.
Chairmen of the State Duma
List of State Duma convocations
1st 12 December 1993 – 17 December 1995 1993 2nd 17 December 1995 – 19 December 1999 1995 3rd 19 December 1999 – 7 December 2003 1999 4th 7 December 2003 – 2 December 2007 2003 5th 2 December 2007 – 4 December 2011 2007 6th 21 December 2011 – 18 September 2016 2011 7th 5 October 2016 – 19 September 2021 2016 8th 12 October 2021 – present 2021
Historical composition
|-
| width="40" | 1993
|
{ width="100%" style="font-size:90%;"
|-
| width="40" | 1995
|
42 10 27 23 6 64 14 22 37 64
|-
| width="40" | 1999
|
157 45 3 18 55 9 1 20 9 51 5
|-
| width="40" | 2003
|
113 20 68 9 9 7 29 73 17
|-
| width="40" | 2007
|
52 4 6 3 17 3 2 223 36 37
|-
| width="40" | 2011
|
57 38 315 40
|-
| width="40" | 2016
|
92 64 238 56
|-
| width="40" | 2021
|
42 23 1 343 39 1
|}
57 27 2 13 324 21 1
Latest election
See also
Notes
External links
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