Political Russia is a young nation with a current political system that is less than 25 years old. It is the successor state to the USSR, a former world superpower. It is important to understand the history of past governments. They influence the current political system. Russia’s size and composition (83 federal ‘states’) make it a difficult country to govern which results in low scores on established and peer-reviewed indices for democracy and rule of law. However, Russia is still a world power, and because of its’ size, it maintains diplomatic ties across the world and wields a high level of diplomatic national power. As a country Russia would be described as politically neutral tending to hostile towards the United States. Power in Russia
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Government Structure
Outwardly, and according to its’ constitution Russia operates as a representative democracy. The actuality is the country is much more authoritarian when you use metrics to express freedoms.
Russia is a semi-presidential federation with three main branches of the central government. The executive branch is formed by a President, Prime Minister, and the executive cabinet. The Prime Minister and the cabinet are appointed by the President with approval of the legislature. The legislative branch is bicameral, with a 450 person ‘Duma’ and the 166 persons ‘Council’ (CIA factbook). The legislative branch is shaped as representative democracy. Russia is divided into 83 different federal subjects or ‘states’. They are organized and governed in slightly different manners and many are designated strictly for ethnic or religious minorities. The ‘states’ are then grouped into 8 federal districts that are administered by a presidentially appointed leader. This results in federal overreach into state rights and tight federal …show more content…
On an international level the country wields a significant amount of power that was left over from the USSR. Based off its’ physical size, available resources and military strength Russia has forced its’ way to a seat at the table of international relations. Russia is one of five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). As part of the UNSC Russia also gets a permanent presence at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), most often called ‘The Hague’. Interestingly, Russia does not submit or consent to ‘compulsory jurisdiction’ of the ICJ. There is not a separation of powers within the UN which means Russia can veto ICJ cases and avoid responsibility as a permanent member of the UNSC (World Justice Project). Russia maintains a diplomatic presence across the world. They are party to dozens of important international organizations including the G8, the Council of Europe, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, the Collective Security Treaty Organization (the commonwealth states along Russia’s border) and many more. Russia had also greatly improved ties with the United States and NATO through several programs and the NATO-Russia council. These ties have been strained by Russian aggressions in the Ukraine and their involvement in Syria. By diplomatically aligning themselves with China and the countries that form BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) they
Government Structure
Outwardly, and according to its’ constitution Russia operates as a representative democracy. The actuality is the country is much more authoritarian when you use metrics to express freedoms.
Russia is a semi-presidential federation with three main branches of the central government. The executive branch is formed by a President, Prime Minister, and the executive cabinet. The Prime Minister and the cabinet are appointed by the President with approval of the legislature. The legislative branch is bicameral, with a 450 person ‘Duma’ and the 166 persons ‘Council’ (CIA factbook). The legislative branch is shaped as representative democracy. Russia is divided into 83 different federal subjects or ‘states’. They are organized and governed in slightly different manners and many are designated strictly for ethnic or religious minorities. The ‘states’ are then grouped into 8 federal districts that are administered by a presidentially appointed leader. This results in federal overreach into state rights and tight federal …show more content…
On an international level the country wields a significant amount of power that was left over from the USSR. Based off its’ physical size, available resources and military strength Russia has forced its’ way to a seat at the table of international relations. Russia is one of five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). As part of the UNSC Russia also gets a permanent presence at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), most often called ‘The Hague’. Interestingly, Russia does not submit or consent to ‘compulsory jurisdiction’ of the ICJ. There is not a separation of powers within the UN which means Russia can veto ICJ cases and avoid responsibility as a permanent member of the UNSC (World Justice Project). Russia maintains a diplomatic presence across the world. They are party to dozens of important international organizations including the G8, the Council of Europe, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, the Collective Security Treaty Organization (the commonwealth states along Russia’s border) and many more. Russia had also greatly improved ties with the United States and NATO through several programs and the NATO-Russia council. These ties have been strained by Russian aggressions in the Ukraine and their involvement in Syria. By diplomatically aligning themselves with China and the countries that form BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) they