russia terms Flashcards
asymmetric federalism
power is distributed unevenly across the country and its regions (russian central gov holds the vast majority of power. duma and federation council are super weak)
constitution of 1993
written by yeltsin after dissolving the parliament and caused bloody conflict. couldn’t be described as democracy at all, yeltsin gave a disproportionate amount of power to the president
powers of the constitutional court
rules over international treaties, problems with other branches of gov, civil rights violations, impeaching the president, abstract review (ruling on constitutional issues without a case), and concrete view (ruling on specific cases). Does not rule on criminal cases, does not play an “activist role”
powers of the duma
-initiates, accepts, and rejects legislation
-override presidential veto with 2/3rd vote
-approves PM appointment
-calls vote of no confidence on PM (but president can ignore)
-under Putin, these “powers” are theoretical
current duma election system
- 5 year terms
- half pluality system SMDs
- half proportional rep MMDs
- changed several times
powers of the federation council
- less powerful than duma
- approves bills for specific issues (examples: taxation and budget)
- can reject legislation, but duma can override
-theoretically… impeach president, reject president’s constitutional court appointments, declarations of war and martial law, and international treaties
glasnost and perestroika
political openness and economic restructuring. Gorbachev believed the Soviet Union would improve with these concepts
illiberal democracy/hybrid regimes
democratic on paper not in practice
oligarchs
the super-wealthy who got their money during the 1990s (shock therapy time) and have now been divested of their influence, imprisoned, or driven out
presidential election system
- “directly elected”
- nominated by a party in the duma
- if no candidate wins a majority in round one, the top two compete in a second round
features of presidential systems
- President is directly elected for a fixed term
- power over the cabinet and legislative process
- head of state + head of gov usually in one
- national symbol
- able to choose cabinet
- strong checks and balances
- higher likelihood of conflict between branches
rule of law
the law is applied evenly to everyone, nobody is exempt
shock therapy
- quickly dismantling central planning
- freeing up prices
- an attempt to inspire new businesses and competition
siloviki
- “men of power”
- origins in security agencies (like Putin)
united russia
- stability + conservatism
- nationalism
- restoring russia’s superpower status
- “traditional values”
- holds a supermajority in duma
- centered around Putin
