Explanations For The Strength Of The President Of Russia

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It appears that throughout history, the Russian Federation has always possessed strong leaders: even now, in an attempt to at least imitate democracy, a convincing argument states that the president of Russia possesses wide-ranging powers. Yet, it is not always clear as to what it is that makes the president so strong within the Russian system of governance, which is the core topic of this essay. However, before commencing this type of research, it is necessary to define the type of governmental system within which Russia operates. Only then would it be plausible to assess the potential explanations for the strength of the president of Russia. This investigation assesses those arguments which appear to be most convincing; namely, the constitutional …show more content…

However, Colton and Skach (2005) go further than this definition arguing that Russia is a subtype of presidentialism coined ‘divided minority government’, with its defining characteristic being that neither the president nor the prime minister possess the legislative majority. Thus, tensions between the president and the prime minister are inherent in such systems. This was clearly the case in Russia when Yeltsin, the first ever elected president of the Russian Federation, proposed a new constitution in 1993 following the collapse of the Soviet Union in order to break with its authoritarian-like laws. During the 1990s, both the president and the chairman of the Supreme Soviet (in this case possessing similar qualities to that of a prime minister) “treated the government apparatus as beholden to them” (Colton and Skach, p.118), initiating opposing legislative proposals. Therefore, it would appear plausible to define the Russian system of the 1990s as a ‘divided minority government’. The tensions that had built between Yeltsin and the parliament resulted in the former using force to dissolve a democratically elected parliament and later implement the new constitution, as well as extensive powers to the president, and potentially leading to a constitutional dictatorship. (Colton and Skach,