Which Is Predominant in Russian Politics: the Prime Minister or the President - Essay Example

WHICH IS PREDOMINANT IN RUSSIAN POLITICS: THE PRIME MINISTER OR THE PRESIDENT? By of the of the of the School City, State 9 May 2014 Introduction Russia is the world’s largest nation; it sits on the continents of Asia and Europe and has 11 time zones (Jenkins, 2006). Russian politics take place within a federal presidential system of government. The Global Investment and Business Centre Staff asserts that as per the “Constitution of Russia, the President of Russia is the head of state, and of a multi-party system with executive power exercised by the government, headed by the Prime Minister, who is appointed by the President with parliament’s approval” (1999, p. 33). A lot of legally binding by-laws in Russia are issued by the President and the government, although legislative power is vested in the two Federal Assembly chambers. It can be said that Russia has a weak multiparty political system and a strong presidential system. The presidential system is however not entirely pure, since the president is responsible to the State Duma. Additionally, the nation cannot be classified as a parliamentary political system, because the President has a predominant position in the nation’s politics. Between the President and the Prime Minister, the President dominates Russian politics. This paper is a discussion on how the President dominates Russian politics over the Prime Minister by looking at the nation’s political system, the powers of the President, the powers of the Prime Minister, the presidential government system and events taking place to date and reflecting on them. The Russian Political System The Russian political system comprises of the executive, the legislature and the judiciary. Among the three branches, the executive branch has the most power. The executive: In Russia, the power of the executive is divided between the President and the Prime Minister. The president is however a dominant figure. According to Hahn, “the president of the Russian Federation is the head of state and supreme commander-in-chief of the Russian Federation Armed Forces” (1996, p. 284). He is responsible for determining the basic guidelines followed in both domestic and foreign policies. Presidential elections take place after every six years though prior to 2008, they took place after every four years. The president has powers to appoint the Prime Minister with authority from the State Duma, dissolve the Duma and call for other Duma elections, issue directives and officially confirm wars and states of emergencies, sign and authorize all legislative acts and appoint “justices for the Constitutional Court and Supreme Court” (Hahn, 1996, p. 284). The legislature: This consists of the Russian parliament, which is divided into the State Duma and the Council of the Federation. Altogether, the parliament is known as the Federal Assembly. The Council of the Federation is the upper house of the Russian parliament, while the State Duma is the lower house. The Federation Council has a total of 178 members who come from each of Russia’s 89 units (Hahn, 1996). The Federation Council has powers to certify directives issued by the presidential on marital law and states of emergencies, discharge the president from office, elect justices for the Supreme Courts, plan presidential elections and decide upon the deployment of the Russian armed forces outside Russia’s borders (Hahn, 1996). The State Duma on the other hand has a total of 450 members; among them 225 members are elected in line with single member districts, while the other 225 are elected on the basis of equal representation according to lists of political parties. The powers of the State Duma are issuing votes of confidence in the government, announcing amnesties, launching proceedings of impeachment against the president, approving the person elected as the prime minister by the president, introducing laws and endorsing budgets (Hahn, 1996). The judiciary: The Russian judiciary consists of “the Constitutional Court, which settles disputes about the constitution; the Supreme Court, which is the highest appellate court; and the High Court of Arbitration, which handles economic matters” (Hahn, 1996, p. 284). All the court justices are appointed by the president and approved by the Federation Council. Justices are immune from criminal charges and hence cannot be removed from office. The President In 1993, presidential power in Russia was increased; this gave the president authority over Russia’s armed forces and foreign policy (Smorodinskaya, Evans-Romaine and Goscilo, 2007). As mentioned earlier, the president has the power to dissolve the State Duma under specific circumstances, issue directives, make federal laws and call for a referendum. Smorodinskaya, Evans-Romaine and Goscilo (2007) point out that “the president also has power to legislate by decree, arbitrates disputes between federal bodies and the authorities of regional governments and can declare a state of emergency” (p. 477). The appointment of presidential representatives in Russia’s regions and nomination of judges is also done by the president. From this, it is clear that the Russian presidency is a challenging position with constitutional privileges and extensive powers. Due to the fact that the Russian president can direct policies and dominates the administrative units of Russia and the Federal Assembly in institutional terms, his position has been referred to as that of super presidency (Smorodinskaya, Evans-Romaine and Goscilo, 2007). Although there are three branches of government, the Russian president is elevated above them, making him appear like a fourth topmost branch, or in some sense, the chief branch. He is not answerable to anyone. The Prime Minister According to Danks, “Russia has not had a vice president since 1993 and in formal terms the prime minister holds the second most important post in the country” (2013, p. 130). As per the Russian Constitution, the president is the policy maker, while the prime minister is the executor. In other words, the president is the head of state, while the prime minister is the chief executive. Part of the inferiority of the prime minister to the president can be seen from the fact that he is appointed by the president and has to be confirmed by the State Duma, while the president is directly elected. Danks asserts that “this means that a prime minister does not necessarily have their own power base and there is also no requirement that they should be selected from the largest single party or a majority coalition in the Duma” (2013, p. 130). In other words, the prime minister together with other ministers in Russia helps the president formulate policies together with his advisers and is responsible for the day to day administrative activities in the nation. Additionally, he acts as an intermediary between the president and the Federal Assembly. The Presidential Government System in Russia During its final year under the rule of the Soviet Union, Russia had already established a system where the president was directly elected. Single leader dominance had however begun way before. White points out that “Brezhnev, when he became chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme soviet in 1977, was already being referred to in foreign capitals as president, or at least the first person in Soviet public life” (2011, p. 72). In June 1991, Boris Yeltsin became the first president of Russia and although not much authority was accorded to the president at the time, the powers were extended in 1993 (White, 2011). Under Yeltsin’s governance, the authority of the executive became independent from the legislature. Sakwa asserts that during the time, “many functions of the old legislature, including some of its committees and commissions, were incorporated into the presidential system, providing yet another massive impetus to the inflation of the presidential apparatus” (2008, p. 105). The Russian government is subordinate to the president such that it does not represent a parliamentary coalition or represent a majority party. In fact, it is responsible to the president who appoints it. Just like the Tsars who ruled Russia in ancient times, who had control of the executive and armed forces and were responsible for foreign policies, “the constitution (Article 80) grants the president control over four key areas: security, defence, home and foreign affairs” (Sakwa, 2008, p. 108). This makes the presidential system of government in Russia more like a duplicate government that shadows the roles of the various ministries. For the prime minister, he has no control over big ministries such as domestic security, rather, he only has control over his ministries and this control is only partial. In the policy process where laws are initiated and vetoed, the president plays a major role. Before the constitution extended the powers of the president in 1993, a civil war almost broke out in Russia as a result of a conflict that had ensued between the legislative and executive authorities. Sakwa supports that “a strong and largely irremovable president acts as the focus of stability, while the government is largely removed from the control of parliament” (2008, p. 108). To this day, the presidential system of governance has been modified several times to suit needs that arise from time to time. Strengths of the Russian Presidential Government The system is stable: National governments suffer instability when disagreements occur among the leading branches. The presidential system in Russia ensures that the national government is stable. Smith and Sharlet assert that in Russia, a presidential system of government was “seen as a centre of stability in a social order that had fragmented into numerous pre-modern contesting authorities, ranging from regional bosses, economic interests and mafia gangs” (2008, p. 8). Those against presidential systems of government argue that stability comes at the expense, “however, of a balance of powers between executive, legislative and judicial authority” (Batalden, 1997, p. 21). National stability and peace are however crucial over many other things. When crises, disasters and emergencies crop up, they can be swiftly and effectively dealt with by the president, without him having to seek the views of many, which may lead to delays in solving the issue. On top of this, the president is elected for a fixed term and cannot just be removed from office since removing him from office would mean bringing down an entire regime. The president is directly elected: As mentioned earlier, the president in Russia is directly elected and this does not need any confirmation like in the case of the prime minister, who after being appointed by the president, has to be confirmed by the State Duma. Due to the fact that direct election is done by the people, the authority of the president is seen as being more legitimate. Weaknesses of the Russian Presidential Government It is more of an authoritarian system: In situations where circumstances allow authoritarianism, presidential systems can become authoritarian. Additionally, due to the central authority that the president has, he tends to become a very influential figure in the media and society in general. This was the case in Russia during Yeltsin’s era. Authoritarianism can also be seen from the lack of people’s participation in law making and the lowered significance of the legislature. It is Rigid: When circumstances demand the removal of a president from office before his term ends, the situation becomes almost impossible. During Yeltsin’s era, there were accusations that his judgement was not sound in some circumstances; he took alcohol in excess and even admitted it himself, an issue that raised a lot of concern (White, 2011). The Future of Russia under the Presidential System of Government In recent years, there have been efforts to make Russia a democratic nation. However, the nation is just an electoral democracy and not a liberal democracy. For this reason, it cannot be termed as a fully democratic nation. Democracy is not strong and this can be attributed to the failure of the political system for its lack of institutions that support democracy. There are weaknesses and underdevelopment in Russia’s rule of law, civil society and party system. At both national and regional levels, the respective heads have too much power. A lot of crime and corruption which are vices that corrode democracy are present everywhere. Kuchins gives an example of the nation’s independent media, which although it was thriving in the 1990s, it came under more control of the state after the 1990s, especially during the reign of President Vladimir Putin (2002). Change in the Russian political culture, power structure and governmental institutions will not occur soon. To the west and the rest of the world, there are still a lot of questions regarding its system, even after the end of the totalitarian regime. Magstadt points out that “given centuries of despotism and centralized rule, the political culture necessary for liberal democracy to take root and flourish is too weak and the inertia of the past too strong” (2014, p. 200). There was a lot of hope in the 1990s that Russia would move from being authoritarian, but this did not become a reality. At the end of the twentieth century, the nation considered establishing a system where there is a president and a parliament and in which the constitution controls the powers of the president. However, today, the nation is neither democratic nor federal in the way it conducts its affairs. Conclusion From this discussion, it is clear that the president is predominant in Russian politics, a system that began centuries ago. The powers vested upon the Russian president were extended in 1993, when he was given authority over foreign policy and the armed forces. Among the three branches of government, the president occupies an elevated position and is hardly answerable to anyone. Reference List Batalden, Stephen K., 1997. The Newly Independent States of Eurasia: Handbook of Former Soviet Republics. Phoenix: The Oryx Press. Danks, C., 2013. Politics Russia. Oxon: Routledge. Global Investment and Business Center Staff, 1999. Russian Political Parties Directory. Washington DC: International Business Publications. Hahn, Jeffrey W. ed., 1996. Democratization in Russia: The Development of Legislative Institutions. New York: M. E. Sharpe, Inc. Jenkins, R., 2006. Russia. London: Evans Brothers Limited. Kuchins, Andrew C., 2002. Russia after the Fall. Washington Dc: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Magstadt, T., 2014. Understanding Politics: Ideas, Institutions, and Issues. Stamford: Cengage Learning. Sakwa, R., 2008. Russian Politics and Society. Oxon: Routledge. Smith, Gordon B. and Sharlet, Robert S. ed., 2008. Russia and Its Constitution: Promise and Political Reality. Leiden: Koninklijke Brill.   Smorodinskaya, T., Evans-Romaine, K. and Goscilo, H., 2007. Encyclopaedia of Contemporary Russian. Oxon: Routledge. White, S., 2011. Understanding Russian Politics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.       Read More