The first part of a two post series regarding Russia's political parties. This first part will tackle the four major parties that are currently represented in the Russian State Duma.
Background Information
Russia has a few similarities with the Ukrainian political system in some respects, but is different in a large number of ways as well. I'll be using Ukraine as a comparison foil in some cases since my last two posts were about Ukraine's recent parliamentary elections and it's still a bit fresh in my mind.
Russia is also a semi-presidential system with both a President and a Prime Minister.
Russia however has two houses of parliament making it a bicameral system (It is quite similar to the United States and the United Kingdom in this regard). It is composed of two chambers.
The State Duma (The equivalent to the Verkhovna Rada for Ukraine)
The Federation Council (An equivalent would be the Senate for the United States)
Russia's presidential system has been subject to changes in its recent thirty year history, with the most recent change being the terms of the presidency (It is currently a six year term from the formerly four years per term)
Russia's State Duma has legislative elections every five years (the most recent one occurring on 2016)
Similarly to Ukraine, Russia adopts a 50/50 split when it comes to allocating seats within the State Duma (A Mixed-Member Proportional System)
50% of seats are allocated via a proportional party list system with a 5% electoral threshold for representation.
50% of the seats are allocated via a First past the Post system for local constituencies.
Russia's Upper House (The Federation Council) is actually unelected and chosen by territorial politicians. There are also no party affiliations (officially) within the Federation Council, unlike the State Duma.
The Party of Power
United Russia (Единая Россия)
Stability, State and Corruption
2016 Duma Election Result: 54.2% (343 seats)
Party Chairman: Dmitry Medvedev
The party was officially founded on 2001 (as a merger of the Fatherland-All Russia and the Unity Parties). The ideology of the party has been described as a "catch-all national conservative party" with an emphasis on Russian nationalism, statism and maintaning political and economic stability. It had originally been created in the first term of Vladimir Putin as a force to support his policies within the legislative branch of the government. Due to this catch-all nature, it is a bit difficult to ascertain whether there is a specific ideology which it caters to (besides Russian statism and Putinism).
It does however does take some stances that are distinct for Russian politics, especially in terms of immigration. Both Putin and United Russia are quite heavily popular among ethnic minority republics in the country, especially in Dagestan and Tuva. The party (along with Putin) have been criticized of being too lenient and open towards migrants from Central Asia.
A clip from 2003 with Putin stating that Russians calling for “Russia for Russians” (a very ethnonationalist slogan) to be idiots or provocateurs.
As the party of government, United Russia has an overwhelming presence in the Duma along with regional parliaments around the country. The nature of Russia’s political system ever since the early 2000’s has almost entirely been a dominant party state. Sure, there might be opposition parties either sanctioned by the Kremlin (The Systemic Opposition) or frowned upon, but at the end of the day, United Russia has reigned supreme in the country’s political landscape. The party normally polled quite well (in a combination of genuine popularity, discouragement of opposition along with the occasional case of voter fraud) federally and in regional parliaments until the past few years.
Due to this, United Russia has the higher echelons of power within the country completely in her grasp, with the country’s Prime Minister (Dmitry Medvedev), Defense Minister (Sergey Shoygu) along with many others.
The party has been essentially tied to Putin both in political terms, along with the eyes of ordinary Russians. The successes of Putin are the successes of United Russia and vice versa. However, this effect goes the same for the failures of the state and of United Russia, which has been evident in the past few years.
However, Russia’s political scene as of late has made association with United Russia to be a severe disadvantage (when for years it was a must for those wishing to rise up the political ranks). After Putin announced unpopular pension reforms last year, along with slowing economic growth and unbridled corruption, United Russia has been reduced in popularity among the voting public leading to several losses in governors and in regional parliaments to pro-Kremlin opposition parties (The last time this occurred was in 2007). A new technocratic oriented political culture along with a possible shakeup in Russia’s official and unofficial governance structure could spell the end of United Russia as a party that Russians have been familiar with for years.
Bleeding candidates fast, United Russia is already ceasing to be the party of the authorities. The party doesn’t fit well into the technocratic-apolitical worldview of the presidential administration’s domestic policy bloc. - Andrey Pertsev (Carnegie Moscow Centre)
Many United Russia members have ran for recent elections, not under the banner of the party, but as independents in order to disassociate themselves from the unpopularity of the party. Time will tell if United Russia in its current form can survive the next few years and if it has the strength to carry on in some format in a post-Putin political landscape
The Systemic Eternal Opposition
Communist Party of the Russian Federation (Коммунистическая Партия Российской Федерации)
2016 Duma Election Result: 13.3% (42 seats)
First Secretary: Gennady Zyuganov
The second largest party in the State Duma, and the second most influential party in Russian politics. The Communist Party was founded in 1993 as the successor of the then defunct Communist Party of the Soviet Union in order to participate in legislative elections, as the Communist Party of the RSFSR was disbanded in 1991 under a decree by then President Yeltsin.
The current party's ideology is quite varied due to the existence of factions within the party itself, with some ranging from Marxist-Leninists, reformist Marxists to left wing nationalists. The party has also deviated in some cases when it comes to nationalism, as the CPRF has embraced nationalist rhetoric and policies in some form. One political analyst has described the party more as a "national-patriotic" force rather than a communist one which members of the CPSU (Communist Party of the Soviet Union) would be more familiar with.
It has several ideological differences with the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (Post-1954), notably its embrace of a more positive and less critical view of Josef Stalin. It has established a more positive relationship with the Russian Orthodox Church and other religious authorities and is quite socially conservative in comparison to other Communist parties in Europe and North America.
In terms of foreign policy, the CPRF is totally supportive of the Kremlin's actions, and in some cases have even voiced a stronger and more interventionist hand when it comes to areas such as Ukraine and other post-Soviet states. In fact, Zyuganov had called for the recognition of the two breakway rebel entities in Eastern Ukraine and the creation of a volunteer brigade to send to the area.
If I were in the place of the president, I would immediately accept Donbass [into Russia] - Gennady Zyuganov
Domestically, the party does toe the line that is quite familiar to those who have been exposed to modern day Communist parties, with state regulation, the imposition of a progressive income tax and other left wing economic policies. Demographically, it has been jokingly labeled as the "party of pensioners", as a substantial chunk of the Communist Party's electorate are over the age of 60. The party has tried to tap in with the younger electorate in the past few years as a result of the declining electorate to mixed success.
Due to multiple reasons, the Communist Party has been described one of the three "in system" opposition parties when it comes to federal politics within the Russian Federation. The party has given muted opposition when it comes to the policies imposed by Putin and United Russia (until recently), but has had bitter election conflicts with United Russia regionally (The elections in Primorksy Krai and Khakassia are examples of this in 2018).
...the Communist Party belongs to Russia’s so-called “systemic opposition,” parties which historically have put up little resistance to the Kremlin’s policies. - Evan Gorshkevich (Moscow Times)
The party is currently led by Gennady Zyuganov, a perennial candidate for almost all presidential elections in Russia ever since 1996, when the CPRF had a chance of regaining the presidency against Boris Yeltsin. (The 1996 election is still one fraught with controversy in Russian history). While it has languished as a tolerated opposition party, there seems to be a change and a possible chance for the CPRF (and for that matter other in system opposition parties such as the LDPR) to have an opportunity in a post-Putin political landscape to increase their influence, especially as they become more active within local and regional opposition politics.
The somewhat surprising performance of Pavel Grudinin (who ironically is a well off businessman), the CPRF's candidate for the 2018 Presidential Elections, along with Putin's implementation of unpopular pension reforms has led to an opening for the CPRF to gather the left-populist demographic in the future. If socio-economic discontent within the country rises, the Communists will take advantage of it, despite their current cooperation with the authorities.
The future will tell if the CPRF will stop being continuously pushed into the sidelines and become a genuine opposition party contrary to the Kremlin's wishes or continue languishing in its lame duck opposition position into the future.
Liberal Democratic Party Of Russia (Либерально-демократическая партия России)
2016 Duma Election Result: 13.1% (39 seats)
Leader: Vladimir Zhirinovsky
The third largest party in the State Duma, and the most overtly nationalist, the LDPR is actually the oldest of the four major parties represented in parliament. It was originally founded in April 1991, before the dissolution of the Soviet Union. There have been some rumours that the party was originally put into force by Soviet authorities to act as a spoiler for more genuine (and possibly more threatening) nationalist organizations such as Pamyat' and others.
The party in the modern day has been essentially tied to their leader and Russia's foremost perennial presidential candidate, Vladimir Zhirinovsky. Zhirinovsky has been the leader of the party since the 1990's and has participated in every presidential election. He has had a very colourful history and has been quite outspoken in Russian politics with his "interesting" remarks. This has made him the darling of ultranationalists in the country, along with those who find humour in his statements creating a small cult of personality around him. (Honestly I can write an entire article on his ridiculousness since it's sometimes jaw droppingly offensive or hilariously absurd)
With more than two decades at the helm of the first registered post-Soviet opposition party, Zhirinovsky is an institution of Russian political life. - Eva Hartog (Moscow Times)
Domestically, the party espouses an ethnonationalist and reactionary message, with Zhirinovsky calling for the restoration of Tsarist symbols along with the rejection of using foreign words within the Russian language. However, he has been quite compromising with the country's soviet past, calling for the return of Volgograd's Stalin era name, Stalingrad along with others.
One of Zhirinovsky’s more absurd public appearances consisted of this election advertisement.
The LDPR has also called for the disbandment of the current political structure of the Russian Federation and replace it with the old Imperial system of "governorates", making the country much more authoritarian and centralized. The party is however quite economically interventionist (a trend among right wing parties in Eastern Europe such as Law and Justice in Poland). The LDPR also calls for a the cessation of Article 282 on hate speech (Russia has surprisingly remarkably robust hate speech laws), something which many nationalists in Russia support abolishing.
In terms of foreign policy, Zhirinovsky has called for an end or a limitation of migration from Central Asian republics along with the "regathering" of traditionally ethnic Russian lands to create a "Greater Russia". During the 2018 Presidential Elections, he had claimed to support a return to the borders of the USSR in 1985 by demanding referendums in post-Soviet states.
I will protect Russians everywhere! - Vladimir Zhirinovsky (2018 Presidential Election)
As a result of Zhirinovsky's qualities, most voters in Russia see him and his party as a "protest joke" vote, with only diehard nationalists genuinely voting for the LDPR. The party (along with the CPRF) were much stronger during the 1990's but have over time submitted to the whims of the Kremlin in federal politics. Due to this, the party can be described as another of the "systemic opposition". It remains to be seen how successful the LDPR will be in the future as most of its popularity harkens to Zhirinovsky himself. His departure from politics will provide a test for the LDPR, whether it can transition from a party of personality to a party of ideas and maintain its relevance in Russia's political landscape.
A Just Russia (Справедливая Россия)
2016 Duma Election Result: 6.2% (23 Seats)
Leader: Sergey Mironov
The final major party in the State Duma is also the one I don't know much about unfortunately, and something that could not even be considered a "separate entity" from United Russia in a certain sense. However, I will do my best to cover it.
The party was originally founded in 2006 as a merger of several minor parties such as Rodina, the Russian Party of Life and the Russian Party of Pensioners. Over the years, other political parties have merged into the "Just Russia" umbrella such as the Russian Ecological Party. After Februrary 2012, the party had however lost the Russian Party of Pensioners and the Russian Ecological Party.
Ideologically, the party claims to be a "democratic socialist" party and is actually a member of the Socialist International and tries to collaborate with other socialist and social democratic organizations around the world. Some have described it as the "more left-wing" equivalent of United Russia designed to tap into the Communist Party's electorate in order to facilitate the creation of a two party system in the country, with United Russia taking the right and A Just Russia taking the left. However, subsequent events in the country's political landscape resulted in the creation of a de-facto one party state.
A Just Russia played the role of a “left-wing opponent” of United Russia—but not of Putin himself. - Vladimir Kara-Murza (Institute of Modern Russia)
Domestically, the party advocates more economically interventionist policies in terms of creating a welfare state, but still wishes to maintain a market economy (This makes the party one of the least interventionist parties in the Duma, barring the economically liberal factions in United Russia). Like the CPRF, it also wishes to replace Russia's flat tax system with a progressive one along with wage reforms.
If anything, the party was quite friendlier and much more supportive of Dmitry Medvedev and his modernization programme which he implemented during his term as president. Ever since 2012 however, the party has been fully supportive of the Kremlin's policies, with those who had a streak of opposition to the Kremlin that were members of the party being ejected by the end of 2012.
In terms of foreign policy, the party takes the playbook of United Russia and the other systemic opposition parties by being supportive of Russian foreign policy as is. Sergey Mironov, the party's leader had actually been subject to EU sanctions due to his vocal support for the separatists in Eastern Ukraine and was actually the first high level Russian politician to visit Donetsk after 2014. Mironov had also called for the Russian Federation to officially recognize the two separatist republics as well.
I see no reason to maintain trade relations with a country consistently pursuing anti-Russia policy. - Sergey Mironov (On recent trade restrictions with Georgia)
It is however still a member of the "systemic opposition" parties, in fact even more so than the LDPR and the CPRF as they did not field a candidate in the 2018 Presidential Elections and opted to support the presidential candidacy of Vladimir Putin. The future of the party is a bit uncertain as it is both the newest and most inconspicuous of the main opposition parties in the Duma. An opportunity may arise for the party if United Russia continues being heavily unpopular within the voting public and if a post-Putin political landscape would need a new big tent coalition party to take its place.
Sequel
In the next post, I will try to cover Russia's smaller political parties which are either not represented in the Duma or have media traction and popularity. This will include extra-parliamentary parties and political movements such as Navalny's Party of Progress along with others and the inclusion of a proper epilogue.
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