Early history in March 1917. From left to right: Seated:
V. N. Lvov, V. A. Rzhevsky, S. I. Shidlovsky, and
M. V. Rodzianko (Chairman); Standing:
V. V. Shulgin, B. A. Engelhardt,
A. F. Kerensky, and M. A. Karaulov. The history of the
duma dates back to the boyar dumas of Kievan Rus' and Muscovite Russia as well Tsarist Russia. The State Duma of the Russian Empire was founded in 1905 after the violence and upheaval in the
Russian Revolution of 1905 and was Russia's first elected parliament. The first two attempts by Tsar
Nicholas II (1868–1918) to make it active were ineffective. Subsequently, each of these Dumas was dissolved after only a few months. The third Duma was the only one to last until the end of its five-year term. After the 1907 electoral reform, the third Duma, elected in November 1907, was largely made up of members of the upper classes, as radical influences in the Duma had almost entirely been removed. The establishment of the Duma after the
1905 Revolution was to herald significant changes to the previous Russian Imperial autocratic system. Furthermore, the Duma was later to have an important effect on Russian history, as it was one of the contributing factors in the
February Revolution of 1917, the first of two that year, which led to the
abolition of the
Tsarist autocracy in Russia and the
overthrow of the Tsardom.
Recent history 1990s Following the
dissolution of the Soviet Union and the
1993 Russian constitutional crisis, the
Soviet system of government was abolished and a
new Constitution was introduced and approved by
a referendum. The new Charter transformed the Russian Federation into a federal semi-presidential republic, with a
bicameral parliament composed by the State Duma and the
Federation Council. In the
December 1993 elections pro-Yeltsin parties won 175 seats in the Duma versus 125 seats for the left bloc. The balance of power lay with the sixty-four deputies of the
ultranationalist Liberal Democratic Party of Russia. Only parties that won more than five percent of the vote were given party-list seats: eight passed the threshold in 1993. In addition to those eight parties, a pool of thirty-five deputies was entitled to form a registered group to reflect regional or sectoral interests. Business was governed by a steering committee, the Duma Council, consisting of one person from each party or group. The most important task was dividing up the chair positions in the Duma's twenty-three committees, which was done as part of a power-sharing "package" deal. Despite the fact that the Russian Constitution states that the State Duma is elected for four years, it was decided to elect the
first State Duma for two years. The 1995 election resulted in a strong boost for the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, which became the first political party of Russia and elected 157 seats: a Communist,
Gennady Seleznyov, was elected as Speaker of the State Duma. The "presidential party"
Our Home – Russia won 55 seats. During the second half of the 1990s, the Duma became an important forum for lobbying by regional leaders and businessmen looking for tax breaks and legislative favors. The work of the leading committees, such as those for defense, foreign affairs, or budget, attracted a good deal of media attention and lobbying activity.
2000s In the early 2000s, following the
1999 parliamentary elections, the pro-presidential
Unity party and the
Communist Party were the leading forces in the State Duma. After the
2003 elections, a
dominant-party system was established with the newly formed pro-presidential
United Russia party dominating. In all subsequent elections, United Russia has always received an absolute majority of seats (more than 226). During the presidency of
Vladimir Putin, the State Duma became increasingly referred to as a
rubber stamp, with there being a shift to
electoral authoritarianism. After the
2007 elections, a four-party system was formed with a United Russia, Communist Party,
Liberal Democratic Party and
A Just Russia. Other parties could not get enough votes to go to the State Duma. Only in
2016 elections, two other parties,
Rodina and the
Civic Platform, were able to get one seat. In 2008, after the adoption of
amendments to the Constitution, the term of the State Duma was increased from four to five years.
2010s A 2016 exposé by
Dissernet showed that one in nine members of the State Duma had obtained academic degrees with theses that were substantially plagiarized and likely ghostwritten. In 2018, it became known that the
State Duma building would be reconstructed. Repairs began in May 2019 and ended in September 2020. During this period, the State Duma was temporarily housed in the
House of Unions. In addition, a draft of a new conference room, which would be an
amphitheatre, was presented.
2020s After the
2021 elections, in addition to the four main parties, the
New People party was also elected to the State Duma. Thus, for the first time since 1999, a five-party State Duma was formed. ==Powers of the State Duma==