After the Perestroika reforms in the 1980s Russia had over 100 registered parties, but the people elected to the State Duma represented only a small number of parties. After 2000, during Vladimir Putin's first presidency (2000–2008), the number of parties quickly decreased. From 2008 to 2012 there were only seven parties in Russia, and every new attempt to register new parties was blocked. The last registered party of this period was the government-organized Right Cause (now the Party of Growth) which was registered on 18 February 2009. Before the 2011 parliamentary election, about 10 opposition parties were denied registration.
In 2001, the federal law "On political parties" was adopted. All parties had to be re-registered. Parties have been assigned the status of the only type of public association that has the right to independently nominate candidates for deputies and other elective positions in government bodies. One of the major provisions of the law is the establishment of a single national status of a political party, and, as a result, the liquidation of regional and interregional political public associations.[3] According to paragraph 1 of Article 3 of the Federal Law of the Russian Federation No. 95-FZ "On Political Parties", a political party in Russia is recognized as "a public association created for the purpose of participation of citizens of the Russian Federation in the political life of society through the formation and expression of their political will, participation in public and political actions, in elections and referendums, as well as in order to represent the interests of citizens in state authorities and local governments".[4]
In December 2004, amendments were introduced requiring a minimum number of party members of 50,000 and the presence of more than 45 regional branches of 500 people each. By January 1, 2006, all parties had to submit documents proving that their party structures complied with the requirements of the law on the minimum number of members and the number of regional branches.[3][5]
In 2009, a bill was introduced to reduce the minimum number of party members from 50,000 to 45,000, and from 500 to 450 members in regional branches. This law came into effect on January 1, 2010. The minimum number of party members was reduced again on January 1, 2012, to 40,000 and to 400 members per regional branch.[6]
On February 28, 2012, an election law was adopted meaning parties were exempted from collecting signatures and making a cash deposit for nominating a party and its candidate, and gubernatorial elections were restored. The number of required signatures for candidates for the presidential elections was reduced from 2 million to 100,000 for party candidates, and 300,000 for self-nominated candidates. The electoral threshold for parties was also reduced from 7% to 5%.[7]
On March 20, 2012, the State Duma approved a presidential bill to reduce the minimum number of political party members from 40,000 to only 500 people, and from 500 to 5 members for a regional branch.
A "party of power" refers to a political party that has a close relationship with the executive branch of government such that the party appears to function as an extension of the executive rather than as an autonomous political organization.[8][9] The concept resembles that of a cartel party.[9] These parties are considered by some to have been especially established for support of the incumbent president or prime minister in the Russian parliament:
According to studies, United Russia voters in 2007 were younger and more market-oriented than the average voter. The party's electorate includes a substantial share of government employees, pensioners and military personnel, who are dependent on the state for their livelihood.[10] Sixty-four percent of United Russia supporters are female. In the run-up to the 2011 Duma elections, it was reported that support for United Russia was growing among young people.[11]
In April 2023, a survey on the issue of the dissolution of the United Russia Party was conducted among Russians. About 2,500 people participated in the survey, mostly aged 45+. The question was "Is it necessary to dissolve the United Russia party with the inability of its members to participate in political life in the future?" the answers were distributed as follows: 65% stated: "I am for dissolution without permission to participate in political life in the future", 3% stated "I am against dissolution", 6% stated "I am for dissolution, but with permission to participate in political life in the future", and 26% stated "I am for the dissolution of all bourgeois parties".[12]
Current parties
All parties registered with the Ministry of Justice have the right to participate in any elections across the country. A list of registered parties is placed on the Ministry website. In December 2012, there were 48 registered parties in Russia; 7 of them are currently represented in the State Duma as of 2021.
↑Compare: Isaacs, Rico (21 March 2011). Party System Formation in Kazakhstan: Between Formal and Informal Politics. Central Asian Studies. Abingdon: Routledge (published 2011). ISBN978-1-136-79107-9. Retrieved 2018-03-07. A central principle behind the party of power is a party's relationship with the state (Knox et al., 2006). Parties of power have a close relationship with the executive branch which is seen to co-opt parties of power for their own political purposes (Hale, 2004). Thus, parties of power are an extension of the executive where the party 'is the actual group whose members wield power in and through the executive branch of government' (Oversloot and Verheul, 2006: 394).
12Isaacs, Rico (2011). Party System Formation in Kazakhstan: Between Formal and Informal Politics. Routledge. p.38.
↑Kozlov, Vladimir; Fitzpatrick, Sheila; Mironenko, Sergei (2011). Sedition: Everyday Resistance in the Soviet Union under Khrushchev and Brezhnev. Yale University Press. p.302. ISBN978-0-300-11169-9.
Further reading
Gel′man, Vladimir (2013). "Party Politics in Russia: From Competition to Hierarchy". Politics In Russia: A Reader. CQ Press. pp.273–289.
Hale, Henry E. (2006). Why Not Parties in Russia?: Democracy, Federalism, and the State. Cambridge University Press.
Smyth, Regina (2012). Political parties. Routledge. pp.115–128.
White, Stephen (2013). "Russia's Client Party System". Politics In Russia: A Reader. CQ Press. pp.306–330.
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