Notes- Commonwealth of Independent States— no real powerCIS

Notes- Commonwealth of Independent States— no real powerCIS

Notes- Comparative Government- Class 12/6/00Brezhnev corruption was rampant; elite members of the party lived quite well and there was a very active black markettries to deal with the alcohol problemsuggests various reforms to get rid of some of the corruptiononly there two years so very few reformsglasnost- openness (independent newspapers could rise; criticism of the government was allowed) perestroika economic restructuring (to introduce capitalism)gross underestimation of the problems plaguing Sov. Union did not have any clear priorities (goal was illusive)lacked an appreciation for the failure of the nationalities policy indecisive (because he was trying to please everyone)he was a Marxist so it was hard for him to make any major changesinstead of going through proper channels he pronounced his changesCoup in 1991 failed because of Boris Yeltsin; dissolution of SU and then in Dec.

resignation of Gorbachev formed Commonwealth of Independent States— no real powerCIS is similar to British Commonwealth of NationsRussian Federation created by Constitution in 1993Boris Yeltsin who headed the Russian-Soviet Federated Republic was elected in 1991 runs for election in 1995 (2 4-year term limits)Constitution does give the President a lot of power (most of power is vested in Pres)has to appoint Prime Minster which has to be approved by legislative branchif State Duma disapproves then the Constitution gives the President the right to re-submit the persons name; if they disapprove again then he can resubmit once again and if they disapprove he can dissolve the Duma (then there is new election)can veto legislation coming out of the legislature450 members elected for 4 year termpass bills; approve budget; have power of confirmation of Prime Minister and Cabinet Membersif President vetoes a law passed by Duma then they can override veto by 2/3 vote Russians use split ballot (like Germany)(must get 5% of the vote nationwide to be represented via: Prop Rep)Upper House: called Federation Consulequiv. US Senate (89 units states and each unit has 2 representatives)only one that can change inside boundaries only they can approve use of armed forces abroad approve appointment of judges and they are only ones who can remove judgesHighest Court: Constitutional Courtappointed by President but have to be confirmed by Federation Consuldetermine the constitutionality of lawhandle citizen complaints (have to go through court system to go there)When Boris Yeltsin became the first President, there is another attempted coup in 1993 in response to his statement that he was going to dissolve the Duma but it will not be successful Yego Gaidar: first Prime Minister under Yeltsin in favor of pro-Western capitalism; doesnt last because when they try to fast-track capitalism it failsVictor Chernomydrin: fired twice by YeltsinVladmir Zhirinovsky: head of Liberal Democratic Party— which is extremely right wing; felt that Russia should go back to being the Soviet Union and they should bring back all the land they had at one time (incl. Poland) Gennadi Zyuganov- after fall of Soviet Union, he heads Communist Party; has attempted to run for President; very active in Russia Bibliography: