RF political system

The Russian Federative Republic has been set, up by the Constitution of 1993.

Under the Constitution Russia is a Presidential Republic. The federal government consists of three branches: the legislative, the executive and the judicial. Each of them is checked and balanced by the President.

The legislative power is vested in the Federal Assembly. It consists of two chambers. The Upper Chamber is the Federation Council. The Lower Chamber is the State Duma. Each Chamber is headed by the Chairman. Legislature is initiated in the Lower Chamber. But to become a law a bill must be approved by the Lower and Upper Chambers and signed by the President. The President may veto the bill. The State Duma may override the veto.

The President makes treaties, enforces laws, appoints the Prime Minister to be approved by the State Duma.

The executive power belongs to the Government which is headed by the Prime Minister. The first action of the Prime Minister on appointment is to form the Government.

The judicial branch is represented by the Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court, the Arbitrary Court arid regional courts.

The members of the State Duma are elected by popular vote for a four-year period. The Council of Federation is not elected. It is formed of the heads of the regions.

Today the state Russian banner is three coloured. It has three horizontal stripes: white, blue and red. The white stripe symbolises the earth, the blue one stands for the sky, and the red one signifies liberty. It was the first state symbol that replaced the former symbols in 1991. The hymn of Russia was created by Alexandrov and Mikhalkov. Now the national coat of arms is a two-headed eagle. It is the most ancient symbol of Russia. It originates from the heraldic emblem of the Ruricovitch signifying the succession of the Russian state from the Byzantine Empire.