The State Duma is ... Voting in the State Duma: a description of the procedure, requirements and recommendations

Parliament is the main legislative institution of any modern democratic state. It is here that they write and adopt by voting laws, establish constitutions and amend them. In Russia, the State Duma is the lower house of parliament. And in this publication we will talk about the functions and powers of this authority. In addition, we will talk about the specifics of the formation of its composition and on how candidates are elected to the State Duma.

Type of government and parliament

Parliament can influence both the foreign policy of the state and the internal one, everything depends on the role of the president. Most countries of the West are parliamentary republics, that is, everything is decided by parliament, while the Russian Federation is a mixed country. By the way, the US is the presidential republic. The last word is always the president.

So, what is the name of the parliament in Russia? Historically, the legislature has different names. This includes the Polish Diet, and the Spanish Cortes, and all this is, in fact, the Parliament. Usually it is bicameral, while the lower chamber accepts and prescribes the law, and the upper one either rejects it or claims not having the right to make changes. This practice has remained since the time of the monarchy, confirming its effectiveness.

What is the State Duma?

And now we came very close to the State Duma of the Russian Federation. The State Duma is not yet a parliament in principle, the parliament here is the Federal Assembly. It is bicameral, and the algorithm of the Federal Assembly is detailed in the 5th chapter of the Constitution. In turn, the State Duma - this is just the lower, most important and responsible branch of power in our state. It is in the State Duma that all laws are passed that determine the life of ordinary citizens in the state and even the country's budget for the next year.

How is the voting in the State Duma going, how do the candidates go in elections and what are they doing all the time when the parliament is convened? We will try to answer these questions now.

Why does the State Duma exist?

Since the State Duma is in fact the main legislative body in the country, it is legislative activity that is the main task of the deputies of the lower house of the Russian parliament. The laws that are submitted for consideration and voting can be completely different: from dealing with some small branches of the economy and related tax policies to, for example, reforming education or medicine on a large scale. The main thing is that the new small law should be within the limits allowed by the Constitution, and not contradict its main provisions. Otherwise, such a law will be illegitimate even if the deputies vote for it and it will be adopted by both chambers of the Federal Assembly.

Voting in the State Duma

Voting in the State Duma is regulated by the 10th article of the Constitution of the Russian Federation. The State Duma of the Russian Federation determines which draft laws fall into the upper house of parliament . Bills that are submitted for discussion must pass a special constitutional commission to determine the degree of compliance with the main legal act of the country. The procedure is performed using electronic equipment. After passing the bill to vote, the author can speak from the rostrum about his opinion about the law, its meaning and usefulness. Opponents can also comment on the negative aspects of the bill, after which, for a set time, all present must choose "for", "against" or "abstained" in relation to this law. Instantly determine the percentage ratio and the result - whether the bill goes on to vote in the upper house of the Federal Assembly or not. The laws of the State Duma form the "legal body" of the country. It should be noted that voting can be secret or open, but in most cases it is open. When the State Duma passed the law, it goes to vote in the upper house of the Federal Assembly.

Convening of the State Duma

Each election determines the composition of the State Duma for the next five years, thus forming the next convocation. Any democratic state restricts the time of its institutions, since during one convocation the opinion of the people and civil society - the receptacles of the main political will in the country - could change a lot. Theoretically, the deputies are reflections of certain groups of people who voted for one or another deputy, and he is obliged to protect their rights. For five years, the deputy reflects the will of the people, and if he did it badly and did not meet the requirements of the voters, they will vote for another candidate. In the debate between different groups of the population, which are represented by political parties and deputies, and there is a process of parliamentary debate, a kind of core of democracy. Therefore, it is generally accepted that the State Duma is the main body of parliamentarism in our country.

The last convocation

It's no secret that not long ago, on September 18, 2016, the next elections to the State Duma were held. Although the new political forces did not lead to the parliament, they significantly changed the alignment of forces in the supreme legislative body of the country, strengthening the power of the ruling United Russia party.

Turnout in the last election

In general, it is worth noting that the turnout at these elections was quite low, only 50 percent of the population expressed a desire to go and realize their right to participate in the political life of the state. And although even a more massive turnout would hardly radically change the color of the next convocation, as journalists of pro-Western and opposition media often like to say, this indicates the cooling of Russians' interest in politics and, perhaps, even disappointment.

Preliminary results

It should be said that it was already known about the results of the elections to the State Duma at the end of the voting day. Preliminary elections to the State Duma, or primaries, are, in essence, an internal party process for determining the number of candidates and their distribution by constituency, which ended in the summer. Anyone who has reached the age of majority of the citizens of the Russian Federation could determine who will take part in the main elections. Starting from May this year, preliminary elections were held in the Communist Party, United Russia, PARNAS, and the Alliance of Greens. Frankly, this was a more populist step, as the party leadership determined in advance the tactics and strategy of the political struggle, and the election results, too contradictory to this tactic, were simply annulled some time after the election. On the other hand, popular opinion has forced politicians to significantly adjust their own course, making amendments to the popular opinion on the eve of the forthcoming large-scale elections to the State Duma.

The results of the elections of September 18, 2016

As a result, as a result of the elections, 450 seats in the State Duma were distributed as follows:

• "United Russia" received only 28 527 828 votes, or 54.2 percent, and 343 seats in the State Duma. This is much more than the result of "United Russia" in 2011.
• The CPRF receives 7,019,752 votes, which is 13.34 percent of the vote and 42 seats in the parliament. Compared with previous elections, this result is worse.
• LDPR. The party of Vladimir Zhirinovsky received 6,917,063 votes, almost like the communists Gennady Zyuganov, or 13.14 percent, and 39 seats in the State Duma.
• The last of the political forces, which overcame the 5% barrier, is the Just Russia party. She received in the end 3 275 053 votes, or 6.22 percent, and 22 seats.

The activities of the State Duma of the new convocation

The State Duma of the Federal Assembly, which will be formed following the results of the September 18, 2016 elections, has the name of the State Duma of the seventh convocation. Unlike the previous convocations of the government party "United Russia" headed by Dmitry Medvedev, there is no need to join the parliamentary coalitions to advance their course, as in previous convocations. Then several parties had to unite in one coalition to pass a certain bill, support a single course and vote for each other's proposals. At the same time, of course, there was no way to avoid compromises between political forces within the same coalition, so the course itself was greatly simplified. Now the leadership of "United Russia" will have much easier.