State Duma
The State Duma, also known as the Federal Assembly or Gosudarstvennaya Dumа (Государственная Дума in Russian), is the lower house of the Federal Assembly of Russia and one of three chambers within the legislature. The State Duma was established by Boris Yeltsin in 1993 following a constitutional amendment that restructured the legislative system from a bicameral to unicameral model. It consists of 450 members who are elected for five-year terms through a proportional representation system based on party lists submitted to regional election commissions. Members must hold at least 25 percent of their seats and can be recalled by their constituents if they do not meet performance requirements.
The State Duma’s main role is to pass laws, approve budgets, and make amendments to existing legislation. Its other responsibilities include passing resolutions regarding issues related to international affairs, ratifying treaties with foreign countries, approving presidential appointments such as cabinet ministers and Supreme Court justices, participating in impeachment proceedings against government officials or members of the ruling party, conducting inquiries into government activities or policy decisions made by senior officials among others. The body also has oversight authority over some executive branch agencies like security services and law enforcement bodies. In addition it can initiate projects related to public works such as roads construction or agricultural reforms among others which need approval from upper chamber before becoming official law.
The current speaker of the house is Vyacheslav Volodin elected in 2018 after being nominated by President Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party which holds majority seats in both houses making it virtually impossible for opposition parties have any meaningful influence on legislation passed by Parliament .
