192-215

• Statism- have a strong government or die
• Types of votes in the Russian political system include referendum, Duma elections, presidential elections, and interest groups.
• Referendum is a vote by the president to call a national referendum on important issues.
• Duma elections are when Russians vote for who will sit in the 450 seats of the Duma.
• Half of the Duma seats are elected by party-list proportional representation, while the other half are single-member districts.
• Presidential elections in Russia use a two-round model, where the winning candidates receive more than 50% of the vote.
• Interest groups are only allowed in the USSR under state corporatism and are controlled by the government.
• The oligarchy took over Russian industries and built fortunes, with one oligarch controlling over half of Russia’s GNP, and five others.
• The oligarchs financed the Unity party and helped Putin win the next election.
• The Russian mafia operates with authoritarian rule, but democracy suffers.
• The official paper of the Soviet’s communist party was the Pravda, which only printed what the government wanted.
• State corporatism affects media because of the relationship between businesses and the media.
• Media affects protests, publicizes them and exposes corruptive candidates.
• Institutions of Government in Russia are derived from a semi-presidential government, resulting from a mix of presidential and parliamentary.
• The President of Russia is the head of state and has the power to appoint the Prime Minister and cabinet, issue decrees with force of law, and dissolve the Duma.
• The Duma is the lower house of the Russian parliament with 450 deputies elected by party-list proportional representation, passing bills, approving budget, and confirming/rejecting Prime Minister appointments.
• The upper house of the Russian parliament is the Federation Council with two members from each of the 89 regions, functioning to represent regions and having no power because the Duma can override council if it rejects legislation brought by Duma.
• The Constitutional Court of Russia has 19 members appointed by the president and confirmed by the council, actively involved in policy making.
• The movement towards rule of law in Russia is corrupted by corruption and allowing police to act independently.
• During the USSR, the KGB was the only security agency.
• Turns out there was interference with the campaign after investigation.
• Russians had interfered with the campaigns, trying to get Trump to win.
• Russians are more influenced by statism than civil society.
• The US president gave aid packages to Russia to help with the economic collapse.
• Ukraine favors western culture and keeps their ties and allegiances, which keeps the conflict going in Russia.
• The breakup of the USSR resulted in sovereignty issues.
• Russia's economy is fueled by gas and oil reserves which corporations own.
• Under the Russian Federation, the military has shown no dominance and need to be a political force.
• Russia has been trying to get into the WTO since 1993 and finally won in 2012.
• The economy was improved and new areas of privatized industries from 1997-2007.
• The PM gives Putin till the end of the day to explain what happened before she blamed Russia for the attack, which heightened tensions between Britain and Russia.
• Military spending has increased since 2007.
• Corruption is used by Russians to get what they want like school enrollment and car permits.
• The relationship with the West is largely dependent on the oil and gas produced in Russia.
• The CIS is not a regional power like the EU.
• Privatization vs state control is a major issue in Russia.
• The CIS has little power over its members, only 9 remain today.
• Russia has encouraged efforts to challenge America's global leadership.
• Former Russian spy lives in Britain, exposed to deadly poison seemingly by Russia.
• The military does not take a lead in politics and does not challenge the politburo.