¹ 3 - 2006
Gaman-Golutvina O.V.

Russian Parliamentarism in Historical Retrospection and in Comparative Perspective (II)


The second part of the article summing up the results of a research realized in the framework of the international megaproject “Parliamentary Representation in Europe. 1848 – 2005”, contains analysis of the evolution of the State Duma deputy corps of the four post-Soviet convocations. On considering the socio-demographic and socio-professional composition of Russian parliament and on comparing the tendencies of its evolution with those displayed in the leading countries of Western Europe, the author demonstrates that notwithstanding the nearness of the Russian deputy corps to the European analogues, its formation is determined by quite different principles. Whereas in most countries of Europe the dominant role belongs to party-political and, partly, territorial representation, in Russia – to functional one.