The Main Features of Political Institutionalisation in Russia in the early 2000s

Abstract

The article presents the study of the features of political and institutional changes in Russia at the beginning of the 21st century. In the article, the author considers a political institution as an organisation with a specific structure and functions, as well as the “rules of the game” — formal and “informal” relationships between actors, and institutionalization is the process of organisational formation and normative consolidation of relations associated with the process of management, the conquest of power, political participation. Foreign and Russian researchers noted that in the 1990s, President B. Yeltsin established the foundations for the country’s democratic development. Nevertheless, the consequence of democratic reforms was the emergence of problems that threaten the economic stability and integrity of Russia. The author defines the main political and institutional changes aimed at strengthening the central government, changing the nature of relations between federal and regional authorities, executive and legislative branches. The article reflects the changes in the Federation Council, the purpose of which was to reduce the influence of regional elites on political processes. The author outlines the main reasons for the creation of the party of power, ways to strengthen the positions of “United Russia” at the federal and regional levels. In general, the author determines the stage of political institutionalisation in Russia in the early 2000s as the “design of the power vertical”.