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THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION STATE SYSTEM

The Russian Federation is set up by the Constitution of 1993. Under the Constitution Russia is a presidential republic. The President of the Russian Federation is the head of the state and is elected directly by the people. In fact he has much power. The President serves as the commander- in-chief of the armed forces, he makes treaties, enforces federal laws may veto a bill approved by the Federal Assembly. The President can even dissolve the Duma.

The Federal Government consists of 3 branches: legislative, executive and judicial. Each of them is checked and balanced by President. The parliament of the Russian Federation is the representative and legislative organ of the state consisting of two chambers: the Council of Federation and the State Duma, which makes laws. The Council of Federation is the upper chamber and the State Duma is the Lower Chamber. Each chamber is headed by a speaker and is elected for a term of 5 years.

The highest executive and administrative body of state authority of Russia is the government of Russia, which is headed by the Prime Minister. The Powers the Government has are rather numerous for example-direction of economic, social and cultural development, drafting current and long term plans and the Budget of the country.

Justice is administrated by the courts of different instances. The Supreme Court is the highest and the district (city) people’s courts are the lowest in the judicial system. The Supreme Court represents the judicial branch of power. In our country the majority of the criminal and civil cases are considered in the people’s courts. The Constitutional Court has the right to declare actions of the President the Federation Assembly and the Federal Government unconstitutional.

Today the state symbol of Russia is a three-coloured banner. It has 3 horizontal stripes: white stripe symbolizes the earth, the blue one stands for the sky, and the red one symbolizes liberty. It was the first state symbol that replaced the former symbols in 1991.

A new national emblem is a two-headed eagle. It is the most ancient symbol of Russia. It originates from the heraldic emblem of Ryricovitchies.

At present, the political and economic situation in the country is rather complicated. There are a lot of problems in the national economy of the Russian Federation. But in spite of the problems Russia is facing at present there are a lot of opportunities for our country to become one of the leading countries in the world.

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