A duma (russian: дума) is a
Russian assembly with advisory or
legislative functions.
The term ''boyar duma'' is used to refer to advisory councils in Russia from the 10th to 17th centuries. Starting in the 18th century,
city dumas were formed across Russia.
The first formally constituted state duma was the
Imperial State Duma introduced to the
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the List of Russian monarchs, Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended th ...
by
Emperor
An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife ( empress consort), mother ( e ...
Nicholas II in 1905. The Emperor retained an absolute
veto
A veto is a legal power to unilaterally stop an official action. In the most typical case, a president or monarch vetoes a bill to stop it from becoming law. In many countries, veto powers are established in the country's constitution. Veto ...
and could dismiss the State Duma at any time for a suitable reason. Nicholas dismissed the
First State Duma (1906) within 75 days;
elections for a second Duma took place the following year. The
Russian Provisional Government dissolved the last Imperial State Duma (the fourth Duma) in 1917 during the
Russian Revolution
The Russian Revolution was a period of political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and adopt a socialist form of government ...
.
Since 1993, the
State Duma (russian: Государственная дума, label=none) has functioned as the lower legislative house of the
Russian Federation
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia
North Asia or Northern Asia, also referred to as Siberia, is the northern region of Asia, which is defined in geographic ...
.
Etymology
The Russian word is inherited from the
Proto-Slavic word ''
*duma'' which is thought to be derived from
Proto-Germanic
Proto-Germanic (abbreviated PGmc; also called Common Germanic) is the reconstructed proto-language of the Germanic branch of the Indo-European languages.
Proto-Germanic eventually developed from pre-Proto-Germanic into three Germanic bran ...
''
*dōmaz''. The word is also related to the Russian verb ''dumat′'' (
думать) meaning "to think".
Boyar duma
The term ''boyar duma'' is used to refer to the councils of
boyars and junior boyars (
boyar scions) which advised the prince on state matters during the times of
Kievan Rus'
Kievan Rusʹ, also known as Kyivan Rusʹ ( orv, , Rusĭ, or , , ; Old Norse: ''Garðaríki''), was a state in Eastern and Northern Europe from the late 9th to the mid-13th century.John Channon & Robert Hudson, ''Penguin Historical Atlas of ...
and the
Tsardom of Russia (then tsar). In 1711
Peter the Great transferred its functions to the
Governing Senate. Contemporary sources always refer simply to "the boyars" or to "the duma", but never to the "boyar duma". Originally there were ten to twelve boyars and five or six ''
okolnichies''. By 1613 the duma had increased to twenty boyars and eight ''okolnichies''. Lesser nobles, "duma gentlemen" (''dumnye dvoriane'') and secretaries, were added to the duma and the number of ''okol'nichii'' rose in the latter half of the 17th century. In 1676 the number of boyars increased to 50 – by then they constituted only a third of the duma.
Municipal dumas
Under the reign of
Catherine II, reforms to local government led to
city dumas being established in Russian cities.
Under the reign of Alexander II, several reforms were enacted during the 1860s and 1870s. These included the creation of local political bodies known as
zemstvo
A ''zemstvo'' ( rus, земство, p=ˈzʲɛmstvə, plural ''zemstva'' – rus, земства) was an institution of local government set up during the great emancipation reform of 1861 carried out in Imperial Russia by Emperor Alexande ...
es. All owners of houses, tax-paying merchants and workmen are enrolled on lists in a descending order according to their assessed wealth. The total valuation is then divided into three equal parts, representing three groups of electors very unequal in number, each of which elects an equal number of delegates to the municipal duma. The executive is in the hands of an elective
mayor
In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well as ...
and an ''uprava'', which consists of several members elected by the duma. Under
Alexander III, however, by laws promulgated in 1892 and 1894, the municipal dumas were subordinated to the governors in the same way as the zemstvos. In 1894 municipal institutions, with still more restricted powers, were granted to several towns in Siberia, and in 1895 to some in Caucasia.
State dumas
Russian Empire
Under the pressure of the
Russian Revolution of 1905
The Russian Revolution of 1905,. also known as the First Russian Revolution,. occurred on 22 January 1905, and was a wave of mass political and social unrest that spread through vast areas of the Russian Empire. The mass unrest was directed again ...
, on 6 August 1905,
Sergei Witte
Count Sergei Yulyevich Witte (; ), also known as Sergius Witte, was a Russian statesman who served as the first prime minister of the Russian Empire, replacing the tsar as head of the government. Neither a liberal nor a conservative, he attract ...
issued a manifesto about the convocation of the Duma, initially thought to be an advisory organ. In the subsequent
October Manifesto, Nicholas II pledged to introduce basic
civil liberties, provide for broad participation in the State Duma, and endow the Duma with legislative and oversight powers.
However, Nicholas II was determined to retain his autocratic power. Just before the creation of the Duma in May 1906, the Tsar issued the
Fundamental Laws. It stated in part that the Tsar's
minister
Minister may refer to:
* Minister (Christianity), a Christian cleric
** Minister (Catholic Church)
* Minister (government), a member of government who heads a ministry (government department)
** Minister without portfolio, a member of government w ...
s could not be appointed by, and were not responsible to, the Duma, thus denying
responsible government
Responsible government is a conception of a system of government that embodies the principle of parliamentary accountability, the foundation of the Westminster system of parliamentary democracy. Governments (the equivalent of the executive bra ...
at the executive level. Furthermore, the Tsar had the power to dismiss the Duma and announce new elections whenever he wished. At this first meeting of the Duma members proposed that political prisoners should be released, trade unions given rights and land reform be introduced. Nicholas II rejected these suggestions and dissolved the assembly in July, 1906.
The imperial State Duma was elected four times: in 1906, twice in 1907, and in 1912.
Russian Federation
The State Duma (Russian: Государственная дума, ''Gosudarstvennaya Duma'', common abbreviation: Госдума, ''Gosduma'') in Russia is the
lower house of the
Federal Assembly of Russia (
parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. ...
), the
upper house
An upper house is one of two chambers of a bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house.''Bicameralism'' (1997) by George Tsebelis The house formally designated as the upper house is usually smaller and often has more restric ...
being the
Federation Council of Russia. Under Russia's 1993 constitution, there are 450 deputies of the State Duma (Article 95), each elected to a term of four years (Article 96); this was changed to a five-year term in late 2008. In previous elections of 1993, 1995, 1999 and 2003 one half of the deputies were elected by a system of
proportional representation
Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...
and one half were elected by
plurality in single member districts. However, the 2007 Duma elections were carried out in a new format: all 450 deputies were elected by a system of proportional representation. Russian citizens at least 21 years old are eligible to run for the Duma (Article 97).
References
{{Use dmy dates, date=July 2019
Government of Russia
Government of the Russian Empire