1)The Super-presidency arose after the constitutional crisis between President Yeltsin and the Supreme Soviet in 1993. Yeltsin dismissed the Soviet who refused to leave. The matter was settled by armed conflict. The sole surviving institutional author; the President, made resolutions that formed the basis of a new constitution and set the parameters for the existence of the new legislative body, the Duma.
This excerpt from the encyclopedia Britannica article on governance and society in Russia accounts for the historical development of the Duma and of the appearance of Boris Yeltsin briefly;
quote-“In 1988 the Soviet Congress of People’s Deputies was created, and a Congress of People’s Deputies was established in each republic. For the first time, elections to these bodies presented voters with a choice of candidates, including non-communists, though the Communist Party continued to dominate the system.
Thereafter, the pace of change accelerated. In June 1990 the Congress of the Russian republic proclaimed that Russian laws took precedence over Soviet laws, and the following year Boris Yeltsin became the republic’s first democratically elected president.” 1-unquote
The Russian Constitution was approved by a national referendum 25 Dec. 1993.2
The President was given extraordinary powers. Articles 80-90 Set out those powers.
“Chapter 4. The President of the Russian Federation
Article 80
1. The President of the Russian Federation shall be the head of the State.
2. The President of the Russian Federation shall be guarantor of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, of the rights and freedoms of man and citizen. According to the rules fixed by the Constitution of the Russian Federation, he shall adopt measures to protect the sovereignty of the Russian Federation, its independence and state integrity, ensure coordinated functioning and interaction of all the bodies of state power.
3. According to the Constitution of the Russian Federation and the federal laws the President of the Russian Federation shall determine the guidelines of the internal and foreign policies of the State.
4. As the head of the State the President of the Russian Federation represent the Russian Federation within the country and in international relations.
Article 81
1. The President of the Russian Federation shall be elected for six years by citizens of the Russian Federation on the basis of universal, equal, direct suffrage by secret ballot.
2. Any citizen of the Russian Federation not younger than 35 years of age and with a permanent residence record in the Russian Federation of not less than 10 years may be elected President of the Russian Federation.
3. One and the same person may not be elected President of the Russian Federation for more than two terms running.
4. The rules of electing the President of the Russian Federation shall determined by the federal law.
Article 83
The President of the Russian Federation shall:
appoint by agreement with the State Duma the Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation;
have the right to chair meetings of the Government of the Russian Federation;
adopt decision on the registration of the Government of the Russian Federation;
present to the State Duma a candidate for the appointment to the post of the Chairman of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, raise before the State Duma the issue of dismissing the Chairman of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation;
on the proposal by the Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation appoint and dismiss deputy chairmen of the Government of the Russian Federation and federal ministers;
present to the Council of the Federation candidates for appointment as judges of the Constitution Court of the Russian Federation, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, the Higher Court of Arbitration of the Russian Federation, as well as a candidate for the post of the Procurator-General of the Russian Federation; appoint judges of other federal courts;
form and head the Security Council of the Russian Federation, the status of which is determined by the federal law;
approve the military doctrine of the Russian Federation;
form the Administration of the President of the Russian Federation;
appoint and dismiss plenipotentiary representatives of the President of the Russian Federation;
appoint and dismiss the supreme command of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation;
after consultations with corresponding committees and commissions of the chambers of the Federal Assembly appoint and recall diplomatic representatives of the Russian Federation in foreign States and international organizations.
Article 84
The President of the Russian Federation shall:
announce elections to the State Duma according to the Constitution of the Russian Federation and the federal law;
dissolve the State Duma in cases and according to the rules fixed by the Constitution of the Russian Federation;
announce a referendum according to the rules fixed by the federal constitutional law;
submit bills to the State Duma;
sign and make public the federal laws;
address the Federal Assembly with annual messages on the situation in the country, on the guidelines of the internal and foreign policy of the State.
Article 85
1. The President of the Russian Federation may use conciliatory procedures to solve disputes between the bodies of state authority of the Russian Federation and bodies of state authority of the subjects of the Russian Federation, as well as between bodies of state authority of the subjects of the Russian Federation. In case no agreed decision is reached, he shall have the right to submit the dispute for the consideration of a corresponding court.
2. The President of the Russian Federation shall have the right to suspend acts of the Bodies of executive power of the subjects of the Russian Federation in case these acts contradict the Constitution of the Russian Federation and the federal laws, international commitments of the Russian Federation or violate the rights and freedoms of man and citizen until the issue is solved by a corresponding court.
Article 86
The President of the Russian Federation shall:
govern the foreign policy of the Russian Federation;
hold negotiations and sign international treaties and agreements of the Russian Federation;
sign ratification instruments;
received credentials and letters of recall of diplomatic representatives accredited to him.
Article 87
1. The President of the Russian Federation shall be the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.
2. In case of an aggression against the Russian Federation or of a direct threat of aggression the President of the Russian Federation shall introduce in the territory of the Russian Federation or in its certain parts a martial law and immediately inform the Council of the Federation and the State Duma about this .
3. The regime of the martial law shall be defined by the federal constitutional law.
Article 88
The President of the Russian Federation, in circumstances and according to the rules envisaged by the federal constitutional law, shall introduce a state of emergency in the territory of the Russian Federation or in its certain parts and immediately inform the Council of the Federation and the State Duma about this.
Article 89
The President of the Russian Federation shall:
solve the issues of citizenship of the Russian Federation and of granting political asylum;
decorate with state awards of the Russian Federation, award honourary titles of the Russian Federation, higher military and higher special ranks;
decide on pardoning.
Article 90
1. The President of the Russian Federation shall issue decrees and orders.
2. The decrees and orders of the President of the Russian Federation shall be obligatory for fulfillment in the whole territory of the Russian Federation.
3. Decrees and orders of the President of the Russian Federation shall not run counter to the Constitution of the Russian Federation and the federal laws.
Article 91
The President of the Russian Federation shall possess immunity.”
“When the legislature fails to pass the president’s legislative initiatives, he may issue decrees that have the force of law”3
Acting in the role of George Washington, Abe Lincoln, V.I. Lenin and James Madison, President Yeltsin had to create a new state government within an existing advanced society, rather than for a frontier society as the author of the U.S. Constitution, James Madison, was able to accomplish with the almost unanimous support from his peers. Yeltsin had to get support from certain parties with real power such as rural governors and oligarchs and that led to some corruption. Yeltsin began a work of reform in process and trusted in Vladimir Putin to continue the legacy of building a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. And the chief guardian of the state is somewhat more so than others for a while.
2) President Yeltsin appointed Vladimir Putin to the job of Prime Minister in 1999 and that gave him something of a boost in being elected in 2000. President Yeltsin voluntarily quit the Presidency in 1999 and made Mr. Putin acting President. Vladimir Putin got 53% of the vote for President and he made good, more or less, on the idea that if elected the economy would grow. With the help of high oil prices it did. City Soviets were replaced by city councils and mayors while Yeltsin was President. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_presidential_election,_2000
President Putin inherited super-presidential powers from the 1993 constitution. He used yet did not abuse those powers in the course of his administrative effort to advance the economy, stabilize in against internal and external challenges and continue the road to privatization and prosperity for society. Article 91 of chapter four is a true super-power.
President Putin created seven federal districts in 2004. They covered much of the same area as the formerly more powerful districts. Medvedev created an eighth district and President Putin a ninth in 2014 for the Crimea and Sevastapool. The federal districts were more favored sons and daughters of the central government regarding funding, power and control. The President can appoint the regional governors.
3) President Medvedev also inherited the super-presidential powers granted by the Soviet constitution. He used them less so than did President Putin. He appointed President Putin to Prime Minister who tended to get the media attention. President Medvedev created the eighth federal district. He allowed political parties with s minimum of five percent of the national vote instead of seven percent to be elected to the Duma. Parties also needed to have at least 10,000 members and to be represented in at least half of the federal districts. Just four parties qualified for the 2012 election.
These are a few points about the administration given in a Wikipedia article on his term of office as President; President Medvedev worked on modernization of the economy and is credited for creating the Skolkovo innovation center. He privatized many state-owned companies and removed state officials from state owned company boards and got the Presidential term extended from four to six years; he also fired the mayor of Moscow Yuri Luzhkov,4
A Wikipedia article on President Medvedev’s administration notes the following acts that qualify as super-presidential powers...
quote-“On 10 March 2009, Medvedev signed the presidential decree to reform the civil service system between 2009-2013 as part of his drive against corruption. The main direction of reforms include establishing a new system to manage the civil service, introducing effective technology and modern methods of human resources operations, and increasing the efficiency and professionalism of civil servants.[8]
Medvedev on 8 May 2009, proposed to the legislature and on 2 June signed into law an amendment whereby the chairperson of the Constitutional Court and his deputies would be proposed to the parliament by the president rather than elected by the judges, as was the case before.[9]
In May 2009, Medvedev set up the Presidential Commission of the Russian Federation to Counter Attempts to Falsify History to the Detriment of Russia's Interests."-unquote
4) Super-Presidential powers are largely set out in chapter four, articles 80 through 90 of the Russian constitution. The President has power to dismiss the Duma, and to nominate the Supreme and Constitutional Court members ,who serve for life. He can issue decrees to over-ride legislation of the Duma, can declare martial law and a state of emergency. He is commander in chief of the military and conducts foreign policy.
My general view of the Russian government challenges since 1998...
Russia since the 1998 financial crisis and default has only slowly yet steadily moved toward reform such that a market economy prevails. It was not so many years ago that Vladimir Putin ended the oligarch domination of the economy and domination of former Soviet assets that they had taken much of. That order of oligarch power was regarded as an unfair distribution of wealth, yet was left somewhat as it was. The economy moves toward liberalization sometimes with substantial state investment and stimulation..
https://www.systemicpeace.org/polity/keynew.htm Polity IV Country Report 2009-2010
On the Federal Organs of Power during the Transitional Period
Polozhenie ‘O federal’nykh organakh vlasti na perekhodnyi period’ (Resolution “On the Federal Organs of Power during the Transitional Period”),” in Iz istorii sozdania konstitutsii Rossiiskoi Federatsii, vol. 4/3, 461-466.
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