Duma, << DOO muh >>, officially called the State Duma, is one of two houses of Russia’s national legislature, the Federal Assembly. The Duma is the lower house. The Federation Council is the upper house.
The early Duma.
The Duma was first created in the early 1900’s, during the reign of Czar Nicholas II. Like his predecessors, Nicholas wanted to rule Russia with supreme authority. However, the Russian Revolution of 1905 threatened the czar’s government and forced him to compromise with political opponents who demanded an elected legislature. The first Duma was elected in 1906, with electoral rules created by Nicholas, but the czar soon disbanded it because he found it too radical. The second Duma, elected in 1907, was even more hostile to the czar, and he soon dismissed it, too. Nicholas again changed the election procedures in June 1907, bringing about a more conservative Duma that served from 1907 to 1912.
The fourth Duma, elected in 1912, criticized the czar’s conduct of World War I (1914-1918) and sought more power for itself. Nicholas ordered the Duma to dissolve in March 1917, but the Duma deputies defied the czar and formed a provisional (temporary) government. Nicholas was forced to abdicate (resign from the throne). The provisional government was overthrown by the Bolsheviks in the October Revolution later that year. The Bolsheviks laid the foundation of the Soviet Union.
The modern Duma.
The Soviet Union broke apart in 1991. In 1993, Russia approved a new constitution, under which the modern Duma was formed. The Duma is based in Moscow and has 450 elected members, called deputies. Duma members serve four-year terms. Prior to 2007, half of the members were elected to represent individual districts, and half were elected by proportional representation. Under proportional representation, a political party that receives above a certain percentage of the popular vote gets a number of seats determined by the party’s percentage of the vote. Since 2007, all Duma members have been elected by proportional representation.
The Duma has more constitutional power than the upper house in some important areas. For example, it can override a veto by the upper house, and it has the power to approve or reject the president’s nominee for prime minister.
