December 12, 2013

Constructing a Constitution


Constructing a Constitution

On this day 20 years ago – December 12, 1993 – the current Russian Constitution was enacted, marking the end of a turbulent and even violent constitutional crisis.

What exactly constitutes the Russian Constitution? Compared to the U.S. Constitution, it’s just a baby – its 20 years are nothing to the US’s two centuries. But much like the U.S. Constitution, the Russian Constitution of 1993 was a crisis-triggered replacement for a founding document that wasn’t providing the foundation the country needed.

The US had the Articles of Conferedation – Russia had a Soviet relic, the RSFSR Constitution of 1978. Alongside the old Soviet legislative branch – with Cold-War names like “Supreme Soviet” and “Council of People’s Deputies” – there now stood an entirely new executive leader, the Russian President. For a country that was just finding its bearings and figuring it all out, having an outdated constitution was certainly not much help.

By early 1993, the “leader” of Russia wasn’t just going by a new name (Mr. President, not Mr. Secretary!), he was also no longer the center of all power. In sharp contrast to the days of old, this new-fangled concept of democracy now meant that the legislature, the nominal representative of the people, actually had all the rights in deciding how the government would work. It just so happened that the legislature, under the leadership of Speaker Ruslan Khasbulatov, was not too pleased with President Yeltsin’s program of rapid economic reform, and was happy to have the power to limit him in those efforts. 

There's Yeltsin (on the left) making Bill Clinton laugh

Yeltsin was all about the "will of the people" at this point – he peppered his speeches with references to narodovlastie – literally, the rule of the people. And just when the legislature felt smugly secure in knowing that it was elected by those same “people,” Yeltsin went and redefined the people’s will: he called for a referendum, a direct vote on “confidence in the Russian President.” In April 1993, the “confidents” won out, with a final tally of 58%.

Tanks shelling the White House! (No, not that White House.)

For the legislature, it was all downhill from there. Now anything they tried in opposition could be met with “oh but the people believe in me.” The Duma dug in, insisting on the unconsitutionality of the President’s actions, escalating the crisis until the army got involved and, in October 2013, on Yeltsin’s orders, stormed the White House (which in Russia is, confusingly, the legislature’s domain). Out of the chaos rose the new constitution, proposed as a draft by Yeltsin, and approved on December 12, 1993.

How was it approved? By referendum, of course. 

 

Photo credits: Wikimedia Commons

Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

Faith & Humor: Notes from Muscovy

Faith & Humor: Notes from Muscovy

A book that dares to explore the humanity of priests and pilgrims, saints and sinners, Faith & Humor has been both a runaway bestseller in Russia and the focus of heated controversy – as often happens when a thoughtful writer takes on sacred cows. The stories, aphorisms, anecdotes, dialogues and adventures in this volume comprise an encyclopedia of modern Russian Orthodoxy, and thereby of Russian life.
The Frogs Who Begged for a Tsar (bilingual)

The Frogs Who Begged for a Tsar (bilingual)

The fables of Ivan Krylov are rich fonts of Russian cultural wisdom and experience – reading and understanding them is vital to grasping the Russian worldview. This new edition of 62 of Krylov’s tales presents them side-by-side in English and Russian. The wonderfully lyrical translations by Lydia Razran Stone are accompanied by original, whimsical color illustrations by Katya Korobkina.
Life Stories: Original Fiction By Russian Authors

Life Stories: Original Fiction By Russian Authors

The Life Stories collection is a nice introduction to contemporary Russian fiction: many of the 19 authors featured here have won major Russian literary prizes and/or become bestsellers. These are life-affirming stories of love, family, hope, rebirth, mystery and imagination, masterfully translated by some of the best Russian-English translators working today. The selections reassert the power of Russian literature to affect readers of all cultures in profound and lasting ways. Best of all, 100% of the profits from the sale of this book are going to benefit Russian hospice—not-for-profit care for fellow human beings who are nearing the end of their own life stories.
Murder at the Dacha

Murder at the Dacha

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin has a problem. Several, actually. Not the least of them is the fact that a powerful Soviet boss has been murdered, and Matyushkin's surly commander has given him an unreasonably short time frame to close the case.
Jews in Service to the Tsar

Jews in Service to the Tsar

Benjamin Disraeli advised, “Read no history: nothing but biography, for that is life without theory.” With Jews in Service to the Tsar, Lev Berdnikov offers us 28 biographies spanning five centuries of Russian Jewish history, and each portrait opens a new window onto the history of Eastern Europe’s Jews, illuminating dark corners and challenging widely-held conceptions about the role of Jews in Russian history.
Dostoyevsky Bilingual

Dostoyevsky Bilingual

Bilingual series of short, lesser known, but highly significant works that show the traditional view of Dostoyevsky as a dour, intense, philosophical writer to be unnecessarily one-sided. 
Chekhov Bilingual

Chekhov Bilingual

Some of Chekhov's most beloved stories, with English and accented Russian on facing pages throughout. 
Murder and the Muse

Murder and the Muse

KGB Chief Andropov has tapped Matyushkin to solve a brazen jewel heist from Picasso’s wife at the posh Metropole Hotel. But when the case bleeds over into murder, machinations, and international intrigue, not everyone is eager to see where the clues might lead.
The Latchkey Murders

The Latchkey Murders

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin is back on the case in this prequel to the popular mystery Murder at the Dacha, in which a serial killer is on the loose in Khrushchev’s Moscow...

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955