Government of Russia

The government of Russia is the federal executive body of state power of the Russian Federation. The members of the government are the prime minister, the deputy prime ministers, and the federal ministers. It has its legal basis in the Constitution of the Russian Federation and the federal constitutional law "On the Government of the Russian Federation". The Apparatus of the Government of Russia is a governmental body which administrates the activities of the government. According to the 1991 amendment to the 1978 constitution, the President of Russia was the head of the executive branch and headed the Council of Ministers of Russia. According to the current 1993 constitution, the president is not a part of the government of Russia, which exercises executive power. However, the president appoints the prime minister. The large body was preceded by Government of the Soviet Union. Since the Russian Federation emerged from 1991 to 1992, the government's structure has undergone several major changes. In the initial years, a large number of government bodies, primarily the different ministries, underwent massive reorganization as the old Soviet governing networks were adapted to the new state. Many reshuffles and renamings occurred. On 28 November 1991, President of the RSFSR Boris Yeltsin signed presidential decree No.242 "On the reorganization of the government bodies of the RSFSR". Yeltsin officially declared the end of the Soviet Union and became the President of the Russian Federation. Yeltsin was a reformer and promised Western-styled democracy. In 1993, the new Russian Constitution was adopted. The new Constitution gained legitimacy through its bicameral legislature, an independent judiciary, the position of the president and the prime minister, and democratic features. These democratic features included competitive multi-party elections, separation of powers, federalism, and protection of civil liberties. In 1999, Yeltsin appointed Vladimir Putin as the Prime Minister.