Under the Constitution adopted in 1991 Russia is a Presidential Republic. The name of the country is stated by the Constitution as the Russia Federative Republic. The head of the state is President.
All legislative power in the country is vested in the Federal Assembly. It consists of two chambers. The Upper Chamber is the Council of Federation. It is made up of the representatives of all the subjects of the Federation (two representatives from each subject). The Council enforces federal laws adopted by the State Duma, and all the decrees issued by the President.
The Lower Chamber of the Federal Assembly is the State Duma. It is made up of 450 deputies. The Duma introduces, considers and adopts new bills. A new bill must be approved by a majority vote. In order to become a law, the bill must be also enforced by the Council and then by the President.
The members of the Federal Assembly are elected by popular vote for a four year term. Each Chamber is headed by a Speaker who is elected by the members of the Chambers.
The executive branch is represented by the President and the Government which is headed by the Prime Minister.
The President is the head of the state and the commander-in-chief of the Russian army. The President decides domestic and international matters, makes treaties, issues decrees, enforces federal laws adopted by the Federal Assembly. The President also forms the Government and appoints the Prime Minister whose candidacy must be approved by the State Duma. Thus the two powers balance each other.
An important role in the Russian state system plays the Constitutional Court. It represents the judicial branch. The Constitutional Court may veto any federal law adopted by the Federal Assembly, or a decree issued by the President if the Court regards them contradictory to the Constitution.
The symbol of Russia is a three-colored flag which replaced the red one in 1991, It has three horizontal stripes: white, blue and red. White represents peace, blue represents loyalty, and red stands for valor.
The emblem of Russia is a double-headed eagle, the most ancient symbol going back to the dynasty of the Ruricovichies.