A multi-party system is ... The Russian multiparty system

Is the multiparty system bad or good? Political scientists from different countries can not unequivocally answer this question. On the one hand, it gives an opportunity to express the opinion of the most diverse sections of society and to uphold it in power. On the other hand, there is confusion in the political life of any country.

Party systems

The party is understood as an organized, most active part of society, which, based on its interests, formulated the program and seeks to implement it through participation in power or in its capture. The existence of a variety of political organizations and their interaction determines the party system of the state. There are three types of such systems. A multiparty system is the first of them. It is determined by the presence of more than two political organizations that have the chances of actually coming to power. A one-party system is formed under the rule of one party in the country and a state ban on the operation of opposition political alliances. In the United Kingdom, the United States of America, there are bipartisan systems. Although these countries do not prohibit the creation and functioning of other organizations, the real chances of coming to power are meager, which determines the change in the majority in parliament by representatives of one or the other dominant political force. A kind of pendulum is observed: power is transferred from liberals to conservatives and vice versa.

Origin of parties in Russia

At the beginning of the 20th century, the formation of a multi-party system in Russia was taking place. This process was characterized by a number of significant features. First, political organizations of revolutionary, radical persuasion began to form the very first, still illegally. Thus, the Social Democrats held their first congress in 1898. Legal registration of parties occurred during the first Russian revolution, after the famous Manifesto of October 17, 1905, which introduced civil and political liberties for the inhabitants of the Russian Empire. The next feature is the fact that the intelligentsia played a leading role in a wide range of formed unions, many of which were fairly small, while the process of organizing some and dissolving others was constantly taking place. Thus, a multi-party system is a true characteristic of Russia's political life in the early twentieth century.

Left, Right and Centrist

As already noted, at the beginning of the 20th century, several dozen parties appeared in Russia, the study of which is rather difficult. To better understand what the Russian multi-party system was, all political organizations are divided into three groups. The first include radical, revolutionary associations, which are also called the left. The right sector is conservative, reactionary alliances that oppose all innovations and transformations. The centrists are considered political organizations with moderate programs, which stand for liberal, gradual transformation of society.

Revolutionary parties of Russia

By the beginning of the last century, Russian society was entangled in a number of serious contradictions arising in connection with the development of capitalism. In domestic historiography, they received the name "major issues". These include the agrarian, or the peasant question, the worker, the question of power and the national. One way or another, all political forces had to indicate the main ways to solve these problems. The Bolsheviks, the RSDLP (b), were the most radical in this sense, calling for a socialist revolution, the nationalization of land and enterprises, the abolition of private property, and the transition to socialism as such. The ideological leader and organizer was the well-known Vladimir Ulyanov (Lenin). The Mensheviks, the RSDLP (m), were less radical, who believed that Russian history had not yet grinded the flour from which the pie of socialism had to be baked. Their leader, Julius Martov, advocated a bourgeois-democratic revolution and a gradual solution of the main issues. A special place in the left bloc was occupied by Socialist-Revolutionaries (SRs), who positioned themselves as defenders of the peasantry, continuers of the traditions of populism. They advocated the socialization of the land, that is, the transfer to the communities. Viktor Chernov was the head of the Socialist-Revolutionaries. Along with these, there were other revolutionary parties in Russia, such as the Popular Socialists, the Socialist Revolutionaries, the Trudoviks, and a wide range of national revolutionary groups (the Bund, the revolutionary Ukrainian party, and others).

Liberal parties

As such, the multi-party system in Russia has developed with the legal design of liberal centrist parties. In the First and Second State Duma the largest number, but not the overwhelming majority, was occupied by the Cadets, who are called left centrists. They demanded the partial alienation of the landed estates in favor of the peasantry and the restriction of the monarchy to the parliament and the constitution, and further reform. The universally recognized leader of the Cadets was the historian Pavel Miliukov. The main political force of the Third and Fourth Duma was the Octobrist Party, whose representatives recognized the great importance for the history of Russia of the October 17 manifesto. Alexander Guchkov, who headed the movement, defended the interests of the big bourgeoisie, which hoped to calm the country and further economic growth. The Octobrists are therefore called conservative liberals.

Right block

The right political sector was very large in composition, but little organized at the beginning of the last century. Monarchists, Black Hundreds, conservatives are all about them. The Russian Emperor Nicholas II was an honorary member of several parties, although they differed in name, but had a single political program. Its essence was reduced to the return of unlimited autocracy, the protection of Orthodoxy and the unity of Russia. Not recognizing the First State Duma, conservative sections of society did not organize or participate in elections. But further events have shown that one can not completely drop out of political legal struggle in the parliament. Representatives of the Union of Michael Archangel, the Union of the Russian People and other movements fully supported the policy of Nicholas II. And against their opponents used violent methods, such as pogroms.

Elimination of multi-party system

After the Bolsheviks came to power on October 25, 1917, the multiparty system in Russia was gradually being destroyed. First, monarchist associations, Octobrists, left the political arena, cadets were declared outlaws in November. Revolutionary parties continued to exist for several years, among which the main rivals of the Bolsheviks were the Socialist-Revolutionaries, who occupied the majority of seats in the general elections to the Constituent Assembly. But the attack against Lenin and his supporters during and after the Civil War led to the merciless struggle of the Bolsheviks against political opponents. In 1921-1923, Soviet Russia held a series of court sessions against the leaders of the Mensheviks and Socialist-Revolutionaries, after which membership in these parties was regarded as an insult and cursing. As a result, there was no multiparty system in the USSR. The ideological and political domination of one party, the communist one, was established.

Formation of multi-party system in modern Russia

The collapse of the Soviet political system fell on the period of perestroika, conducted by Mikhail S. Gorbachev. One of the important steps in the formation of a multi-party system in modern Russia was the decision to repeal Article 6 of the USSR Constitution, adopted in 1977. It enshrined the special, leading role of communist ideology in the state, and, by and large, meant the monopoly of one party for power. After the putsch of the State Emergency Committee in August 1990, the president of Russia generally banned the operation of the CPSU on its territory. By that time a new multi-party system had been formed in Russia. From the first it united the presence of a huge number of political organizations that did not differ significantly from one another in their views in the same direction. Many researchers note the rather narrow social base of the majority, therefore they are called "protoparties". National movements in the republics, known as "people's fronts", have become widespread.

The main political forces

In the 1990s, among the many political organizations, there were several main political groups that began to fight among themselves for mandates in the Duma. In the elections in 1995, the four leaders were determined, which managed to overcome the barrier at five percent. These same political forces characterize the current multi-party system in Russia. Firstly, they are the Communists led by the permanent leader who has repeatedly acted as a presidential candidate - Gennady Zyuganov. Secondly - the LDPR, with the same constant and bright head - Vladimir Zhirinovsky. The government bloc that changed its name several times over the last decades ("Our Home Russia", "United Russia"). Well, the fourth, an honorable place, was occupied by the Yabloko party headed by Grigory Yavlinsky. True, since 2003, it has not been able to overcome the required barrier in the elections and has not been included in the representative legislative body since. Most of the parties in Russia are centrist, they have similar requirements and programs. Left and right they are called only by tradition.

Some conclusions

Most political scientists agree that a multi-party system is not the best option for the country's political development . States with a bipartisan system are more predictable in their development, are more likely to avoid extremes, retain their adherence. A multi-party system is a concept that has both a legal and a practical meaning. In the first case, there are many unions, but only one or two have real chances to come to power. The real multi-party system shows that no political force can get a parliamentary majority. In this case, coalitions are organized, temporary and permanent.