Pivovarov

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government, are  vised in the Administration. In this sense the CC of the CPSU practice has

been completely preserved. It is noteworthy that the work on the preparation of the budget has

been lately supervised by the Administration.

2)

 

THE SECURITY COUNCIL

The Security Council (headed by the Council Secretary who is practically subordinated to

the head of the Administration of President) is another very important government body,

working in close contact with the Administration of President. From the constitutional and legal

point of view the Security Council has a higher status than the Administration of President (in

reality it is vice versa, of course). It is stated in the Constitution: President forms and heads the

Security Council of the Russian Federation, whose status is determined by the federal law

(art.83). However, it is not this high legal level that makes the Security Council one of the most

influential centers in decision-making. Closeness to the President and his Administration —

these are the main trump cards of the Security Council. The main activities of this Institute are its

apparatus's work (experts and official), but not its members' rare meetings (the chairman of the

governments, chairmen of both houses of the Federal Meeting et al. are embers of the Council).

The Council worked most actively in 1998, when it was headed by a well-known and

experienced administrator A.Kokoshin. Under his leadership the Council has started turning into

constantly operating headquarters managing crisis situations in the country. Its task is to

coordinate power and force structures.

For instance, the fact that events in the Northern Caucasus do not develop (at least, till

now) according to Chechen variant is the Council's great merit. Russia's break down in

Chechnya conflict (I don't take ethical aspects of this conflict) is to a great extent connected

with the fact that the actions of force, legal, and other departments lacked not only coordination,

but they often acted in opposite directions. In 1998 Daghestan conflict A.Kokoshin managed to

differentiate the gones of responsibility of each department and work out the scheme of their

effective the command over all the force structures, it had also to take necessary measures in

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stabilizing the situation in the region; the army has to provide for transport operations and

communications).

Besides, the Security Council is gradually becoming a body coordinating all the analytical

work on forecasting possible crises. As the crisis is an immanent quality of the present situation

in Russia, the Council is doomed to become one of the most influential power structures in the

Country. This will be also favoured by the fact that lately there has been  refuilt the Commission

on Military Construction (read: the formation of new  Russian army). Though the Commission is

formally headed by the Chairman of the Government, all the organizational and analytical work

is given to the Security Council apparatus.

3)

 

THE COUNCIL ON FOREIGN POLICY

This Council was created by president B.Yeltsin's decree on foreign policy issues in late

December 1995. The Council is headed by the president; the very existence of the Council, as it

is noted in the decree, is the realization of the Russian Federation president's authorities in

foreign policy. The members of the Council are ministers of foreign affairs, defense, finance,

heads of the Federal Security Service (FSB), the Foreign Intelligence Service (FIS), the Federal

Border Service and the Adviser of the President on Foreign Policy. The Council's meetings are

presided by the president; meetings should take place once in two months. Decisions are taken

by simple majority on condition minimum half the members is present. These decisions do not

have legitimate force, and are recommendations for the president. The Council's apparatus

forms a part of the President Administration.

According to the decree, the Council should fulfil the following functions: to work out

recommendations on principal issues of foreign policy; to promote coordination of federal

government bodies' activities in the field of foreign policy; to inform the president on foreign

political issues of federal government bodies' activities; to analyze and forecast the trends in

development of the world situation; to study Russian public opinion in foreign policy; to promote

the development of normative acts in foreign policy.

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4) THE PRESIDENTIAL COUNCIL

The Council was created in 1993 by the Decree of the President B.Yeltsin and became a

successor of the Presidential Consultative Council that acted in 1992.

The main tasks of the Council are as following: elaboration of the strategic overtires in

internal and foreign policy; creation of mechanisms for an effective realization of national

development strategy; preparation of proposals on improving the operation of executive power

bodies; shaping of President's position on political parties, public movements and organizations.

The Council consists of the chairman — the RF President, the deputy chairman and 23

members, among them top state official, scientists and president's assistants. The Council is to

hold meeting not less rare than once a month. Its meetings are organized by the  Administration

of President.

4)

 

LOBBIESTS

Personal connections, "acquaintances" with decision-makers play a great role in Russian

political process. It's common knowledge that in the West lobbyist groups are exceedingly

powerful and play a noticeable role in politics. However, if in Western countries these groups,

first and foremost, try to realize their goals through various channels of influence on

governmental and parliamentary structures, in Russia lobbyists and representatives of

government bodies are often the same people. The most important index of lobbyist groups'

influence is the level of their representation in executive power.

To a great extent the political process in contemporary Russia is the process of struggle

and rivalry among different lobbyist groups. The struggle for gaining access to  material and

financial resources, for adopting the laws which would put in preferential position those spheres

of economy that are protected by  this particular lobbyist group, the struggle for privileged

positions under privatization of these or those economic establishments. Besides, and this should

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