As a nuclear power, UN Security Council member, emerging Arctic hegemon and the largest state in the world, Russia - and its stability - is of extreme importance in global politics. In the most comprehensive long-term study to date, Derek Hutcheson argues that Russian legislature forms an integral part of the country's political system and machinery of governance. Having previously formed a counterweight to presidential power under Boris Yeltsin, legislative agenda was strong-armed by Putin leaving the country a four-party 'cartel' with the pro-presidential United Russia party at its centre. Perception that Russian elections are predictable, controlled, and pointless to examine has grown, but real voters cast real ballots and this book is the story of how the electoral system has evolved. As campaign strategies developed and voting behaviour changed, Hutcheson utilised a combination of official data and new primary material to set 25 years of Russian parliamentary elections into context. Putting forward an in-depth analysis of post-Soviet politics, Hutcheson looks forward to the next stage in Russia's political evolution just as he looked back.