ABSTRACT
This chapter explains the origins and developments of the party system. It examines that the impact of managed democracy on political parties. The chapter introduces that the parties registered for the 2007 Duma elections. It presents the results of the Duma and presidential elections. Elections are managed to produce the result, the Moscow Kremlin wants: the state-run media deny the opposition exposure and act as a propaganda machine for the Kremlin, there is the use of kompromat against opposition candidates, and instances of electoral irregularities and outright fraud are seen. The party system is a real weakness in Russia's democratisation, as parties remain poorly developed and leader-centric affairs. Elections are nonetheless important to the Kremlin, the results were and are used to demonstrate popular support and approval of Vladimir Putin's and Dmitry Medvedev's presidencies; they are also a rebuttal of foreign and domestic critics who claim that Russia is turning into a dictatorship.
