ABSTRACT
One of the most remarkable features of the fledgling Russian state is the size of the presidential staff. From a small group of personal advisors in the summer of 1991, the presidential staff mushroomed by the beginning of 1992 into an intricate bureaucracy employing over 1000 persons. In Russia, the ministries and state committees remained the organizations with direct responsibility for Government administration. To enhance the authority of the Government and to encourage smooth relations between the bureaucracies of the president and the Government during the rebirth of the Russian state, Yeltsin assumed the additional role of prime minister in November 1991. Despite the existence of separate executive bureaucracies surrounding the president and Government, Yeltsin envisioned the development of what he termed a single executive power in the Russian Federation. While the territory of the USSR was divided among 15 successor states, the Soviet state was transferred to one, the Russian Federation.
