Russia's Constitution of 1993 is the written constitution, approved by referendum after the collapse of the USSR, that established the Russian Federation's regime, creating a semi-presidential system with a strong executive presidency and a bicameral legislature (the Federal Assembly).
Russia's Constitution of 1993 is the document that built the post-Soviet Russian state from scratch. After the USSR collapsed in 1991, Russia needed new fundamental rules for who gets power and how. President Boris Yeltsin pushed this constitution through a national referendum in December 1993, right after a violent standoff with the old parliament. The result was a constitution that concentrated enormous power in the presidency, a design choice that still shapes Russian politics today.
In AP Comp Gov terms, this constitution is Russia's regime written down. It defines the fundamental rules that control access to and exercise of political power, which is exactly how the CED defines a regime. It created a semi-presidential system (a directly elected president plus a prime minister), a bicameral Federal Assembly (the Duma and the Federation Council), and a federal structure. Governments come and go in Russia, but the 1993 constitutional framework has endured, even as amendments (notably in 2020) have reshaped it to extend presidential power.
This term lives in Unit 1: Political Systems, Regimes, and Governments, specifically Topic 1.2 (Defining Political Institutions). It directly supports learning objective AP Comp Gov 1.2.A, which asks you to describe differences between regimes, states, nations, and governments. Russia's 1993 Constitution is the cleanest example of a regime change you'll get in this course. The Russian state (territory, population, international recognition) survived the Soviet collapse, but the regime changed completely when the new constitution replaced communist one-party rule with a formally democratic, multiparty framework. If you can explain why 1991-1993 was a regime change rather than just a new government, you understand the heart of Topic 1.2. The constitution also sets up everything you'll learn about Russia in later units, from its super-strong presidency to debates over whether Russia is a democracy or an authoritarian regime hiding behind democratic rules.
Keep studying AP® Comparative Government Unit 1
Unwritten constitution (Unit 1)
Russia's 1993 Constitution is a single written document, the opposite of the UK's unwritten constitution, which is scattered across statutes, court rulings, and traditions. The exam loves this contrast because it shows that a regime's rules can be codified in one place or built up over centuries.
Regimes vs. governments (Unit 1)
The 1993 Constitution is the textbook way to show you know the difference. Putin replacing Medvedev as president was a change in government. Replacing the Soviet system with the 1993 Constitution was a change in regime, because the fundamental rules of power themselves changed.
Russia's semi-presidential system (Unit 2)
The constitution created the institutional setup you analyze in Unit 2, with a directly elected president, an appointed prime minister, and a bicameral Federal Assembly. The president's power to dissolve the Duma and rule by decree explains why scholars call Russia's design super-presidential.
Democratic vs. authoritarian regimes (Unit 1)
On paper, the 1993 Constitution guarantees elections, rights, and separation of powers. In practice, Russia is classified as an authoritarian regime. This gap between formal rules and actual practice is exactly what the CED means when it says regimes are characterized by HOW they set and follow rules, not just what the rules say.
No released FRQ has asked about the 1993 Constitution by name, but it shows up constantly as supporting evidence. Multiple-choice questions use Russia's post-Soviet transition to test whether you can distinguish a regime change from a government change, or compare written and unwritten constitutions across course countries. On FRQs, especially the comparative essay and conceptual analysis questions, citing the 1993 Constitution lets you anchor claims about Russia's institutions with a specific, dated example. The move that earns points is connecting the document to a concept. Don't just say Russia has a constitution; explain that the 1993 Constitution defines Russia's regime, concentrates power in the presidency, and creates a gap between formal democratic rules and authoritarian practice.
Russia's 1993 Constitution is a codified constitution, meaning one written document adopted at a specific moment (the December 1993 referendum) that lays out the regime's rules. The UK's unwritten constitution has no single founding document; its rules come from accumulated statutes, common law, and conventions. The trap is assuming a written constitution makes a regime more democratic. Russia's written constitution coexists with authoritarian practice, while the UK's unwritten one supports a long-standing democracy. What matters for the AP exam is how rules are actually followed, not how they're formatted.
Russia's Constitution of 1993 was approved by national referendum in December 1993 and established the regime of the post-Soviet Russian Federation.
It created a semi-presidential system with a very powerful directly elected president, a prime minister, and a bicameral legislature called the Federal Assembly.
The constitution illustrates the CED's regime-versus-government distinction, because the Soviet-to-Russian transition changed the fundamental rules of power, not just the people in office.
As a single codified document, it contrasts directly with the UK's unwritten constitution, a comparison the exam frequently draws on.
Russia shows that democratic-looking constitutional rules can coexist with authoritarian practice, which is why how rules are followed matters more than how they are written.
It's the written constitution, approved by referendum in December 1993 after the USSR collapsed, that established the Russian Federation's regime. It created a semi-presidential system with a strong presidency, a prime minister, and the bicameral Federal Assembly.
On paper, mostly yes; in practice, no. The constitution guarantees elections, rights, and separation of powers, but Russia is classified as an authoritarian regime because of how power is actually exercised. The CED's point is that regimes are judged by how rules are set and followed, not just what's written down.
A regime change. It replaced the fundamental rules of Soviet communist rule with an entirely new framework for accessing and exercising power. A government change would just be new leaders operating under the same rules, like a new president taking office.
Russia's constitution is codified, meaning one written document adopted at a specific moment. The UK's constitution is unwritten, built from statutes, court decisions, and traditions accumulated over centuries. Both define a regime; only one fits in a single document.
Yeltsin pushed the constitution through right after a violent 1993 standoff with parliament, so it was deliberately written to favor the executive. The president can appoint the prime minister and dissolve the Duma, a design often called super-presidentialism, and 2020 amendments extended presidential power further.
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