As laild out in the Constitution of the Russian Federation (1993), Russia is a democratic federal legal state with a republican form of government.

The Russian Federation is a social state whose policy is to create conditions which ensure a person's decent life and free development.  

In the Russian Federation, state power is divided into legislative, executive and judicial power, and the bodies of such power are independent.  

State power is exercised by the President, the Federal Assembly (the Federation Council and the State Duma), the government, and the courts of the Russian Federation.

The President of the Russian Federation is the head of state.

He is the guarantor of the Constitution and a citizen's rights and freedoms, and takes measures to protect the sovereignty and independence of the Russian Federation and state integrity, ensures the coordinated operation of and relations between the bodies of state power, determines the principal lines of the state's domestic and foreign policies, and represents the Russian Federation within the country and in international relations.

The President is elected for four years by citizens of the Russian Federation on the basis of universal suffrage. 

A citizen of the Russian Federation who is 35 years of age or older and who has resided permanently in the Russian Federation for at least 10 years may be elected. The same person cannot hold the office of President of the Russian Federation for more than two consecutive terms.

The Federal Assembly - the parliament of the Russian Federation - is the representative and legislative body of the Russian Federation.

The Federal Assembly has two chambers: the Federation Council and the State Duma.

The Federation Council has two representatives from each constituency of the Russian Federation: one representative each from the representative and executive bodies of state power.  

The State Duma has 450 deputies and is elected for a four-year term.  

A citizen of the Russian Federation who has reached the age of 21 and who enjoys the right to take part in elections may be elected a deputy of the State Duma.

Deputies work on a professional permanent basis and cannot be in state service and cannot be engaged in paid activity apart from teaching as well as scientific research and other creative activity.

Executive power of the Russian Federation is exercised by the government of the Russian Federation.

The government of the Russian Federation comprises the Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation, deputies of the Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation, and federal ministers.

The Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation is appointed by the President of the Russian Federation with the approval of the State Duma.

Justice in the Russian Federation is administered only by the court.

Judicial power is exercised by means of constitutional, civil, administrative and criminal proceedings.

The Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation has 19 judges. It settles cases of compliance with the Constitution of the Russian Federation at the request of the President of the Russian Federation, the Federation Council, the State Duma, one-fifth of the members of the Federation Council or of the deputies of the State Duma, the Government of the Russian Federation, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation, and the legislative and executive bodies of the constituencies of the Russian Federation, i.e.:

• Federal laws and norm-related acts of the President of the Russian Federation, the Federation Council, the State Duma and the Government of the Russian Federation
• The constitutions of republics, regulations, and laws and other norm-related acts of the constituencies of the Russian Federation issued in relation to matters within the jurisdiction of the bodies of state power of the Russian Federation and the joint jurisdiction of the bodies of state power of the Russian Federation and the bodies of state power of the constituencies of the Russian Federation
• Agreements between the bodies of state power of the Russian Federation and the bodies of state power of the constituencies of the Russian Federation, and agreements between the bodies of state power of the constituencies of the Russian Federation
• International treaties of the Russian Federation that have not come into force.  

The Supreme Court of the Russian Federation is the supreme judiciary body for civil, criminal, administrative and other cases which are under the jurisdiction of general courts. It oversees, in the procedural forms set out in the federal law, their activities and clarifies judicial issues.   

The Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation is the supreme judiciary body for settling economic litigations and other cases which are heard by arbitration courts; it exercises judiciary oversight according to the procedural forms set out in the federal law over their activities and clarifies judicial issues.

The judges of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation and the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation are appointed by the Federation Council at the request of the President of the Russian Federation.

The Public Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation is a unified centralized system whereby the prosecutors of lower standing are subordinated to the prosecutors of higher standing and to the General Prosecutor of the Russian Federation.

The General Prosecutor of the Russian Federation is appointed to his office and is relieved of duties by the Federation Council at the request of the President of the Russian Federation.

The prosecutors of the constituencies of the Russian Federation are appointed by the General Prosecutor of the Russian Federation with the constituencies' approval.