Editing Politics of Russia (section)

===Gorbachev, 1985 - 1991===
Certain policies of Soviet leader [[Mikhail Gorbachev]] (in office as [[General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union]] from 1985 to 1991) also encouraged nationalities in the union republics, including the Russian Republic, to assert their rights. These policies included ''[[glasnost]]'' (literally, public "voicing"), which made possible open discussion of democratic reforms and long-ignored public problems such as pollution.<ref>Brown, Archie. ''The Gorbachev Factor''. Oxford University Press, 1996, pp. 137–142.</ref>
''Glasnost'' also brought constitutional reforms that led to the election of new republic legislatures with substantial blocs of pro-reform representatives.

In the RSFSR a new legislature, called the [[Congress of People's Deputies of Russia|Congress of People's Deputies]], was [[1990 Russian legislative election|elected in March 1990]] in a largely free and competitive vote. Upon convening in May, the congress elected [[Boris Yeltsin]],<ref>Remnick, David. ''Lenin’s Tomb: The Last Days of the Soviet Empire''. Random House, 1993, pp. 184–192.</ref> a onetime Gorbachev protégé who had resigned/been exiled from the top party echelons because of his radical reform proposals and erratic personality, as president of the congress's permanent working body, the [[Supreme Soviet of Russia|Supreme Soviet]]. The next month, the Congress [[Declaration of State Sovereignty of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic|declared Russia's sovereignty]] over its natural resources and the primacy of Russia's laws over those of the central Soviet government.<ref>Sakwa, Richard. ''Russian Politics and Society''. Routledge, 1996, pp. 90–92.[https://www.hup.harvard.edu/books/9780674034938]</ref>


During 1990-1991, the RSFSR enhanced its sovereignty by establishing republic branches of organizations such as the Communist Party, the Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union, radio and television broadcasting facilities, and the Committee for State Security (Komitet gosudarstvennoy bezopasnosti—[[KGB]]). In 1991 Russia created a new executive office, the [[President of Russia|presidency]], following the example of Gorbachev, who had created such an office for himself in 1990.<ref>[https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9780801439001/russias-unfinished-revolution/ McFaul], Michael. ''Russia’s Unfinished Revolution: Political Change from Gorbachev to Putin''. Cornell University Press, 2001, pp. 57–60.</ref>