Liberal Democratic Party of Russia in the context of State capitalism

Within Russian political parties, liberal parties advocate the expansion of political and civil freedoms and mostly oppose Russian president Vladimir Putin. In Russia, the term "liberal" can refer to wide range of politicians, from the centre-right and proponents of shock therapy to left-liberals and progressives. The term "liberal democrats" is often used for members of the far-right nationalist Liberal Democratic Party of Russia. There are Russian opposition and pro-government liberal political parties in Russia. Pro-government liberal politicians support Putin's policy in economics.

There are no liberal factions in Russian parliament at the moment. Centre-left liberalism was represented in the State Duma of Russian parliament by the Russian United Democratic Party "Yabloko" (7.86% in 1993 election, 6.89% in 1995, 5.93% in 1999). Pro-government liberalism was represented by the Our Home – Russia (10.13% in 1995 election), the liberal political party founded by Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin. Centre-right liberalism was represented by the pro-capitalist party Democratic Choice of Russia (15.51% in 1993) and its successor, the Union of Right Forces (8.52% in 1999 election).Yabloko and the Republican Party of Russia – People's Freedom Party are members of Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party. Yabloko is also a member of Liberal International. Since Vladimir Putin's rise to power in 2000, many liberal parties and politicians have been persecuted.

Mikhail Vladimirovich Degtyarev (Russian: Михаи́л Влади́мирович Дегтярёв; born 10 July 1981) is a Russian politician serving as the Minister of Sport since May 2024. He was previously Governor of Khabarovsk Krai from September 2021 until 2024. He currently serves as the president of Russian Olympic Committee since December 2024.

He has been a member of the State Duma, representing the Liberal Democratic Party, since the 2011 parliamentary election. He is also Vice Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Science and High Technology. He is a member of the Supreme Council of the Liberal Democratic Party, and was a candidate for mayor of Moscow in the 2013 and 2018 elections.

Opposition to the government of President Vladimir Putin in Russia, commonly referred to as the Russian opposition, can be divided between the parliamentary opposition parties in the State Duma and the various non-systemic opposition organizations. While the former are largely viewed as being more or less loyal to the government and Putin, the latter oppose the government and are mostly unrepresented in government bodies. According to Russian NGO Levada Center, about 15% of the Russian population disapproved of Putin in the beginning of 2023. The opposition to Putin's political views is also called anti-Putinism.

The "systemic opposition" is mainly composed of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR), Communist Party of the Russian Federation (KPRF), A Just Russia – For Truth (SRZP), New People and other minor parties; these political groups, while claiming to be in opposition, generally support the government's policies.

Parliamentary elections were held in Russia on 12 December 1993 to elect all 450 seats of the 1st State Duma of the Russian Federation. Additionally, the elections were the first and only instance of direct elections to the Federation Council, with future members appointed by provincial legislatures and governors.

The far-right Liberal Democratic Party of Russia won a total of 64 seats, the most deputies of any single bloc in the chamber. The pro-government Choice of Russia bloc came second with 62 deputies, and the anti-government Communist Party of the Russian Federation came third with 42. Five seats in Tatarstan were left vacant due to turnout below 25%, and one seat in Chechnya was also unfilled.

Legislative elections was held in Russia on 17 December 1995 to elect all 450 seats in the 2nd State Duma of the Russian Federation.

The anti-government Communist Party won a total of 157 seats, the most deputies of any single bloc in the chamber. The pro-government Our Home – Russia came second with 55 seats, with the far-right Liberal Democratic Party of Russia falling to third place with 51. As well as the fourth placed Yabloko, only these four parties crossed the 5% threshold to win party-list seats.

Presidential elections were held in Russia from 15 to 17 March 2024. It was the eighth presidential election in the country. The incumbent president Vladimir Putin won with 88% of the vote, the highest percentage in a presidential election in post-Soviet Russia, gaining a fifth term in what was widely viewed as a foregone conclusion. He was inaugurated on 7 May 2024.

In November 2023, Boris Nadezhdin, a former member of the State Duma, became the first person backed by a registered political party to announce his candidacy, running on an anti-war platform. He was followed by incumbent and independent candidate Vladimir Putin in December 2023, who was eligible to seek re-election as a result of the 2020 constitutional amendments. Later the same month, Leonid Slutsky of the Liberal Democratic Party, Nikolay Kharitonov of the Communist Party and Vladislav Davankov of New People announced their candidacies.

Presidential elections were held in Russia on 2 March 2008. Incumbent president Vladimir Putin was ineligible to run for a third term. Dmitry Medvedev was elected for a four-year term with the support of Putin and five political parties (United Russia, Fair Russia, Agrarian Party, Civilian Power, and Russian Ecological Party "The Greens"), receiving 71% of the vote and defeating Gennady Zyuganov of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, and Vladimir Zhirinovsky of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia.

The fairness of the election was disputed, with official monitoring groups giving conflicting reports. Some reported that the election was free and fair, while others reported that not all candidates had equal media coverage and that the opposition to the Kremlin was treated unfairly. Monitoring groups found a number of other irregularities. The European election monitoring group PACE characterized the election as "neither free nor fair."

Legislative elections were held in Russia on 4 December 2011. At stake were the 450 seats in the 6th State Duma, the lower house of the Federal Assembly (the legislature). United Russia won the elections with 49.32% of the vote, taking 238 seats or 52.88% of the Duma seats.

This result was down from 64.30% of the vote and 70% of the seats in the 2007 elections. The Communist Party of the Russian Federation received 19.19% of the vote and 92 seats, its best result since 1999, while A Just Russia received 13.24% and 64 seats, with the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia getting 56 seats with 11.67% of the vote. Yabloko, Patriots of Russia and Right Cause did not cross the 7% election threshold. The list of parties represented in the parliament did not change.