This chapter argues that the Duma is characterised by an increasing interest in controlling debate on the parliamentary floor, resulting in greater scrutiny over legislative access even though aggregate floor time increases. The heightened scrutiny over floor access seeks to exclude of opposition backbenchers and increase the participation of key members of the systemic opposition and dominant party, limiting incipient dissent and providing stronger avenues for party unity. The Duma accomplishes these tasks through a combination of informal party-based delegation arrangements and ad-hoc tightening of the formal rules of procedure to centralise debates within these key deputies. This argument highlights the importance of understanding the dynamic nature of legislative debates under different regime types and the ways in which it is ultimately controlled in non-democratic settings.

What are the effects of Election Rules on Legislative Debate Participation in the Russian Duma (2004-2021)? This article examines the impact of electoral rule changes on floor participation in the Russian Duma during the Fourth and Fifth, and Sixth and Seventh convocations. Specifically, it analyses how the transition from mixed-member majoritarianism (MMM) to proportional representation (PR) affect floor participation and whether the subsequent reversal of the electoral system tempered oppositional activity. The analysis builds on the results presented in The Dynamics of Debate Participation in the Russian Duma (working paper, 2023), which investigated legislator-level covariates on floor participation across convocations in the Duma. Notably, similar baseline differences were observed between the Fourth and Sixth convocations, while the Seventh convocation displayed marked differences from all others. The former divergence coincided with United Russia’s emergence as the dominant party and a significant electoral reform transitioning from MMM to PR systems, while the latter – more significant – deviation coincided with a reversal of electoral system.