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Duma

A duma (Russian: дума) is a Russian assembly with advisory or legislative functions.

The term boyar duma is used to refer to advisory councils in Russia from the 10th to 17th centuries. Starting in the 18th century, city dumas were formed across Russia.

The first formally constituted state duma was the Imperial State Duma introduced to the Russian Empire by Emperor Nicholas II in 1905. The Emperor retained an absolute veto and could dismiss the State Duma at any time for a suitable reason. Nicholas dismissed the First State Duma (1906) within 75 days; elections for a second Duma took place the following year. The Russian Provisional Government dissolved the last Imperial State Duma (the fourth Duma) in 1917 during the Russian Revolution.

Since 1993, the State Duma (Государственная дума, Gosudarstvennaya Duma) has functioned as the lower legislative house of the Russian Federation.

The Russian word is inherited from the Proto-Slavic word *duma which is of disputed origin. Its origin has many proposed theories that provide convincing evidence to support each proposed origin. Mladenov, Stender-Petersen: From Proto-Indo-European *dʰewh₂- (“to smoke”), akin to Proto-Slavic *duti (“to blow, to inflate”), *dymъ (“smoke”), perhaps originally meaning “breath, spirit”. Compare Ancient Greek θῡμός (thūmós, “soul, emotion”), occasionally also “thought, mind”. Vaillant: Contracted from hypothetical *douma < *do- + *umъ (“mind”) + *-a. Compare *douměti (“to comprehend”) (whence Russian надоу́мить (nadoúmitʹ, “to advise”)). Machek: From an inversion of root *mewHdʰ-, otherwise yielding Proto-Slavic *myslь (“thought”), Ancient Greek μῦθος (mûthos, “word, fable”). Also thought to be derived from Proto-Germanic *dōmaz. The word is also related to the Russian verb dumat′ (думать) meaning "to think".

The term boyar duma (боярская дума, boyarskaya duma) is used to refer to the councils of boyars (but not to be confused with (boyar scions) which advised the prince on state matters during the times of Kievan Rus' and the Tsardom of Russia (then tsar). In 1711 Peter the Great transferred its functions to the Governing Senate. Contemporary sources always refer simply to "the boyars" or to "the duma", but never to the "boyar duma". Originally there were ten to twelve boyars[citation needed] and five or six okolnichies. By 1613 the duma had increased to twenty boyars and eight okolnichies. Lesser nobles, "duma gentlemen" (dumnye dvoriane) and secretaries, were added to the duma and the number of okolnichies rose in the latter half of the 17th century. In 1676, the number of boyars increased to 50 – by then they constituted only a third of the duma.

Under the reign of Catherine II, reforms to local government led to city dumas being established in Russian cities.

Under the reign of Alexander II, several reforms were enacted during the 1860s and 1870s. These included the creation of local political bodies known as zemstvos. All owners of houses, tax-paying merchants and workmen are enrolled on lists in a descending order according to their assessed wealth. The total valuation is then divided into three equal parts, representing three groups of electors very unequal in number, each of which elects an equal number of delegates to the municipal duma. The executive is in the hands of an elective mayor and an uprava, which consists of several members elected by the duma. Under Alexander III, however, by laws promulgated in 1892 and 1894, the municipal dumas were subordinated to the governors in the same way as the zemstvos. In 1894 municipal institutions, with still more restricted powers, were granted to several towns in Siberia, and in 1895 to some in Caucasia.

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