State Duma second half of the 1990s, the Duma became an important forum for lobbying by regional leaders and businessmen looking for tax breaks and legislative favors. The work of the leading committees, such as those for defense, foreign affairs, or budget, attracted a good deal of media attention and lobbying activity. In the early 2000s, following the 1999 parliamentary elections, the pro-presidential Unity party and the Communist Party of the Russian Federation were the leading forces in the State Duma. A 2016 exposé by Dissernet showed that 1 in 9 members of the State Duma had obtained academic degrees with theses
Provisional Committee of the State Duma Provisional Committee of the State Duma Provisional Committee of the State Duma () was a special government body established on March 12, 1917 (27 February O.S.) by the Fourth State Duma deputies at the outbreak of the Russian February Revolution. The Committee declared itself the governing body of Russian Empire, but "de facto" competed for power with the Petrograd Soviet, which was created on the same day. The Government of Golitzine as the Council of Ministers of Russian Empire retreated to the Admiralty building. The Committee of the State Duma appointed 24 commissars to head various state ministries replacing the