Further modernization and professionalization of legislative activities could not but affect the personal makeup of Russian Parliament. The present article deals with the composition of the State Duma (Lower House of Russian Parliament) in its four post-Soviet convocations. It considers the following questions: likeness of the average Russian MP to his/her European counterparts in his/her sociodemographic and socioprofessional characteristics; the degree of continuity in the work of Russian Parliament; the role of prior experience and partisan affiliation in what concerns its makeup.

The Russian Federation, the State Duma, the deputy case, party structure, social composition