Federal Government, Russia

Synonyms

Federal Governing Bodies; General Government

Definitions

The word “government” actually does not have a single appropriate equivalent in Russian. Depending on the context, this term should be translated into Russian in different ways.

In the sense of a pattern of governing, a single word will be inappropriate in Russian: to speak about the “government,” a conventional construction “form of ruling,” or “organization of state authority,” should be used.

The most widely used Russian analogue of the “government” is the word “pravitel’stvo,” meaning the governing entity (Khabrieva 2005). However, three different notions can refer to such entity: a certain body vested with executive powers, the executive as a system of bodies, and the whole system of governmental bodies (legislative, executive, and judiciary ones).

Currently, in Russian official language, the said term refers to certain collegial executive bodies (e.g., the “Government of the Russian Federation,” former federal...