The Status of Parliamentary Committee Chairs in the State Duma of VI—VIII Convocations: Legislative Activity and Co-authorship Networks

Using the State Duma of the Russian Federation during its VI—VIII convocations as a case study, this article examines how parliamentary committee chair positions — filled primarily on a professional basis — shape legislative activity and co-authorship networks. After reviewing the State Duma’s Regulations on committee powers and their amendments since 2011, the author analyzes the frequency, subject matter, and success rates of initiatives introduced in collaboration with committee chairs. After that the author examines co-authorship as a network: the graphs constructed on the basis of 5810 bills are used to calculate modularity and density indices, along with the centrality measures aggregated by committee positions. By comparing the resulting metrics across the three convocations, the author traces the evolution of the roles of committee positions in the process of co-authorship and documents the increasing significance of committee chairs, revealing the systemic nature of the observed changes. The overall results of the network and statistical analysis conducted by the author demonstrate the centralization of the co-authorship network on a formal basis — despite the importance of personal lawmaking strategies, the role of a deputy within the network is determined by his position in the committee. The revealed significance of committee position not only from the bureaucratic perspective, but also within the network of cooperation, allows us to take a fresh look at inner parliamentary processes and uncover the rules according to which deputies de facto interact.