RUSSIA’S UPCOMING parliamentary and presidential elections, scheduled for December 1995 and June 1996, respectively, will determine the future course of Russian democracy. Yet before either race can officially begin – campaigning for the parliamentary race will kick off on 17 September – parliament and President Boris Yeltsin must jointly define and pass into law the rules by which the elections will be conducted. Over the past nine months, battles over adopting laws on electing the president, the State Duma, and the Federation Council have been fierce. But the president’s and parliament’s willingness to compromise facilitated the adoption of the first two laws in late spring and summer. Discussions over the Federation Council were still continuing at the end of July.