Russia's upper house of parliament, the Federation Council, is not directly elected but is filled by governors and the heads of local legislatures, who automatically become Federation Council members upon being elected to their regional leadership posts. In fact, in the single-mandate districts, party candidates actually fared worse than independents. But by the second Duma elections, in 1995, parties were noticeably gaining importance. This can be seen in several conclusions drawn from analyses of survey results and voting patterns. Parties in Russia have distinct social bases.
Voters distinguish between parties in terms of ideas in a reasonable way.
These policy positions correspond quite well to the policies espoused by the parties' central leaders. There is evidence even that party loyalties are beginning to form. In 1995, people often voted for candidates of the same party in both the PR and the SMD voting. This is evidence that even in 1995, parties were about more than their national leaders. Instead, people were linking local party candidates to the federal ones in systematic ways.