Democratic Choice of Russia

Not to be confused with Democratic Russia; Democratic Party of Russia; Choice of Russia (electoral bloc); or Democratic Choice (Russia, 2010).

For other uses, see Choice of Russia.

The Democratic Choice of Russia (DCR),^[a] known before 1994 as the "Choice of Russia" Bloc (CR),^[b] was a Russian centre-right conservative-liberal political party. Later the party was self-disbanded and most members would merge into the Union of Right Forces.^[1]

Democratic Choice of Russia Демократический выбор России
Abbreviation	DVR (English) ДВР (Russian)
Leader	Yegor Gaidar
Founded	17 October 1993 (1993-10-17) (Choice of Russia bloc) 12 June 1994 (1994-06-12) (Democratic Choice of Russia party)
Dissolved	19 May 2001 (2001-05-19)
Succeeded by	Union of Right Forces
Headquarters	23th Building, Profsoyuznaya Street, Moscow
Newspaper	"Democratic Choice", magazine "Open politics"
Ideology	Conservative liberalism Liberal conservatism
Political position	Centre-right
Colours	White   Blue   Red
Slogan	"Liberty, Property, Legality" (Russian: "Свобода, Собственность, Законность")
Seats in the 1st State Duma	64 / 450
Seats in the 2nd State Duma	9 / 450
Website
dvr.ru
Politics of Russia Political parties Elections

Logo of the Choice of Russia (1993-1994)

Background and establishment

At the elections to the State Duma held on 12 December 1993, the Choice of Russia bloc (the predecessor to the Democratic Choice of Russia) received 15.51% of the vote, and consequently, 40 seats in the State Duma.

On 20 January 1994, having lost influence over making economic decisions and opposed to the increase of budget expenditure, the leader of the Choice of Russia, Yegor Gaidar, resigned from the government headed by Viktor Chernomyrdin. At that point the Choice of Russia lost its status as a pro-government faction, yet at the same time it continued to support president Boris Yeltsin and Chernomyrdin's government by providing constructive criticism of their policies.

On 12 and 13 June 1994, the founding meeting of the party Democratic Choice of Russia was held. At the meeting, the party's programme was adopted and its governing bodies were set up. Yegor Gaidar was elected as party chairman.^[2]

In 1995, the party contested the election in a coalition of (minor) like-minded groups, forming the Democratic Choice of Russia – United Democrats.^[3]

Later, in 2001, it merged into the Union of Rightist Forces.^[1]

Values

The party had valued ideas of both liberalism and conservatism. This included human rights, self-determination, a market economy, private capital investment, fair competition and the restriction of government regulations in the economy.

Election results

Presidential election

Election	Candidate	First round		Second round		Result
		Votes	%	Votes	%
1996	Endorsed Boris Yeltsin	26,665,495	35.32%	40,402,349	53.82%	Elected Y
2000	Endorsed Vladimir Putin	39,740,434	52.94%			Elected Y

State Duma elections

Election	Party leader	Performance					Rank	Government
		Votes	%	± pp	Seats	+/–
1993	Yegor Gaidar	8,339,345	15.51%	New	64 / 450	New	2nd	Coalition
1995		2,674,084	3.86% (DVR-OD)	11.65	9 / 450	55	4th	Opposition (1995–1997)
								Coalition (1997–1998)
								Opposition (1998–1999)
								Coalition (1999)
								Opposition (1999)
1999		5,677,247	8.52% (SPS)	4.66	29 / 450	20	4th	Coalition

Notes

1. Russian: Демократический выбор России (ДВР), romanized: Demokratičeskij vybor Rossii (DVR), IPA: [dʲɪməkrɐˈtʲitɕɪskʲɪj ˈvɨbər rɐˈsʲiɪ (ˌdɛˌvɛˈɛr)]
2. Russian: Блок «Выбор России» (ВР), romanized: Blok «Vybor Rossii» (VR), IPA: [bɫoɡ ˈvɨbər rɐˈsʲiɪ (ˌvɛˈɛr)]