Not the Little Things: On the Formation of Regional Parliamentarism in the Nizhny Novgorod Region at the Turn of the 1980s–1990s

This article analyzes certain aspects of functioning of the Nizhny Novgorod Regional Council of People's Deputies at the turn of the 1980s – 1990s. The authors focus on the deputies' discussion of tobacco and food problems, as well as proposals to reduce their severity in the Nizhny Novgorod Region. They point out that there are significant differences from the realities of modern discussions in Russian regional parliaments. The authors conclude that there was not only a lack of professionalism of the people's deputies, but also the growth costs of the regional proto-parliament.