The Dumas were the names for the government formed after the introduction of the October Manifesto of 1905. These were an elected legislative body that worked alongside the state council up until its dissolution in 1917.
When they were initially introduced, it seemed to the people to be a step forward towards democracy, however, it was shortly revealed this was not to be the case. In April 1906, Tsar Nicholas II issued an edict called the Fundamental Laws, which meant that the Tsar still maintained the rights to 1) rule independently when the Duma was not in session, 2) he had the right to dissolve the Duma at any point, 3) he maintained the power to change the electoral system 4) he had the power to appoint any ministers he wanted to the council, and 5) he was still the sole commander of the army and the navy. This all meant that, while the Duma had the illusion of being a democracy, the Tsar still held absolute power over the Duma, which severely limited their ability to act.
Overall, four different Dumas met between 1906 and 1917. The first two Dumas were elected indirectly, which suggested to the Tsar and his advisors that they would be a conservative group of people, however, they continued to be full of more liberal and socialist representatives , which resulted in the quick dissolution by the Tsar. After some changes to the electoral system in 1907, a new Duma was formed which was, to the Tsars pleasure, fairly conservative and tended to agree with the Tsars agricultural reforms and the reorganising of the military. This Duma served its full five-year term. The fourth Duma was also conservative, but as World War One progressed it became increasingly dissatisfied. It remained in session until the first revolution of 1917 after which it formed the Provisional Committee of the Duma, which then formed the first Provisional Government and was responsible for accepting the abdication of the Tsar.