principles of Russian federalism

Article 1 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation defines Russia as a federal state, and Art. 5 states that the Russian Federation consists of republics, territories, regions, cities of federal significance, an autonomous region, autonomous districts of equal subjects of the Russian Federation.

As part of the Russian Federation in accordance with Art. 65 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation there are 21 republics, 6 territories, 49 regions, 2 cities of federal significance, one autonomous region and 10 autonomous regions.

Article 5 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation defines the fundamental principles on which Russian federalism is built.

1. State integrity of the Russian Federation. State integrity is an integral feature of a sovereign state. The state integrity of a federal state is guaranteed by the fact that state sovereignty as the supremacy and independence of state power on its entire territory and in international relations belongs only to the Federation, but not to its subjects. The subjects of the Federation do not have the right to withdraw (secession) from the Russian Federation. The Russian Federation has a single territory within the state border, a single citizenship, a Constitution, and a single economic space.

2. The unity of the system of state power. This principle means both the general foundations for the construction of government bodies of the Federation and the constituent entities, and the implementation of a common state policy.

The principle of the unity of the system of state power is expressed primarily in the unity of the system of bodies of state power. In accordance with Art. 77 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, within the jurisdiction of the Russian Federation and the powers of the Russian Federation in matters of joint jurisdiction of the Russian Federation and the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, federal executive bodies and executive bodies of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation form a unified system of executive power in the Russian Federation. Within the framework of a unified system of executive authorities, the President of the Russian Federation has the right to suspend the acts of executive authorities of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation in the event of a conflict of these acts with the Constitution of the Russian Federation and federal laws, international obligations of the Russian Federation or violation of human and civil rights and freedoms until this issue is resolved by the appropriate court (Art. 85 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation).

The system of judicial authorities in the Russian Federation is for the most part centralized. According to Art. 4 of the Federal Constitutional Law of December 31, 1996 "On the Judicial System of the Russian Federation", federal courts include the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, courts of general jurisdiction of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, district courts, military and specialized courts, the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation Federations, federal arbitration courts of districts, arbitration courts of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation.

3. Proclamation of the equality of the subjects of the Russian Federation. The Constitution of the Russian Federation in Art. 5 stipulates that the Russian Federation consists of equal subjects of the Russian Federation (part 1), and also that in relations with federal bodies of state power, all subjects of the Russian Federation are equal among themselves. Equality of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation means equal opportunities in the possession and exercise of rights and obligations. Naturally, various constituent entities of the Russian Federation have different economic, social and political characteristics, which creates a difference in their legal status, that is, the actual volume of rights and obligations exercised by a constituent entity of the Russian Federation.

The equality of the subjects of the Russian Federation is only proclaimed and is not confirmed by further constitutional regulation and the political and legal practice of federal relations:

1) in Art. 5 The Constitution of the Russian Federation calls the republics states, giving them the right to have their own constitutions. The rest of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation are entitled to have only statutes. The Constitution of the Russian Federation (Art. 66) establishes that the charter of a krai, oblast, city of federal significance, autonomous oblast, autonomous okrug shall be adopted by the legislative (representative) body of the corresponding constituent entity of the Russian Federation. With regard to the procedure for adopting the constitutions of the republics, no such restriction has been established - they can be adopted at a republican referendum;

2) in accordance with Art. 68 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, republics have the right to establish their own state languages. Such a right is not granted to the autonomous region and districts also formed on the basis of ethnicity;

3) republics in accordance with Part 2 of Art. 2 of the Law of the Russian Federation of November 28, 1991 "On the citizenship of the Russian Federation" may have their own citizenship: citizens of the Russian Federation permanently residing in the territory of the republic within the Russian Federation are at the same time citizens of this republic;

4) Art. 66 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation provides that autonomous okrugs may be part of a territory or region, that is, be a part of another subject of the Russian Federation. In this case, the territory and population of the Autonomous Okrug are included in the territory and population of the territory or region;

5) the practice of concluding bilateral agreements on the delimitation of jurisdictions and powers between the Russian Federation and the constituent entities of the Russian Federation. Such agreements are not concluded with all subjects of the Russian Federation and, thus, relations with one group of subjects are regulated, in addition to the Constitution of the Russian Federation, the multilateral Federal Treaty, by bilateral treaties, and the other group of subjects is guided only by the Constitution of the Russian Federation and the federal treaty. In addition, the content of bilateral agreements with different constituent entities of the Russian Federation differs significantly among themselves.

4. Equality and self-determination of peoples in the Russian Federation. The right of peoples to self-determination is a universally recognized principle of international law, established in the UN Charter, the International Covenants on Civil and Political Rights and on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. However, the Constitution of the Russian Federation, fixing the principle of self-determination of peoples in the Russian Federation, does not mean their self-determination in the form of statehood, that is, separation from the Russian Federation with the creation of their own state. This principle is enshrined in the Constitution of the Russian Federation as a principle of federalism and refers to the peoples (population) of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation as territorial and political communities. The right to self-determination of peoples as a principle of Russian federalism should be delimited from the right of nations to self-determination as a principle of international law. In the second case, the nation acts as a territorial-political community that forms a sovereign state. In this sense, one can speak of the "Russian nation", the "Russian people" as the totality of all citizens living in the territory of the Russian Federation (regardless of nationality).

5. Delineation of the subjects of jurisdiction and powers between the bodies of state power of the Russian Federation and bodies of state power of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation. The existence of a two-tier system of government bodies in the Russian Federation presupposes the definition of lists of issues to be resolved at each level. In the Russian Federation, the subjects of jurisdiction between the Federation and the constituent entities are delimited by establishing the subjects of the exclusive jurisdiction of the Russian Federation and the subjects of the joint jurisdiction of the Russian Federation and the subjects, as well as the conclusion of treaties and agreements.

The following basic principles should be observed when delimiting the scope of jurisdiction and authority:

1) constitutionality: laws and other regulatory legal acts of the Russian Federation and constituent entities of the Russian Federation, contracts, agreements cannot transfer, exclude or otherwise redistribute the subjects of jurisdiction of the Russian Federation and subjects of joint jurisdiction established by the Constitution of the Russian Federation. These acts cannot be adopted if their adoption leads to a change in the constitutional and legal status of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation, infringement or loss of human and civil rights and freedoms recognized and guaranteed by the Constitution of the Russian Federation, violation of the state integrity of the Russian Federation and the unity of the system of state power in the Russian Federation;

2) the supremacy of the Constitution of the Russian Federation and the laws of the Russian Federation: in case of inconsistency of the provisions of treaties and agreements with the provisions of the Constitution of the Russian Federation and federal laws on subjects of exclusive jurisdiction of the Russian Federation and subjects of joint jurisdiction, the provisions of the Constitution and laws of the Russian Federation apply;

3) equality of the subjects of the Russian Federation in the delimitation of the subjects of jurisdiction and powers;

4) inadmissibility of infringement of the rights and interests of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation: when delimiting the subjects of jurisdiction and powers in relation to one of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, infringement of the rights and interests of other constituent entities of the Russian Federation is unacceptable;

5) coordination of the interests of the federation and the interests of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation in the process of adopting federal laws, laws of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, concluding treaties and agreements;

6) voluntariness of the conclusion of contracts and agreements;

7) provision of resources: when delimiting the subjects of jurisdiction and powers, the issue of providing the relevant government bodies with financial, material, technical and other resources necessary for the implementation of their powers by these bodies is resolved;

8) publicity of the conclusion of contracts and agreements.

- Federalism of the Boris Yeltsin period.

At the very beginning of the 1990s, the slogan of federalism in Russia served, for the most part, as a cover and justification for spontaneous decentralization, that is, large-scale appropriation by regions of the functions and powers of the federal center, as well as raising their own status, carried out unilaterally ("parade of sovereignty" ). In general, the choice of a federal form of government in post-communist Russia was due to three main reasons: a) the need to prevent the country's territorial disintegration along the lines of the USSR; b) the need to reform national relations; c) the need to take control of the expanding process of spontaneous economic decentralization. Since this choice was dictated by a combination of unfavorable circumstances, it should be considered forced.

The Constitution of the Russian Federation, adopted in 1993, laid the foundations for a federal order in the country, but at the same time did not resolve a number of fundamental issues. The most significant of them concerned the equality of the subjects of the federation. The Basic Law in its various articles simultaneously postulates both equality and inequality of the legal status of the subjects of the federation. Such indistinctness provoked numerous difficulties both in the relations of the regions with the federal center and in their relations with each other. The new constitution reaffirmed the practice of granting substantial privileges to the republics over the territories and regions, which has become customary for Russian federal relations, based on the special rights of the so-called titular nations in the regions of their compact residence. This was done despite the fact that since the time of Stalin, in whose national policy the allocation of such territories was a key element, the map of the settlement of Russians has radically changed. Today, the majority of residents of national entities are, as a rule, not representatives of the "titular" nations, but Russians, and the "titular" ethnic groups themselves live for about 40 percent of their number outside their regions.

Among the main characteristics of "Yeltsin's" - transitional - federalism are the following.

First, in spite of the external institutional and legal ordering, federal relations during the period under review remained immature and unstable.

Their instability was due to several factors: a large number of subjects of the federation, as well as its complex internal structure; the presence of complex entities, on the territory of which there are rich reserves of mineral and fuel resources; and finally, the weakness of the federal center, which by the end of the presidency of Boris Yeltsin (1931-2007) had almost completely exhausted the possibilities of influencing the situation in the regions. For example, in Russia in the 1990s, there were no federal intervention mechanisms, which was an unconditional concession from a weakened and fragmented federal government to the strengthened regional elites. On the whole, the federation of the “Yeltsin era” was unstable to such an extent that its transformation into a highly centralized union or, on the contrary, into a loose confederation seemed only a matter of time.

Second, in developing federal relations, the first president of Russia preferred to rely on a system of political favoritism and exclusive relations with the regions, within which informal institutions and rules either replaced newly created formal institutions or filled the existing institutional vacuum. The dominance of informal institutions became the main structural characteristic of Russian federalism at that time.

Third, the foundations of the federal building were undermined by numerous legal contradictions: in the 1990s, the discrepancies between federal legislation and legislative acts of the subjects of the federation reached an extreme degree. Being engaged in rule-making in the absence of minimal attention and interest in this process on the part of the federal authorities, the regions formed a code of legislation that carries a significant potential for conflict.

Fourth, and this is probably the most important thing, Russian federalism under Yeltsin never became a public project, remaining the subject of a top design, the elements of which were lined up depending on the political situation. 273 The population did not perceive - and still does not perceive federalism as a public good. The federal structure of politics can act as a value, or it can remain just a means. In the Russian performance, it was never able to overcome the instrumental framework.

At the same time, there were positive aspects to the chaotic formation of Russian federalism in the 1990s. In particular, thanks to the new conditions of independence for us, regional elites have acquired colossal political and economic experience: a regional political scene has emerged in the country - the central platform for "federal bargaining", which over time has become increasingly important. In the same period, the formation of contractual relations, a practice that was fundamentally new for Russia and a key practice for federalism, began, as well as tools for coordinating the interests of the center and the regions were honed. Despite the complete neglect of all these skills in recent years, they will undoubtedly still be in demand in the course of the inevitable critical rethinking and rebuilding of the extensive recidivism of Unitarianism we are experiencing today.

The mentioned relapse, however, was by no means accidental. By the end of the twentieth century, the need to reform federal relations became more and more obvious; the main question was what tasks would inspire this reconstruction. Academic discussions in the second half of the 1990s were translated into a practical plane with the coming to power of Vladimir Putin (b. 1952). Moreover, the new head of state implemented his program as soon as possible, proclaiming as his main goal the desire to strengthen the state after its weakening in the previous period. Putin's federal reform is complex. Its main elements were:

The establishment of federal districts and the introduction of the post of the plenipotentiary representative of the president in each of the seven such entities;

Introduction of the institute of federal intervention in the regions;

Changes in the rules for staffing the Federation Council and the State Duma;

Bringing the legislative base of the constituent entities into line with federal legislation;

Reorganization of government structures at the regional level.

Taken as a whole, the reform was aimed at the maximum weakening of the regional elites and the concentration of administrative and financial resources in the hands of the federal bureaucracy. At the same time, its initiators proceeded from the fact that as a result of the consolidation of power, the federal bureaucracy, as the “backbone” of a strong and effective state, would become the locomotive that would provide the country with the necessary economic growth. In other words, Russian federalism was reformed not for the sake of its own improvement and renewal, but solely to ensure economic growth at any cost. The cumulative result of the reforms proposed by the former president in the federal sphere was not a fundamental dispersal of power, which invariably distinguishes the federalist political system and democracy as such, but, on the contrary, its all-round concentration.

The indifferent reaction of society to the described transformations testifies to the fact that in the years that have passed since the abolition of the communist regime, federalism has not become something significant and desirable for the citizens of Russia. Putin's re-election to a second presidential term was marked by further centralization of power and increased federal intervention. The abolition of direct elections of heads of regional executive power is a clear step back in the development of not only domestic federalism, but also the democratic process as a whole. The change of the head of state in 2008 has not yet introduced any innovations in the sad fate of Russian federalism.

Federalism according to Yeltsin The structure of Russian federalism during the Yeltsin period had the following phases. At the first stage, Yeltsin pragmatically supported the thesis of the maximum sovereignty of domestic Russian subjects. But this was nothing more than electoral populist rhetoric, which was most actively imposed and tried to instill in practice only by extreme Western liberals (such as the late Starovoitova), who believed that democratic Russia should be significantly smaller than the Russian Federation. These projects were contained in the documents of most of the early perestroika democratic movements on which Yeltsin relied. On the other hand, Gorbachev acted in the same direction in his confrontation with Yeltsin and with the leadership of the Union Republics. Kryuchkov's department and even more dubious authorities introduced Gorbachev's idea: if intra-republican and, in particular, intra-Russian separatism are maintained at a certain level of intensity, the dependence of the rapidly gaining strength of the republican leaders on the Union leadership will persist. It was from this time that such phenomena as Dudayevism, the "Tatar version" or the origins of parochialism should be counted. Abkhazia, Ossetia, Transnistria, Chechnya - all these are the bloody results of Gorbachev's two-move. At the same time, it is indicative that the Union Center and the extremist flank of the Westernizing democrats acted in a common vein on this issue. The creeping separatism within the Russian federal subjects was the one with which Yeltsin began. These processes, in a somewhat smoothed form, continued until his resignation. After Russia left the USSR, Yeltsin became gradually, sluggish and inconsistent, but oppose further sovereignty... The violent fragmentation of Russian space is over, a course has been taken to preserve the territorial integrity of Russia under the auspices of democracy. Armed with Gorbachev, Democratic Russia, Turkey and the United States, Dzhokhar Dudayev challenged Yeltsinism. The first Chechen campaign was the answer. And its inconsistent, hesitant conduct, and the shameful treacherous Khasavyurt, and the connivance of the defeatist, reaching outright Russophobia, media sentiments, and the blood scam of unpunished oligarchs - all this was a typical example Yeltsinism in the sphere of statehood... The formula for this stage: sluggish opposition to outright, declared, savage separatism flaunting with impunity, plus a feeble-minded compromise at a decisive moment with the "democratic" demagogy of the reformist environment, backed up by the corrupt methods of the oligarchs who sold Russia and its peoples several times and so, and this, renting out and taking back. In the first Chechen campaign, we saw an extreme example of Yeltsinism, where fragmentary crippled patriotism with betrayal and huckstering was ugly intertwined. Exactly the same situation, only in a smoothed form, was characteristic of the general model of relations between the Yeltsin Center and the regions. Governors and presidents responded with sabotage to tighten centralist measures in the political or economic fields. National leaders presented the Kremlin with pocket nationalists, whom they themselves promised to pacify in exchange for compensation benefits. Russian regions were blackmailed economically: tax collection, legal chaos ... But the principle was the same: sluggish trade was conducted between the Center and the subjects of the Federation. The regionals frightened the inadequate president with chimeras: the growth of “red-brown” sentiments, “revanchism,” “the threat of nationalism,” “social uprisings.” This is how the projects of the Ural and Far Eastern republics, some documents of the Siberian agreement, etc. And only his personal stubbornness and voluntaristic unpredictability did not allow the irreparable to come true during his reign. This "irreparable" began in earnest with Basayev and Khattab's raid on Dagestan. This was a turning point in recent Russian history. Yeltsin was faced with a challenge that he, by the very structure of his rule, could not answer. In August 1999, when impressionable earthlings who believed in Nostradamus were expecting the arrival of the "great king of terror", the acting. Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin was appointed instead of Stepashin, who was immediately recognized by the French geopolitician and mystic Jean Parvulesco as a "man of destiny."

a) Federal treaty and constitution: delineation of powers

Federated treaty(the agreement of the Congress of People's Deputies of the Russian Federation "federal agreement") is a normative agreement, one of the main sources of the constitutional law of the Russian Federation in the field of regulation of federal relations. Consists of three independent treaties on the delimitation of jurisdictions and powers within the Federation between the federal authorities and the authorities of the constituent entities of the Federation, united into three groups:

    sovereign republics

    territories, regions, cities of Moscow and St. Petersburg

    autonomous region and autonomous regions

The federal treaty regulates social relations in the sphere of building the Federation and its relationship with the constituent entities, as well as relations between the constituent entities of the Russian Federation.

The documents were signed on March 31, 1992 by representatives of the Russian Federation on the one hand and representatives of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation (all except Tatarstan and Checheno-Ingushetia) on the other.

On April 10, 1992, the VI Congress of People's Deputies of the Russian Federation approved the signed Federal Treaty and decided to include its content as an integral part in the Constitution of the RSFSR / Russian Federation. However, even after that, the Federal Treaty continued to exist as an independent constitutional and legal act. The Constitution of the Russian Federation of 1993 (in clause 1 of the second section) declared the supremacy of its norms over the norms of the Federal Treaty, but at the same time confirmed (in clause 3 of article 311) its effect in the sphere of regulating federal relations, which allows the Russian Federation to be considered a federal state constitutionally - contractual type.

6.1. Note that the territorial organization of power and forms of government

The state unites heterogeneous (in ethnic, religious, linguistic, cultural relations) social communities, therefore there is a need to ensure the interaction of these communities and the integrity of the state. Governance of a large state with a significant territory and a large population from the center is rather difficult, which presupposes the creation of a rather complex system of governance.

The stability of state institutions, the entire political life of society largely depends on the form of government. The form of government demonstrates the territorial structure of the state, the relationship between the state and its constituent territorial units.

Do not forget that it is important to clarify that territory- one of the main features of the state and a key element of understanding the essence of the state as a form of the political organization of society - is the foundation for building a system of state authorities and local self-government, aimed at successfully solving the problems of rational organization of the state.

Under territorial organization one should understand certain rules for the arrangement of both the constituent parts of the state territory and the state as a whole; in this case, the territorial organization of the state ensures the establishment of interrelationships between territorial units, as well as the exercise of public authority on the basis of the division of the territory.

When we talk about the territorial structure of a state, we mean, first of all, the form of the territorial organization of power. Note that the territorial structure the state - ϶ᴛᴏ, on the one hand, the form of the territorial organization of power, and on the other, the system of relations between the state as a whole with its constituent parts (territories) The nature of these relationships determines two main forms of state-territorial structure: unitary and federal. The third form of government is confederation- ϶ᴛᴏ is no longer a territorial association of the constituent parts of a state, but usually an association of sovereign states, which have their own territorial-state structures.

It is worth saying - the political-territorial structure states ϶ᴛᴏ the method of political and territorial organization of the state, the system of interrelationships between people living in the center and different regions, the distribution of power on the territory of the state between central and local government bodies.

It is important to know that most of the world's states have a unitary territorial structure. Unitary - a single state with a single constitution and citizenship, with a single system of government bodies and legal proceedings, where a single system of legislation, a single legal and monetary system functions. A unitary state is characterized by centralized management of administrative-territorial units and the absence of separate (independent) state-territorial entities. This is a single, indivisible, constituting one whole state-territorial structure. At the same time, two types of modern unitary state are distinguished - centralized and decentralized unitary states.

V centralized In unitary states, the subordination of regions to the center is carried out through officials appointed by the central authorities. This type of unitary state includes Kazakhstan, the Netherlands, Uzbekistan, Finland. V decentralized In unitary states, regional authorities are formed independently of the central ones, therefore their legal relations are built on the basis of decentralization. Such unitary states will be Great Britain, Spain, Italy, New Zealand, Japan.

Often, modern unitary states are divided into states with symmetrical and asymmetrical territorial structure.

State with symmetrical the administrative-territorial structure is characterized by the fact that its territorial parts have an equal political and legal status. For example, the voivodeships in It is worth saying - Poland or the regions in Belarus are equal. In a state with asymmetrical By its administrative-territorial structure, its territorial parts have different political and legal status. It should be remembered that such characteristic features are inherent in Italy, where Sicily, Sardinia and some other territorial units have special forms and conditions of autonomy, and the status of these autonomies is determined by separate constitutional laws. Many regions of Spain (Catalonia, Galicia) also have an asymmetric status. In recent years, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands and France, while remaining formally unitary, have used certain elements of federalism in their state-territorial structure.

Let's note the fact that in modern unitary states there are often several links of administrative-territorial units, depending on the population and territorial size of the state. There is a two-link, three-link and four-link administrative-territorial division. Usually the largest territorial units will be provinces, regions, provinces; these territorial units are divided into districts, districts, counties, etc. Some small states do not have administrative-territorial divisions at all.

Note that the territorial organization of a federal state can be considered as a system consisting of the following components: political-territorial organization (in the Russian Federation - republics, territories, regions, etc.), administrative-territorial organization of the subjects of the federation (cities, districts, settlements, etc.), economic-territorial organization (zonal-economic region, economic region of a constituent entity of the federation, municipal unit) and departmental organization (administrations, departments, etc.)

It is generally accepted that in a federation, both at the level of the center and territorial parts, there are the main structural elements of the state: legislative, executive, judicial power, other parts of the state apparatus, etc. cannot be arbitrarily liquidated by the central government.

Federation- ϶ᴛᴏ, first of all, a complex of territories with specific features that characterize the state itself. But these territories will not be states, they are state-like, since they are territorial units of the state (they are usually called state-territorial entities) and do not have sovereignty, that is, independent and unlimited from external factors of the supreme power, since sovereignty is an attribute state and not inherent in its territorial units.

Federal state structure characterized by the union of two or more territorial units - subjects of the federation (states, lands, provinces, cantons, republics, regions) into one state. These territories have significant political, economic and cultural independence, have their own administrative-territorial divisions and legislation.

In federal states, there are supreme federal authorities and supreme authorities at the level of the subjects of the federation, that is, there are two levels of state power - federal and regional.

It should be said that the powers of the authorities at both levels have constitutional or other legislative delimitation. It should be said that federations are characterized by the presence of a dual legal system, often dual citizenship, a bicameral parliament, one of whose chambers represents the interests of the subjects of the federation, and the other - national interests.

There are three most well-known forms of federation: negotiated, centralist and cooperative. At the same time, it should be emphasized that the specific forms of federation are constantly changing, reflecting various options for the relationship between the federal government and the subjects of the federation.

Negotiable the form of federation considers a federation as an association of states transferring, on the basis of a treaty, certain rights to the newly formed central authorities. Centralist the form of federation implies that all socio-economic and political life in individual parts of the state should be carried out on the basis of decisions of federal bodies. Cooperative the form of federation is based on socio-economic cooperation between the federal center and the subjects of the federation.

There are also two main forms of federation formation: based on union and based on autonomy subjects of the federation. It is generally accepted that the majority of federations, originally created on the basis of a union, over time, in the course of centralization processes, have actually turned into federations based on the autonomy of subjects that have no right to secede from its membership. In recent years, a qualitatively new concept of "European federalism" has been used - a special form of political union of Western European states, where political integration is based on the merger of state structures into a wider interstate community with the creation of new institutions of power and the transfer of part of the sovereign rights of national political bodies to them. The world has two main principle building a federation - national-territorial and territorial.

Confederation unites independent states to solve common urgent problems (military, energy, financial, etc.) The confederation cannot be called a form of state structure. This is a temporary interstate union formed on the basis of an international treaty, the members of which fully retain the first state sovereignty.

The main features of the confederation: 1) lack of a single territory; 2) unlimited right to withdraw from the union; 3) the central government depends on the governments of independent states, since it is supported by their funds; 4) financial resources for common purposes, a unified policy are formed from the contributions of the members of the union; 5) the armed forces of the confederation are under general command; 6) the general agreed international policy does not exclude the independent position of the members of the confederation on specific issues; 7) legally, all members are equal, but a real priority role in the confederation is played by a state with a higher military-economic potential.

Confederations are usually short-lived - they either disintegrate or transform into a federation. At the same time, the principle of confederalism can become a stimulating factor in modern integration processes (in the development of the European Union, CIS countries, etc.)

6.2. Modern federalism: concept, principles, signs, criteria

Federalism- ϶ᴛᴏ a system of basic features and principles of a certain form of state structure, a set of structures, norms and methods of state administration, which establish the interaction between the center and the subjects and ensure the rational and effective functioning of the state in the interests of both the federation as a whole and its subjects.

To the essential features of federalism goes:

  1. state-like nature of territorial units united into a single state - subjects of federations;
  2. constitutional delimitation of competences between the subjects and the center;
  3. inadmissibility of changing borders without the consent of the subjects;
  4. the territory of the federation consists of the territories of the subjects of the federation (states, republics, lands, etc.) and in political and administrative terms does not represent a single whole, but there is a single system of borders and its protection;
  5. the subjects of the federation do not have full sovereignty, do not have the right to secession (unilateral withdrawal from the federation);
  6. the subjects of the federation have a system of legislative, executive and judicial bodies of power, but in relation to the federal system of federal bodies of state power, they will be subsystems, the limits of their jurisdiction are determined by the federal constitution and laws;
  7. the subjects of the federation develop the ϲʙᴏyu constitution (charter), a system of laws, observing the priority, ϲᴏᴏᴛʙᴇᴛϲᴛʙyu federal constitution and legislation;
  8. there is no unified state budget in the federation, but there is a federal budget and budgets of the subjects of the federation;
  9. citizenship in a federation is usually dual: each citizen is considered a citizen of the federation and a citizen of the corresponding subject of the federation;
  10. is legally regulated, guaranteed the equality of all citizens on the territory of the federation;
  11. subjects do not have complete supremacy in their territory and are limited in their rights to act independently in the field of international relations;
  12. the federal parliament is usually bicameral, the upper house consists of representatives of the constituent entities of the federation, the lower one will be the body of national representation and is elected by the people.

To the main principles of federalismᴏᴛʜᴏϲᴙtsya: voluntariness of the unification of states and similar entities into a single state; adoption of the federal constitution and constitutions of the subjects of the federation; one-order (symmetric) constitutional status of the subjects of the federation and their equality; constitutional and legal differentiation of the sovereignty of the federation and the sovereignty of its subjects; common territory and citizenship; a unified monetary and customs system, the federal army and other state institutions that ensure its safe existence and functioning.

The forms of federation reflect the options for the relationship between the federal government and the subjects of the federation.

  1. the federal government (power) has the exclusive control over the conduct of foreign policy;
  2. states - subjects of the federation are not authorized to withdraw from the federation or to unilaterally terminate ties with the national union (federation);
  3. the federal government can exercise its power independently of the member states of the federation and carry out its will without their direct approval;
  4. no amendments can be made to the federal constitution without the approval of the member states of the federation;
  5. the federal government is not authorized to unilaterally change the boundaries of the subjects of the federation;
  6. state power is divided between the federal government and the governments of the states - subjects of the federation;
  7. certain and sufficiently significant powers should be left to the Member States;
  8. the main legislative body of the country should be bicameral, and the states - the subjects of the federation should have equal representation, at least in one of its chambers;
  9. the court should be organized according to a dual principle: each level has ϲʙᴏand courts to ensure the effectiveness of laws;
  10. the federal court interprets the constitution and can resolve conflicts between the federal government and the governments of the member states of the federation.

6.3. Constitutional and legal foundations of modern Russian federalism

The foundations of the constitutional system of the Russian Federation characterize Russia as a democratic federal rule of law with a republican form of government.

Based on Art. 5 of the Constitution "The Russian Federation consists of republics, territories, regions, cities of federal significance, an autonomous region, autonomous districts - equal subjects of the Russian Federation." In connection with this when considering problems political-territorial structure republics are often called national-state formations; krais, oblasts, cities of federal significance - by administrative-territorial entities; autonomous region and autonomous okrugs - by national-territorial formations. It is this characteristic that is caused by the fact that the political-territorial structure of modern Russia is based on two interrelated principles - national-territorial and territorial.

From a legal standpoint, these differences in the names (republic, territory, region) of the subjects of the Federation cannot serve as a basis for believing that the subjects of the Russian Federation have any differences in status and powers, since they are equal among themselves and in relations with federal public authorities in ϲᴏᴏᴛʙᴇᴛϲᴛʙii h. 4 Art. 5 of the Constitution. Equality Subjects of the Russian Federation cannot be questioned due to the fact that in the Constitution, after the mention of the republics, the word "state" is placed in brackets, and also because the Basic Laws of the Russian republics are called constitutions, while in other subjects they are called statutes. In these differences in names, some see the inequality of the subjects of the Russian Federation and even the asymmetry of the constitutional status of the subjects of the Russian Federation. At the same time, in particular, in Part 1 of Art. 5 of the Constitution establishes the equality of all subjects of the Russian Federation (republics, territories, regions), and part 2 of the same article defines the status of republics as states that have a constitution, in contrast to other subjects. Such inconsistency creates a constitutional and legal prerequisite for the actual inequality of the subjects with inevitable mutual conflicts both between them and with federal bodies. Speaking about the subjects of the Federation, they initially mean their equality, otherwise there can be no full-fledged federal system.

The Constitution (part 3 of Art. 5) emphasizes that the federal structure of Russia is based on the primacy of its state integrity, the unity of state power in the delimitation of the subjects of jurisdiction and powers between the bodies of state power of the Federation and the bodies of state power of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation. The Constitution recognized the diversity of national, demographic, geographic, communicative, everyday and other specifics of the constituent entities of the Federation and provided an opportunity for constitutional (statutory) regulation of social relations within each constituent entity of the Russian Federation.

The Federation, having two levels of state power, does not regulate the entire sphere of the political life of the state, since it relies on the constitutional the principle of delimitation of jurisdiction and authority between federal and regional government bodies. This principle cannot be considered separately from another constitutional principle, according to which, in relations with federal public authorities all constituent entities of the Russian Federation are equal among themselves.

The uniformity of the application of the principles of the territorial-political structure of the Russian Federation guarantees the development of local government. By the way, this form of democracy can take into account the historical, national and cultural characteristics that have developed on the territory of one or another constituent entity of the Russian Federation, but the political principles of organizing local government remain the same for all constituent entities.

The federal structure of Russia is based not only on its state integrity and the unity of the system of state power, but also on equality and self-determination of the Russian peoples. Taking into account the multinational Russian Federation, ϶ᴛᴏ self-determination can be realized in accordance with the Constitution and federal legislation only within the framework of the Russian Federation, that is, self-determination is not allowed up to secession. Therefore, the implementation of the constitutional the principle of equality and self-determination of peoples in intrastate federal relations, it cannot be associated with the raising by any people living within the territory of the Russian Federation of the question of the right to self-determination in the form of the formation of an independent sovereign state.

Principle equality of peoples confirmed by Art. 6 of the Constitution, which recognizes equal rights and freedoms of people regardless of their place of residence, their affiliation to a national-state or administrative-territorial entity. All peoples are equal regardless of their size and level of development. There is a relationship between the rights and freedoms of the individual and the rights and freedoms of peoples. The people in whom human rights are suppressed cannot be hungry, just as a person cannot feel hungry if the rights of his people are violated.

Anchored in the Constitution received the principle self-determination of peoples. It is impossible to imagine the organization of state power and the system of state administration, democratic and republican forms of government on the scale of the national state without the principle of political representation. The main instrument for implementing the principle of representation will be political parties and elections. It is important to know that most state institutions that make key decisions for the state and society, which are vital for citizens, are organized as a result of periodic elections.

6.4.
It should be noted that the features of the political and territorial organization of the Russian Federation

The constitutional design of the modern state structure of the Russian Federation took place in difficult conditions of the transition from the Soviet model of federalism to the legal model. Therefore, the criteria outlined above for the federal structure of the state in the conditions of Russia have specific features, and some of them are simply unacceptable.

Virtually no federal state in the world is supposed to have a unified system of executive power. In the same with Art. 77 of the Constitution, it is envisaged to create a unified system of executive power within the exclusive jurisdiction of the Russian Federation and joint jurisdiction of the Russian Federation and the constituent entities of the Russian Federation.

The judicial system of the Russian Federation is also significantly different from the judicial systems of other federal states, since it will be exclusively federal. In the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, only constitutional (statutory) courts with rather limited powers can be created.

Various types of constituent entities of the Russian Federation (republics, territories, regions, autonomous formations, cities of federal significance) and certain uncertainties regarding the equality of their constitutional and legal status make Russia an asymmetric federation.

The multinational composition of the population, a huge territory with different natural and geographical conditions, a historical trace in national relations and a specific political situation associated with the threat of the collapse of the Russian state - all determine the specifics of the federal structure of Russia.

In terms of its social content, Russian federalism personifies state unity, the unification of dozens of peoples as ethno-territorial communities around the Russian people, which is the core and main unifying force of the multinational federal state.

Peculiarity modern Russian federalism consists essentially in the fact that it combines territorial (general territorial) and national (national-territorial) principles.

The peculiarity of modern Russian federalism is in fact that ϶ᴛᴏ is a relatively young federalism, which is still in the process of becoming inextricably linked with the further democratization of the country. Although formally Russian federalism dates back to October 1917, its real formation and development began exclusively in the last decade of the 20th century.

It is important to note that one of the features of Russian federalism will be that the Russian Federation is the largest federation in the world. It is important to know that a large number of actors create a manageability problem. Note that control theory determines the scale of controllability within 9-13 objects. The process of unification of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation taking place today as a way to solve this problem has not yet yielded concrete results.

The Russian Federation is an asymmetric federation that allows for a diverse status, political, state-legal and financial position of its constituent entities. The symmetry is broken, since initially different principles were laid in the basis for the definition of the subjects of the Russian Federation: some were formed according to nationality and became republics, others - according to the territorial - territories, regions, cities of Moscow and St. region and autonomous okrug. Thus, three models of the constitutional structure of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation were established. The Constitution proceeded from the Federal Treaty and consolidated its compromise provisions: on the one hand, the equality of all subjects among themselves and in relations with state authorities, on the other hand, confirmed the diversity of the socio-political statuses of the Russian Federation.

In ϲᴏᴏᴛʙᴇᴛϲᴛʙii with st. 66 of the Constitution, the status of a republic is determined by the Constitution and the Constitution of the Republic.

A feature of the Russian Federation will be the legal status of autonomous regions - their dual legal personality: they will be independent subjects of the Russian Federation, but territorially they will be part of the region, the territory (the same equal subjects of the Russian Federation). regulation.

A feature and contradiction of Russian federalism will at the same time be enshrined in the Constitution (part 3 of article 11) the provision that the delimitation of powers can be carried out not only by the Constitution, but also by Federal and other treaties on the delimitation of jurisdictions and powers. Based on their ϶ᴛᴏgo, contractual relations can be of a constitutional, contractual or mixed nature. The existing relations of state authorities of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation with federal bodies can be conditionally divided into three types: close to confederal, federal, but based on individual agreements, based on the Constitution and the Federal Treaty and the statutes of the majority of the subjects of the Federation.

The Constitution does not mention the term "sovereignty" in relation to the subjects, state sovereignty extends to the entire territory of the Russian Federation, at the same time, the federal government is competent in resolving only issues determined by the Constitution and concerning the entire state. But Art. 76 of the Constitution defines the limits of jurisdiction of the Russian Federation, the joint jurisdiction of the Russian Federation and the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, the implementation of their own regulation of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation - the adoption of laws and regulations of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, and in this area the regulatory legal act of the constituent entity of the Russian Federation is in force, which emphasizes the "sovereignty" of the state power of the constituent entity RF.

Excluding the above, the constituent entities of the Russian Federation independently dispose of their property and can realize their national needs and interests. The problem is essentially that the constitutions of a number of constituent entities of the Russian Federation recognize the republic's sovereignty as more voluminous, raising the status of its state entity, taking it beyond the framework established by the Constitution and international principles of federalism. These features and contradictions determine the tasks and main directions of the development of federal relations, federal national and regional policy.

6.5. By the way, the stages of development of federal relations

First step- 1991-1993 It should be noted that it is characterized by the development of the decentralization trend and the desire to secede from the Russian Federation of a number of constituent entities of the Russian Federation. It is pertinent to note that a certain form of compromise between the central and regional authorities was the Federal Treaties of March 31, 1992 on the delimitation of the subjects of jurisdiction and powers between the federal bodies of state power of the Russian Federation and the authorities of the republics, territories, regions, cities of Moscow and St. regions, autonomous districts within the Russian Federation. After their signing, an active reform of the executive vertical of power began, its centralization and subordination to the President of the Russian Federation. An institute of representatives of the President in the constituent entities of the Russian Federation was established in order to coordinate the activities of federal and regional power structures. This stage ended with the dissolution of the Supreme Soviet, which led to an acute confrontation and destabilization of the situation in the country.

Second phase- December 12, 1993. The beginning of this stage was the adoption of the Constitution, which created a framework for interaction between the authorities.
It should be noted that the peculiarity of this stage will be the imperfection of the legislative regulation of the relationship between federal and regional government bodies. In these conditions, the constituent entities of the Russian Federation independently determine the systems of state power and political regimes (parliamentary, presidential), and build relationships with the federal center. The Center's concessions to the most politically influential constituent entities of the Federation (Tatarstan) help stabilize the situation in the country.

Stage Three- February 15, 1994. Treaty between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Tatarstan on the delimitation of jurisdictions and mutual delegation of powers between the state authorities of the Russian Federation and the state authorities of the Republic of Tatarstan.

Fourth stage-end 1994 Mass signing of the Federal Treaties. In these years, elections of governors were held, and the regions gained significant independence from the Center. This stage is characterized by a new wave of decentralization. In the context of a certain imbalance in federal-regional relations, the practice of concluding bilateral treaties and agreements between the federal center and the constituent entities of the Russian Federation has become widespread. It is worth noting that it compensated to a certain extent for the imperfection of the legislative framework for federal-regional interaction, relieved tension and ensured a certain level of stabilization of relations between federal and regional government bodies. At the same time, the problem of the asymmetry of federal relations has worsened.

Fifth stage- 1999 - the adoption of the Federal Law of October 6, 1999 No. 184-FZ "On general principles of the organization of legislative (representative) and executive bodies of state power of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation" (hereinafter - the Law of October 6, 1999 No. 184-FZ ), which established the general principles and procedure for delimiting the subjects of jurisdiction and powers by concluding agreements on such a distinction between the state authorities of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation and the federal center, which obliged the constituent entities of the Russian Federation to bring the texts of treaties into line with the Constitution by June 21, 2002.

Sixth stage began in 2000 and was marked by a change in the procedure for the formation of the upper chamber of the federal parliament - the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, the creation of the institution of federal districts, the reorganization of the institution of plenipotentiary representatives of the president in the regions, as well as the creation of the State Council of the Russian Federation.

Seventh stage The development of federal relations began in 2004 and is associated with the process of strengthening the vertical of power, namely: in September 2004, the procedure for the formation of senior officials of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation was changed. Amendments and additions were made to the Law of October 6, 1999 No. 184-FZ, in particular, it was supplemented with chapters defining general principles for the delineation of powers between federal bodies and authorities of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation and the economic basis of the activities of public authorities of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation.

There are several types of subjects of the Federation in Russia. Article 1 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation determines that the structure of the Russian Federation includes republics, territories, regions, cities of federal significance, an autonomous region, autonomous districts. All subjects are equal.

Our Constitution allows the adoption of a new subject in the Russian Federation. This is done in the manner prescribed by federal constitutional law.

Article 5 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation defines the fundamental principles of the Russian federalism :

State integrity. Despite the fact that the republics in Part 2 of Art. 5 Of the Constitution of the Russian Federation are called "states", they, like other subjects, do not have complete independence. The territory of the federation consists of the territory of its subjects, which do not have the right to free exit from the Russian Federation.

The unity of the system of state power. The subjects of the federation independently establish their own system of government bodies. Their power, like the federal one, is divided into legislative , executive and judicial... But the decisions of the bodies of state power of the subjects should not contradict federal decisions. Therefore, on the issues of the jurisdiction of the Russian Federation and the joint jurisdiction of the federation and the constituent entities, the executive bodies form a single system of executive power in the Russian Federation. If the acts of the subjects of the federation contradict the federal acts, the President of the Russian Federation may suspend the act of the subject until this issue is resolved by the appropriate court.

Delineation of the subjects of jurisdiction and powers between the bodies of state power of the Russian Federation and the bodies of state power of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation. The delineation of powers is as follows. The Constitution of the Russian Federation contains two lists. The first establishes the subjects of exclusive jurisdiction of Russia (Art. 71). These are the powers on which decisions should be made only at the federal level. The second list includes subjects of joint jurisdiction of the authorities of the Russian Federation and the authorities of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation (Art. 72). This is the terms of reference for which decisions are made jointly by the Federation and its constituent entities. The Constitution does not contain a third list, since there is no need for it: all issues that are not included in the first two mentioned lists are independently decided by the authorities of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation (Article 73).

Proclamation of the equality of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation. All subjects of the Russian Federation are equal among themselves, it does not matter whether it is a subject of a republic or a city of federal significance. All subjects have equal rights in the conduct of elections to the State Duma, representatives from each subject are included in the Federation Council. They were provided with equal grounds for concluding agreements on delimitation of subjects of jurisdiction, etc. Naturally, different subjects of the Russian Federation have different economic, social and political characteristics. At the same time, the republics are placed in a privileged position in comparison with other constituent entities of the Russian Federation, but more on that below.


Equality and self-determination of peoples in the Russian Federation. This principle guarantees all peoples living in Russia, regardless of their number, the same rights, including the election of their national statehood within the Russian Federation.

Fundamentals of the constitutional status of the Russian Federation and the constituent entities of the Russian Federation

Constitutional status of Russia- these are the main features of the Russian federal statehood.

The foundations of the constitutional status of the Russian Federation are determined by the following state-legal criteria:

1. Russian Federation - sovereign state; su-vernity extends to the entire territory of Russia; this means that sovereignty belongs only to Russia as a whole, but not to its subjects separately;

2. The Russian Federation has territory, which includes the territories of the subjects, internal waters and the territorial sea, the airspace above them (Art. 67 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation);

3. Single citizenship of the Russian Federation, in accordance with Art. 6 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, citizenship of the Russian Federation is uniform and equal, regardless of the grounds for acquisition; every citizen of Russia has all rights and freedoms on its territory and bears equal responsibilities;

4.H the presence of the highest bodies of state power; in accordance with Art. 11 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, state power in the Russian Federation is exercised by the President of the Russian Federation, the Federal Assembly (the Federation Council and the State Duma), the Government of the Russian Federation, the courts of the Russian Federation;

5.E wild Armed Forces; defense and security issues are exclusively under the jurisdiction of the Russian Federation; subjects do not have their own army;

6.E different constitution and legal system; the constitution of the Russian Federation has supreme legal force, it is applied throughout the territory of the Russian Federation; the legal system of the Russian Federation consists of a hierarchy of normative acts: the Constitution of the Russian Federation, federal constitutional laws, federal laws, laws of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation;

7.E diversified economic spaces; in the Russian Federation, goods, services and financial assets move freely throughout its territory; it is not allowed to establish customs borders, duties, fees and any other obstacles to the free movement of goods, services and financial resources;

8. On the territory of the Russian Federation established unified monetary system: the monetary unit in the Russian Federation is the ruble;

9.P the right to participate in international associations; Art. 79: The Constitution of the Russian Federation regulates that the Russian Federation can participate in interstate associations and transfer to them part of its powers in accordance with international treaties, if this does not entail restrictions on the rights and freedoms of man and citizen and does not contradict the foundations of the constitutional system of the Russian Federation;

10.G in the state language of the Russian Federation throughout its territory is the Russian language (Art. 68 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation); the republics have the right to establish their own state languages, which are used along with the Russian language in government bodies, bone self-government bodies, state institutions of the republics;

11.G state symbols of the Russian Federation; Russia has its own flag, anthem, coat of arms and capital.

A form of government such as democracy, to which the Russian Federation is striving so much, is impossible without respect for fundamental human rights and freedoms, without freedom of speech and many other principles of the rule of law.

First, you need to understand what federalism is and what its basic and budgetary principles are. Federalism is a unified system within one state, divided into areas that partially retain their independence in the economic, political, social, cultural and other spheres of society. In other words, each subject of the state has the right to amend local legislation, as well as to allocate budget funds.

The development of federalism in Russia has a long history, and with the introduction of the Constitution adopted in 1993, Russia received the status of a federation. In article 5, part 3 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, the basic principles of federalism are spelled out. So, the basic principles of federalism are that:

  • First, each subject of the federation (krai, autonomous okrug, oblast, autonomous oblast) has its own legislation and charter. Republics have a constitution and local legislation.
  • Secondly, there is a division of jurisdiction between the bodies of the territorial units of the federation and the bodies of state power.
  • Thirdly, despite the size of the territory, all subjects of the Russian Federation have equal rights and a common economic, political and social status.
  • Fourth, the Constitution enshrines the principle of federalism, which states that all peoples who live on equal terms and have the right to self-determination (that is, the right to designate their political status within the state, the cultural, social course of development of society, change the territorial form, etc. ).
  • Fifthly, despite the delimitation of areas of jurisdiction between state authorities and bodies of subjects, there is a single, integral system of government on the territory of the state.

Undoubtedly, the principles of federalism, enshrined in Article 5 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, are necessary for the creation of a democratic state. But if we analyze the modern Russian reality with its multinational people and vast territory, the principles of federalism open up a colossal number of problems that require immediate solutions (these are equal subsidies to the constituent entities of the Russian Federation to support the economy, and infringement of the rights of citizens on a national basis, etc.).

The basic principles of budgetary federalism are also spelled out in the Constitution of the Russian Federation (Article 73). The principles of budgetary federalism mean that each territorial unit of the federation has autonomy in budgetary activities. But the budgetary activities of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation should not diverge in the principles of pursuing a single state goals, objectives and courses of development of the economy of the federation as a whole, the implementation of which should come from the federal budget.

The main principle of budgetary federalism in the Russian Federation is that there is a single tax and budgetary system throughout the state. The unity or integrity of the budgetary system lies in the fact that, firstly, there is a unified monetary system in the federation, and, secondly, the same sanctions are applied for violations of the legislation concerning the budget of the Russian Federation. The second principle of budgetary federalism is the independence of the budgets of the constituent entities, in other words, territorial units have the right, within their competence, to establish budgetary tax collections, as well as to develop plans for spending and receiving finance. The third principle is the equality of budgetary rights.