Introduction

The Russian Federation is a federal state created by the will of its multinational people. Its legal status is determined by the Constitution of the Russian Federation, the Declaration of State Sovereignty of the RSFSR of June 12, 1990, and the Federal Treaty of March 31, 1992.

The constitutional and legal status of the Russian Federation is characterized, first of all, by the fact that it is a sovereign state, possessing all the fullness of state (legislative, executive, judicial) power on its territory, except for those powers that, in accordance with the Constitution of the Russian Federation, are the responsibility of the authorities its subjects.

The Russian Federation has its own Constitution, which establishes, in particular, the foundations of the constitutional system of the state, the form of government in Russia and the relationship of the Federation with its subjects.

The main goal of the work is to consider the national-state and political-territorial structure of Russia. To achieve this goal, it is necessary to consider the following issues:

Fundamentals of government of the Russian Federation;

General characteristics of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation;

Fundamentals of government of the Russian Federation

The Constitution, as the fundamental law of the state, establishes the foundations of the constitutional system, one of the elements of which is the form of government.

Problems of the territorial organization of the state have traditionally been the focus of attention of domestic and foreign researchers. Today, due to a number of subjective and objective factors that have arisen in certain countries of the world (the destruction of the USSR, the split of Yugoslavia, etc.), the relevance of the doctrine of the forms of government has acquired a new meaning. Which, in turn, contributed to the increased interest of modern researchers in the theoretical and practical problems of the territorial organization of the state and led to the emergence of a wide variety of approaches to defining the concept and classification of the form of government. Abdulatipov R.G., Boltenkova L.F. The experience of federalism. M., 1994; Alabastrova I.A. Constitutional (state) law of foreign countries. M., 2000; Chistyakov O.I. On the “organization of state unity” in general, Russia in particular and in particular // Bulletin of Moscow University. Ser. 11. Right. 2003. No. 3 and others.

At the end of the 20th century. in the literature, a critical approach to defining the concept of “form of government” has intensified, in replacement of which modern researchers have proposed the concepts of “territorial structure of the state”, “national-state structure”, “territorial organization of the state”, “territorial organization of public authority”, “territorial-political organization of the state", "system of vertical separation of powers" and many others.

However, in general, the authors recognized that a completely adequate generalizing term has not yet been found to designate the system of relationships between the central government and the public authorities operating in the territorial components. Constitutional (state) law of foreign countries / Rep. ed. B.A. Strashun. M., 1993 - 1995. T. 2. P. 352 - 353; Comparative constitutional law / Rep. ed. V.E. Chirkin. M., 1996. P. 729. Almost all approaches existing today are criticized, since many of the listed terms are not without shortcomings. For example, the concept of “state structure” is very vague and does not reflect the essence of the institution it designates, i.e. does not focus on the territorial aspect of the organization of state power. Chirkin V.E. Statecraft. M., 1999. S. 161 - 162. V.E. Chirkin allows the use of this term only due to continuity.

The term “national-state structure” is not universal: it can only designate the structure of those multinational states whose population is historically grouped in space according to ethnicity.

According to V.V. Lazarev and S.V. Lipenya, the term “state structure”, in addition to being used in a narrow, special legal sense, can also be used more widely - as a characteristic of the country’s state system as a whole. It is precisely this circumstance that predetermines its not entirely successful application in the narrow sense. Lazarev V.V., Lipen S.V. Theory of state and law. M., 2000. P. 126.

Other authors, on the contrary, use the familiar term “form of government” in their works. So, for example, M.N. Marchenko understands the form of government as “the internal division of the state into its component parts - administrative-territorial units, autonomous cultural, political entities or sovereign states.” Marchenko M.N. Theory of state and law. M., 2002. P. 306.

The form of government is not some kind of frozen, established phenomenon at the moment, but a constantly developing phenomenon, changing in connection with changes in the economic and socio-political conditions of society. Demina T.A. Development of the concept of the form of government in the constitutional projects of the Russian Empire and the Constitutions of the USSR // State power and local self-government. 2010. No. 7. P. 12 - 15.

The Russian Federation is a state with a unique government structure. The Russian Federation consists of republics, territories, regions, cities of federal significance, autonomous regions, autonomous districts - equal subjects of the Russian Federation. The federal structure of the Russian Federation is based on its state integrity, the unity of the system of state power, the delimitation of jurisdiction and powers between the state authorities of the Russian Federation and the state authorities of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, equality and self-determination of the peoples of Russia (Parts 1, 3 of Article 5 of the Constitution) .

Before the signing of the Federal Treaty, the Russian Federation was built on a national principle. The subjects of the Federation were republics, autonomous regions and autonomous okrugs. After the adoption of the 1993 Constitution, the Russian Federation was formed on the territorial-national principle, which predetermines some features of the status of various subjects of the Federation.

In comparison with the Constitution of the RSFSR of 1978, the number of subjects of the Russian Federation has increased significantly. Their names and legal status have changed. The subjects of the Russian Federation include 49 regions and six territories, as well as two cities of federal significance. In addition to the 16 former autonomous republics, four autonomous regions acquired the status of a republic - Adygea, Karachay-Cherkess, Gorno-Altai and Khakass, and only one of the autonomous regions remained - Jewish. In 1992, the Chechen-Ingush Republic was divided into the Chechen Republic and the Ingush Republic.

On April 10, 1992, by a resolution of the Congress of People's Deputies of the Russian Federation, the Federative Agreement was included in the Constitution (Basic Law) of the Russian Federation as its integral part. The new Constitution of the Russian Federation, adopted by popular vote on December 12, 1993, does not include the Federative Treaty. In accordance with its final provisions, in the event of a discrepancy between the provisions of the Federal Treaty and the provisions of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, the provisions of the Constitution of the Russian Federation shall apply. February 15, 1994

Before the signing of the Federal Treaty, the RSFSR was not a federal state in the generally accepted sense of the word. Autonomous republics, autonomous regions and autonomous okrugs were not the decisive factor determining the federal character of the country. The territories and regions, in which more than 80% of the population lived, remained administrative-territorial units; there was no delineation of jurisdiction and powers between them and the center.

In the summer of 2001, a number of regions took the initiative to terminate agreements on the division of powers that they had concluded with the federal center.

The species composition of the subjects of the Federation is predetermined in Part 1 of Art. 5 of the Constitution. In a legal sense, this means that members of the Russian Federation can only be entities of the established form - a republic, a territory, a region, a city of federal significance, an autonomous region, an autonomous district. The names of the subjects of the Federation in the Constitution of the Russian Federation are given in the form as they are defined by them themselves, i.e. in the constitutions of republics, in the charters of other subjects of the Federation or in other normative acts.

Thus, as of March 2008, the Russian Federation includes 84 constituent entities, including: 21 republics; nine territories (the composition of the Krasnoyarsk Territory changed, the Kamchatka Territory and the Trans-Baikal Territory appeared), 46 regions, two cities of federal significance, one autonomous region, five autonomous districts (the Taimyr (Dolgano-Nenets) Autonomous District and the Evenki Autonomous District became part of the Krasnoyarsk Territory, The Kamchatka region and the Koryak Autonomous Okrug merged into the Kamchatka Territory).

The largest subjects of the Russian Federation by population are the federal cities of Moscow (more than 9 million people) and St. Petersburg (more than 5 million people), as well as the Moscow region (almost 7 million people) and the Krasnodar Territory (more than 5 million . people) - are part of the Russian Federation along with such relatively small subjects as the Republic of Tyva - 307 thousand people, the Republic of Kalmykia (Khalmg Tangch) - 328 thousand people, Kamchatka region - 473 thousand people.

Features of the subjects do not affect the constitutional and legal status of the subjects of the Russian Federation. There is no practice of changing the constitutional and legal status of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation yet. At present, republics, autonomous regions and autonomous okrugs are still distinguished by the peculiarities of the national composition of the population, life and culture. That is why the republics, where these features are most clearly expressed, are endowed with some specific rights. At the same time, regardless of the state-legal form, all members of the Russian Federation are united by one concept - “subject of the Russian Federation”; they have equal rights in this capacity (Part 1, Article 5 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation), and also have equal rights among themselves in relations with federal government bodies (Part 4, Article 5 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation).

Federation(from the Late Latin foederatio - union, association), along with the unitary form, is one of the main forms of territorial organization of the state. As a form of government, it presupposes a special nature of relations between federal authorities and the bodies of the territorial parts that make up the federal state - the subjects of the federation.

A federation is a legally unified union state, which includes certain states or state entities that have the power and authority to resolve issues that are not within the competence of the federal government. It is characterized by the following features.

A federation is a single union state that exists alongside and in addition to those states that are part of it. The Federation has sovereignty.

The Federation has the necessary state-legal institutions, that is, legislative and executive bodies that are elected by the population of all subjects of the federation, and federal-type parliaments, as a rule, have a bicameral structure. Along with the general chamber, which expresses the interests of the entire state, there is a chamber that expresses the interests of the subjects of the federation.

Acts of federal bodies are mandatory throughout the territory of the federation. They are not subject to reception, i.e. approval by the bodies of the constituent entities of the federation, and are addressed directly to the population. Subjects of the federation do not have the right to cancel acts of the Federation.

The federation has a single territory and a single citizenship, and the territory of the federation may consist of the territories of its subjects, but at the same time there may be a federal territory that is not included in the constituent entities.

The Federation has the competence of competence. This means that it itself, without the consent of its constituent entities, can expand or narrow the limits of its competence, which is enshrined in its constitution. In essence, this is the competence of the federation to change its competence.

The Federation is legally indissoluble, i.e. its subjects do not have sovereignty and do not have the right of secession (withdrawal from the federation).

The signs of a federal state appear most clearly in their comparison with the signs that characterize a confederation. A confederation, from a legal point of view, is a permanent union of states that does not have common bodies of power and administration or has one or more such bodies designed to implement the goals of the confederation. Such goals can be economic, trade objectives, the creation of a single customs space, foreign policy goals, defense, etc. A confederation is not a single state, but a union of states, which was created on a contractual basis by the relevant entities, and therefore these entities have sovereignty and can act independently in the international arena.

A confederation may not have common legislative and executive bodies. The bodies that are created in it are determined by the goals of the confederation, and they are formed by the governments of the countries that are members of the confederation. Acts of general bodies (if they are created) are not addressed directly to the population, but only to the governments of the member states of the confederation, which can approve these acts and extend their effect to their territory (right of reception). At the same time, they may not approve these acts or reject them (the right of nullification). The Confederation does not have a single territory and a single citizenship. A confederation is a dissolvable union, in other words, the subjects of the confederation, as states maintaining their sovereignty, have the right of secession, that is, the right to secede from the union.

Using the example of the Russian Federation, the following constitutional principles stand out: principles of legal regulation of federal relations:

1) the sovereignty of the Russian Federation over its entire territory (Article 4, 71);

2) supremacy throughout the territory of Russia of the Constitution of the Russian Federation and federal laws (Article 67);

3) integrity of state territory (Articles 1, 3, 67);

4) direct effect of the Constitution of the Russian Federation throughout the territory of the Federation (Article 15);

5) constitutional consolidation of the procedure for changing the external and internal borders of the state (Articles 67, 71, 131);

6) unity of the legal regime of the territory of the Russian Federation in matters of economics (unity of economic space), free movement of goods, services and financial resources throughout the territory, support for competition and freedom of economic activity (Article 8).

Part 1 of Art. should be recognized as the main constitutional formulas for building Russian federal statehood. 1: “The Russian Federation - Russia is a democratic federal legal state with a republican form of government,” as well as the provision of Part 1 of Art. 4 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation: “The sovereignty of the Russian Federation extends to its entire territory.” These constitutional provisions define, on the one hand, the legal prerequisites for the division of powers between federal and local authorities, on the other hand, they serve as an unambiguous confirmation of the territorial unity of the Russian Federation, the extension of a single state power to the entire territory of Russia without exception, regardless of the position of regional authorities.

“The federal structure of the Russian Federation is based on its state integrity...” (Part 3 of Article 5 of the Russian Constitution). A federation, in contrast to a confederation as an international legal union of states, is a single union state, which includes certain national-state and administrative-territorial entities that have power and authority in relation to those issues that are not within the competence of the federal government. authorities.

Enshrined in the Constitution of the Russian Federation of 1993, the new system of territorial organization is designed to impart immutability to the old structure, adding to it the rigidity and immutability of boundaries between the subjects of the Federation. And yet, this is no longer a national-state organization with different statuses of its constituent elements, but a state-territorial Federation, albeit asymmetrical. According to Part 1 of Art. 5 of the Constitution, the Russian Federation includes republics, territories, regions, cities of federal significance, autonomous regions, autonomous districts - equal subjects of the Russian Federation.

Turning to the state-legal mechanisms for the delimitation of powers and guarantees of ensuring the unity of legal regulation throughout the Russian Federation, two basic constitutional provisions should be highlighted:

1. On the supreme legal force and direct effect of the Constitution of the Russian Federation throughout the territory of the Federation (Part 1, Article 15 of the Constitution of Russia).

2. On the supremacy throughout the country of federal laws adopted on subjects of jurisdiction of the Russian Federation (Parts 1.3 of Article 76 of the Russian Constitution).

Based on the principle of state sovereignty and territorial supremacy, the effect of the rules of law on the territory of the state is unlimited, unconditional and absolute. Higher legal force cannot be understood as the greater bindingness of any act, exceeding the bindingness of another act. There is no degree of obligatoryness of any act. This is not the point of correlation (relativism) of acts. Federal legislation is comparable in this sense to any other act, no matter what body of the subject of the Federation it comes from.

The essence of the matter is different: the highest legal force of the federal Constitution lies in the fact that all laws and other acts are issued on its basis and in pursuance of it and should not contradict it (Article 15 of the Russian Constitution). Anti-constitutional acts cannot give rise to any legal relations due to the fact that they are legally void, i.e. are not legal acts.

The supremacy and unity of state power is ensured primarily through the supremacy of legal acts of the Federation. The Constitution of the Russian Federation and federal laws fully consolidate their supremacy. As noted earlier, the supremacy of the constitution is one of the mandatory features of the rule of law. This predetermines the legal nullity of any normative act that diverges from constitutional provisions, regardless of the body that issued it, the scope and direction of its application.

The Russian Constitution enshrined a fairly strict concept of the unified sovereignty of the Russian Federation, which extends to the entire territory of the country. However, the contradiction in combining the sovereignty of Russia with the declared sovereignty of the republic that is part of Russia did not find its constitutional resolution. The Constitution of the Russian Federation enshrines the following fundamental provisions:

Integrity and inviolability of the territory of the Russian Federation.

Equality of all subjects of the Russian Federation.

Construction and development of the Russian Federation on two equivalent principles: national-state and territorial-state.

Sovereignty of the Russian Federation (subjects of the Russian Federation are not sovereign).

The formation of a federal state, the RSFSR, on part of the territory of the Russian Empire was declared by the Constitution of the RSFSR of 1918. However, the division of this state into its component parts - subjects of the Federation - took place on the basis of the Constitution, taking into account two requirements (and in this order):

Ease of administration;

Taking into account the ethnic factor.

Not a single subject of the Federation was part of the RSFSR on the basis of a treaty (with the special case of Tyva, which joined the USSR in 1944 as a joint-stock company within the RSFSR).

The Russian Federation is a constitutional federation. In the thousand-year history of Russian statehood it is impossible to find a certain normative act, a document proclaiming the creation of the Russian state. Russia is a historically formed state, the division of which into administrative components occurs on the basis of constitutional acts. The adoption of the Russian Constitution of 1993, which established the federal form of its state structure, was preceded by the signing of the Federal Treaty on March 31, 1992. This document's content does not correspond to its title. The essence of the agreement is the delimitation of jurisdiction and powers between federal government bodies and government bodies of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation. There was no talk of forming a federal state. The form of the Federal Agreement was used for political purposes to stabilize the relationship between the central and regional elites.

In essence, this was an agreement between the federal government authorities of Russia and the authorities of the constituent entities of the Federation on the delimitation of jurisdiction and powers. The combination of two trends - the constitutional desire to restore the legal unity of the country, on the one hand, and the division of powers provided for by the Federal Treaty between the Federation and its subjects on specific subjects of jurisdiction - on the other, led to an intensification of the conflict between the federal legal system and the legal systems of a number of subjects of the Federation.

Initially, the process of developing and discussing the Federal Treaty took place along with the process of developing a new Union Treaty. The need to conclude a Federative Treaty was legislated by the Resolution of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR dated July 17, 1990 “On the competition for the best version of the draft Federative Treaty of the RSFSR.” But gradually work on the draft Federal Treaty was curtailed.

With the collapse of the Soviet Union in August-December 1991, the question of the relationship between the republics within Russia and the federal government required intensification of work on preparing an agreement on the division of powers. Separatist tendencies began to appear in the republics, and the process of redistribution of property and power assumed a character dangerous for Russian statehood. The working group proposed, under these conditions, to sign an Agreement on the delimitation of jurisdiction and powers between the federal government bodies of the Russian Federation and the authorities of the republics within the Russian Federation.

The leaders of most republics rejected this approach and advocated signing the Federal Treaty. Demands for ever greater rights and powers, heard from the capitals of the republics-subjects of the Federation, boiled down to minimizing the role of federal authorities and increasing the rights of local ruling elites.

March 31, 1992 was signed(and not “concluded”) a Federal Agreement, which at that stage of development made it possible to avoid the growth of confrontation, smooth out contradictions, and consolidate the balance of forces that had developed at that historical stage.

Enshrined in the Federal Treaty, the republics’ refusal to define themselves as autonomies and their recognition as sovereign republics within Russia found their constitutional expression in the Law of the Russian Federation of April 21, 1992 “On Amendments and Additions to the Constitution (Basic Law) of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic”1 . In comparison with the text of the Constitution of the RSFSR of 1978, this was a radical change in ideas: before the introduction of these changes, the Constitution of the RSFSR defined autonomies as socialist states, the independence of which was ensured by a number of guarantees of an economic nature. The territory of the republic could not be changed without its consent. However, the sovereignty of the republics had never previously been mentioned.

Russian President V.V. Putin, assessing the policies of the Russian authorities in the early 90s. notes: “In the early 90s, the center farmed out a lot to the regions. This was a conscious, although partly forced, policy. But it helped the Russian leadership achieve the main thing at that time and, I think, it was justified; it helped to keep the Federation within its borders. However, soon the authorities of some subjects of the Federation began to test the strength of the central government”2.

Despite all the difficulties that preceded its adoption, and with all the ambiguity of that stage of Russian modern history, the Russian Constitution of 1993 objectively contributed to the country’s exit from the state and legal crisis, the documentary embodiment of which was the signing of the Federal Treaty. President of the Russian Federation V.V. Putin, in his speech when presenting the annual Address of the President of the Russian Federation to the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation on July 8, 2000, was forced to admit that federal relations in Russia are unfinished and underdeveloped. Regional independence is often interpreted as a sanction for the disintegration of the state. We talk about the federation and its strengthening all the time, we have been talking about this for years. However, we must admit: we do not yet have a full-fledged federal state... we have created a decentralized state1.

Today, the process of formation of the Russian Federation is still far from complete, both in the context of filling the rights and powers of the subjects of the Federation, consolidating the stable and confident position of federal authorities, and in the matter of forming the subjects of the Federation themselves. The Russian Federation is a unique phenomenon in state legal practice: it is the only country in the world in which 89 subjects directly enter the federal level of government. The absence of intermediate links made government administration of the country difficult; the interaction of various levels of government reduced the ability of the central government to exercise effective control over processes in the regions and contributed to the complication of the system of government bodies. One of the options for overcoming such shortcomings is the formation of an additional level of power - interregional.

Since 1994, a system of interregional associations has been formed in Russia, which included neighboring subjects of the Federation (7 associations were formed). In 2000, the following federal districts were formed: Central (center - Moscow), North-Western (St. Petersburg), North Caucasus (Rostov-on-Don), Volga (Nizhny Novgorod), Ural (Ekaterinburg), Siberian (Novosibirsk), Far Eastern (Khabarovsk). Decree of the President of the Russian Federation of May 13, 2000 No. 849 “On approval of the Regulations on the Plenipotentiary Representative of the President of the Russian Federation in the Federal District,” which established seven federal districts on the territory of Russia headed by Plenipotentiary Representatives of the President of the Russian Federation, is aimed at restoring the vertical executive authorities.

As for the federal districts themselves, at the present stage of development of Russian statehood, this is a mechanism for reforming the public administration system not specified by the Russian Constitution, and not a change in the state structure of the country or the territorial organization of state power.

The key when assessing the process of forming a real federal structure of the country's government is the constitutional provision that the subjects of the Russian Federation are part of Russia (Part 1 of Article 65 of the Constitution), and in no way form or unite into a Federation.

Among the functions of the Russian state, ensuring the integrity and inviolability of the territory of the Russian Federation is of particular importance. The federal structure of the Russian state is not a self-sufficient value, but a means of the progressive development of the country and the implementation of effective government administration.

In the structure of the modern Russian state, the federal authorities should most likely be interested not in the victory of one of the tendencies constantly operating in any federal state - unitarism and federalism - but in finding a certain balance of power in which they will be observed to the greatest extent principles of the federal structure of Russia, enshrined in Part 3 of Art. 5 of the Russian Constitution:

1) state integrity;

2) unity of the system of state power;

3) delimitation of jurisdiction and powers between federal government bodies and government bodies of the constituent entities of the Federation;

4) equality and self-determination of peoples.

At the same time, the very purpose of Russian federalism is changing, ceasing to be only and exclusively a means of solving the national question, turning into a form of democratization of government.

ABSTRACT

for the course "Jurisprudence"

on the topic: “Constitutional foundations of the state structure of the Russian Federation”

Introduction

The Russian Federation is a state whose ancestor is the great, mighty and sacred Rus'. The history of the formation and development of Russia was not easy. For many centuries, our people had to fight against foreign invaders for their national existence and independence. All this affected the formation of national character, the attitude of Russians towards their defenders and towards military service.

1. Brief physical-geographical and demographic characteristics of the Russian Federation

Russia is the largest state on the Eurasian continent in terms of area, population and economic power. It spreads over an area of ​​over 17 million square kilometers and occupies most of Eastern Europe and Northern Asia.

The length of the territory of Russia in the meridional direction is 4 thousand km, in the latitudinal direction – 9 thousand km. The westernmost point is on the border with Poland, and the easternmost point is on Ratmanov Island, in the Diomede Islands group in the Bering Strait. The southernmost point is located on the border with Azerbaijan, the northernmost point is on the islands of Franz Josef Land (Rudolph Island). Time zones from 2 to 12 inclusive pass through the territory of the Russian Federation.

Russia borders on 16 countries on three continents and is washed by 12 seas and 3 oceans. The total length of its borders is 60,933 km, of which 14,510 km are land, 7,141 km are river, 475 km are lake and 38,807 km are sea.

The expanses of the country are crossed by the largest rivers - Lena, Ob (the longest river in Russia - 5,410 km from the source of the Irtysh), Volga, Yenisei (the most high-water river - 19,800 cubic meters per second), Amur. The pride of Russia is Lake Baikal, the deepest lake in the world (depth 1,620 m; contains 1/5 of the fresh water of all reservoirs on the globe).

According to the results of the All-Russian Population Census of 2002, the population of Russia amounted to 145.167 million people, of which 106.4 million were urban residents (73.3%) and about 38.8 million were rural residents (26.7%).

More than 120 nationalities and nationalities live on the territory of Russia. Of these: Russians - 116 million people (80% of the total population). Among other nationalities, whose number exceeds 1 million people: Tatars, Ukrainians, Chuvashs, Bashkirs, Belarusians, Mordovians. The national composition is most visibly manifested in the internal structure of the Russian state, where almost every nationality and nationality has its own form of statehood. 78% of the population of our country lives in its European part, and 22% in the Asian part (in Western and Eastern Siberia, in the Far East).

The administrative-territorial division of the Russian Federation includes: 21 republics, 8 territories, 47 regions, 2 federal cities, 1 autonomous region, 6 autonomous districts, 1,866 districts, 1,097 cities, incl. 13 – with a population of over 1 million people, 330 urban districts and districts, 1,794 urban-type settlements, 24,428 rural administrations.

Our Motherland has the richest natural resources and proven mineral reserves, and has powerful agricultural potential. The world's largest industrial enterprises and fuel and energy complexes are located on its territory. Russia is distinguished by a high educational and cultural level of the population, developed science, a unique, inimitable culture and spirituality, recognized throughout the world.

2. The emergence and development of constitutional foundations in Russia

Constitution of the RSFSR of 1918. The constitutional and legal formalization of the Republic of Soviets took place at the V All-Russian Congress of Soviets, which on July 10, 1918 adopted the first Constitution (Basic Law) of the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic. The Declaration of the Rights of the Working and Exploited People, approved by the III All-Russian Congress of Soviets in January 1918, was included as an integral part of the Constitution. In it, Russia was declared a Republic of Soviets of Workers', Soldiers' and Peasants' Deputies, which was established on the basis of a free union of free nations as a federation of Soviet national republics. The Constitution established that the highest authority in the RSFSR is the All-Russian Congress of Soviets, which elects the All-Russian Central Executive Committee of no more than 200 people. The latter is entirely responsible to the congress and in the period between congresses is the highest authority of the Republic.

Local authorities were congresses of Soviets (regional, provincial, district, volost), consisting of representatives of lower-level Soviets. Congresses of Soviets elected their executive bodies - executive committees. Councils of deputies were formed in cities and villages. The term of office of deputies was 3 months. Naturally, for this reason, congresses of Soviets could not be permanent bodies.

Constitution of the USSR of 1924, Constitution of the RSFSR of 1925. On December 30, 1922, the First Congress of Soviets of the USSR, consisting of representatives of the RSFSR, Ukraine, Belarus and Transcaucasia, approved mainly the Declaration and the Treaty on the Formation of the USSR. This was the result of the unifying efforts of the Soviet republics. The final formation of the new state ended with the approval by the Second Congress of Soviets of the USSR on January 31, 1924 of the Basic Law (Constitution) of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. The Constitution of the USSR established that the supreme body of power of the USSR was the Congress of Soviets, and in the period between Congresses of Soviets - the Central Executive Committee of the USSR, consisting of the Union Council and the Council of Nationalities.

At the XII All-Russian Congress of Soviets, in May 1925, the amended text of the Constitution of the RSFSR was approved, and in essence a new Basic Law was adopted, according to which the RSFSR was part of the USSR and was proclaimed a socialist state of workers and peasants, built on the basis of a federation of national Soviet republics, where all power belonged to the Soviets of workers, peasants, Cossacks and Red Army deputies.

The bearer of supreme power in the RSFSR was the All-Russian Congress of Soviets. In the period between congresses, the All-Russian Central Executive Committee operated, which was elected by the All-Russian Congress of Soviets in the number of members determined by the congress. The All-Russian Congress of Soviets was convened by the All-Russian Central Executive Committee once a year, and then once every two years.

The highest bodies of state power within the territory of each autonomous republic that was part of the RSFSR were the congresses of Soviets of republics, and in the period between congresses - the central executive committees elected by them, the rights of which were determined by the constitutions of the autonomous republics. The highest authority in the territories, regions, provinces, districts, districts, districts and volosts were also the Congresses of Soviets. Representatives of all Councils located on the territory of this administrative unit took part in them.

In the mid-30s, according to party ideology, the foundations of socialism were built in the country, the signs of which were considered: the elimination of a multi-structure economy, the undivided approval of socialist property in its two forms - state and collective farm-cooperative, the elimination of exploiting classes, the formation of new socialist nations, democracy . These changes in the social and state system were intended to be legally formalized by the new Constitution of the USSR.

Constitution of the USSR of 1936. The new Constitution of the USSR was adopted at the VIII Extraordinary Congress of Soviets of the USSR on December 5, 1936. She declared the Soviet Union a socialist state of workers and peasants, the political basis of which is the Soviets of Working People's Deputies. All power in the USSR belonged to the working people of the city and village in the person of the Soviets of Working People's Deputies. At the same time, for the first time, the Soviet Constitution stated that the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) represents “the leading core of all organizations of workers, both public and state.”

The supreme body of state power of the USSR was the Supreme Council, which was elected for a term of four years. It consisted of two equal chambers: the Council of the Union and the Council of Nationalities. The Council of the Union was elected by citizens in electoral districts. The Council of Nationalities was elected by citizens in union and autonomous republics, autonomous regions and national districts.

The highest bodies of state power in the union and autonomous republics were the supreme councils of these republics. The bodies of statehood in the territories, regions, autonomous regions, districts, districts, cities, and settlements were the Councils of Working People's Deputies.

Constitution of the RSFSR of 1937. The new Constitution of the RSFSR was adopted at the XVII Extraordinary All-Russian Congress of Soviets on January 21, 1937. The highest body of state power of the RSFSR was the unicameral Supreme Council of the RSFSR, which was elected by citizens of the Russian Federation in electoral districts. In an electoral district, one candidate was nominated for one deputy mandate (“one candidate – one deputy”). High voter activity during uncontested voting was largely ensured by the organizational measures of party organizations (at polling stations, under the leadership of party committees of enterprises and institutions, campaigning points were created, agitators were assigned to groups of voters, party committees were responsible for voter turnout). All this was explained by the intention of the ruling party to maintain its dictatorship, presenting, through “organized” elections, evidence of the population’s support for the political regime, the party’s course, and transformations in Soviet society and the state.

Constitution of the USSR 1977. At the seventh session of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of the ninth convocation on October 7, 1977, on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of Soviet power, the third Constitution (Basic Law) of the USSR was adopted (in accordance with the Constitution of the USSR, new constitutions of the union and autonomous republics were adopted in April - June 1978. The next Constitution of the RSFSR was adopted at the seventh session of the Supreme Council of the RSFSR of the ninth convocation, April 12, 1978). Its preamble noted that the Soviet state, having fulfilled the tasks of the dictatorship of the proletariat, became national. A developed socialist society has been built in the USSR. The CPSU was declared “the leading and guiding force of Soviet society, the core of its political system, state and public organizations.”

For the first time, the Constitution introduced the principle of free elections, stipulating that citizens and public organizations are guaranteed a free and comprehensive discussion of the political, business and personal qualities of candidates for deputies, as well as the right to campaign at meetings, in the press, on television, and radio.

The Constitution of the USSR introduced the institution of mandates from voters (voters gave orders to their deputies), or, in other words, the so-called imperative mandate. In the mid-80s, the CPSU proclaimed a course for the development of democracy, which meant a transition from a one-party to a multi-party system and represented an attempt to reform Soviet power in order to preserve it in new conditions. Provisions concerning the leading role of the CPSU were excluded from the Constitution of the USSR, as well as the constitutions of the union and autonomous republics.

The political system enshrined in the Soviet Constitution and the system of representative bodies of state power existed for more than ten years, until fundamental changes were made to them in 1988 - early 1990s, which were a reflection of the processes that had begun in the public life of the country.

Constitution of the Russian Federation of 1993. In 1993, a fundamentally new stage in the development of Russian statehood began. For the first time in its centuries-old history, Russia has embarked on the path of establishing and developing a democratic state, ensuring freedom of economic activity, realizing the equality of all citizens, and unconditionally fulfilling their duties to the Motherland.

The Constitution, adopted on December 12, 1993 at a national referendum, drew a line under the Soviet period of development of the statehood of our Fatherland and marked the beginning of a new stage in the development of domestic constitutionalism. It regulated the most important social relations, consolidated the constitutional foundations of the Russian Federation and the organization of state power in the country.

By consolidating at the highest legal level the new realities of public life in the political, social and economic spheres, the Constitution is designed to ensure the construction in Russia of a democratic federal legal state with a republican form of government. These initial provisions reflect its most important and fundamental features and form the foundations of the constitutional system of Russia.

3. State structure of the Russian Federation

The foundations of the state and territorial structure of Russia are defined in Article 5 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation and are based on the principle of federalism.

Russian federalism is not only a form of resolving the national question in a multinational country, but also a form of democratization of government. Decentralization of state power and its distribution among regions is an important guarantee of democracy. Based on the principle of federalism, the decentralization of unified state power is ensured by the delimitation of the subjects of authority between the Russian Federation and its subjects and local governments.

Russia, in accordance with the Constitution, consists of republics, territories, regions, cities of federal significance, autonomous regions, autonomous districts - equal subjects of the Russian Federation. At the same time, the legal status of the republic within Russia is determined both by the Constitution of the Russian Federation and by its own Constitution. The legal status of a territory, region, city of federal significance, autonomous region, autonomous district is established, along with the Constitution of Russia, by its own charters.

In accordance with the Constitution of Russia, ordinary (previously called administrative) territories and regions (for example, Stavropol, Krasnoyarsk territories, Smolensk, Ryazan, Pskov and other regions) became equal subjects of the Federation for the first time. Raising their status to the level of republics and autonomous entities within Russia reflects both the historical features of the formation of the Russian Federation itself, and the legal recognition of the role of the Russian people in strengthening statehood. The fact is that Russia, as is known, traditionally, from the very beginning of its existence, includes territories with an indigenous Russian population, and territories of republics, autonomous entities, where other nations and nationalities live compactly. And if previously national (autonomous) entities enjoyed sufficient independence in resolving many issues, the new Constitution of the Russian Federation granted similar rights to both territories and regions in whose territory the majority of the Russian population lives. It should be noted that this decision is fair: Russian people on the territory of a single federal state have the right to enjoy no less rights and opportunities than representatives of other fraternal nations and nationalities.

The state integrity of the Russian Federation is guaranteed by the fact that the sovereignty of Russia extends to its entire territory; the Constitution of the Russian Federation and federal laws have supremacy throughout the entire territory of Russia. The Russian Federation ensures the integrity and inviolability of its territory. It, as a sovereign state, has the right to carry out this responsibility with the use of border troops, the Armed Forces and other state military organizations.

The power of the people in any state cannot be exercised outside the organizational forms through which the people exercise their sovereignty. The people govern the state, freely express their will and give it a generally binding character by enshrining it in legislative acts. The general concept of “sovereignty” (translated as “supreme power”) emphasizes two properties of power – unity and supremacy. In science, this term usually covers three types of sovereignty: popular, national and state. In the organic combination of the characteristic features of each type of sovereignty, the central place belongs to the sovereignty of the people. It is he – the multinational people – who is the source of all state power. This key provision must be understood in such a way that all powers to exercise state power are acquired by state institutions and officials in one form or another as a result of the freely expressed will of the people. Only it makes power in the state legitimate and legitimate. On the scale of the Russian Federation, state power is the most general form of expression of the sovereignty of the people, their supreme will. Each subject of the Federation also has state power. The Constitution of the Russian Federation provides that the subjects of the Federation, outside the scope of its jurisdiction and powers, “possess the fullness of state power.” This state power is an expression of the general will of the people of the republic as part of the Federation, the population of the region, region, autonomy, etc. In the system of local self-government, power belongs to the population of the corresponding city, village, town, and this is part of the people. Local government bodies are not part of the state power system, but are obliged to comply with the Constitution and laws, acts expressing the state will of the people.

The implementation of democracy in the Russian Federation is carried out in various forms: through the system of government bodies, public organizations and parties, through institutions of direct democracy, local self-government. The unity, interconnection and functioning of these forms constitute the political system of the social order. The political system, therefore, is understood as a set of state and public associations through which the people exercise the power that belongs to them according to the Constitution, govern the state, determine and implement domestic and foreign policy.

The Constitution establishes the basic forms of the people's exercise of their sovereign power. “The people,” it is emphasized in paragraph 2 of Article 3 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, “exercise their power directly, as well as through state authorities and local self-government bodies.”

In accordance with paragraph 1 of Article 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 (Federation Council and State Duma), the Government of the Russian Federation, the courts of the Russian Federation (Diagram 1). The classical principle of separation of powers at the present stage of Russia's development is implemented with features that consist in removing the President from the system of executive power to an independent place in the system of supreme bodies of state power.

Scheme 1

State authorities of the Russian Federation base their activities on the following constitutional principles:

Formation of state bodies by the people or on their instructions by the relevant authority;

Territorial organization of power structures;

Legality in the activities of public authorities;

The use of national languages ​​along with Russian in government bodies;

Independence of legislative, executive and judicial authorities;

Distinction of subjects of jurisdiction and powers between government bodies of the Russian Federation and government bodies of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation;

Exercising one's powers in the interests of realizing the rights and freedoms of man and citizen.

The Russian Federation carries out its diverse functions through state bodies. A state body (state body) is an integral part of the state apparatus, formed in the manner prescribed by law and endowed with state powers necessary to carry out the functions of state power.

State bodies in the Russian Federation constitute a unified system of state power. Such unity is determined by the federal structure of Russia, its state integrity (Article 5, paragraph 3 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation) and is derived from the sovereignty of the multinational people of the Russian Federation and their ability to form state bodies (Articles 3, 32 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation).

The structure of state bodies of the Russian Federation is understood as the ability of the highest and local bodies of legislative, executive and judicial power to carry out the functions of a unified state power in their inherent organizational and legal forms. Thus, the system of government bodies consists of the following main types: legislative bodies (representative bodies of state power); executive authorities and judicial authorities.

Legislative bodies (representative bodies of state power) consist of the Parliament of the Russian Federation, parliaments of the republics within Russia, representative (legislative) bodies of state power of other subjects of the Federation and local representative bodies of state power - assemblies of deputies, municipal councils, bodies at the rural and urban levels districts (Scheme 2).

The system of executive authorities includes: governments, ministries and other executive authorities of the constituent entities of the Federation, heads of administrations of cities, rural and urban areas. The main task of executive authorities is the implementation (implementation) of the provisions of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, federal laws, regulatory decrees of the President of Russia, as well as decisions of relevant higher (federal, republican, regional, etc.) executive authorities. Due to the fact that these bodies have not only executive, but also administrative power, they are also called executive-administrative bodies (Diagram 3).

The executive power system includes ministries, services, and agencies. The Government of the Russian Federation consists of the Chairman, his deputy(s), federal ministries, federal services and federal agencies (Schemes 4.5).

Federal ministries managed by the Government of the Russian Federation, federal services and federal agencies subordinate to these federal ministries
· Ministry of Health and Social Development of the Russian Federation: Federal Service for Supervision of Consumer Rights Protection and Human Welfare; Federal Service for Surveillance in Healthcare and Social Development; Federal Service for Labor and Employment; Federal Agency for Health and Social Development; Federal Agency for Physical Culture, Sports and Tourism	· Ministry of Culture and Mass Communications of the Russian Federation: Federal Service for Supervision of Compliance with Legislation in the Sphere of Mass Communications and Protection of Cultural Heritage; Federal Archival Agency; Federal Agency for Culture and Cinematography;
· Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation: Federal Service for Intellectual Property, Patents and Trademarks; Federal Service for Supervision in Education and Science; Federal Agency for Science and Innovation; Federal Agency for Education	· Ministry of Natural Resources of the Russian Federation: Federal Service for Supervision of Natural Resources; Federal Water Resources Agency; Federal Forestry Agency; Federal Agency for Subsoil Use
· Ministry of Industry and Energy of the Russian Federation: Federal Agency for Industry; Federal Agency for Construction and Housing and Communal Services; Federal Agency for Technical Regulation and Metrology; Federal Energy Agency	· Ministry of Economic Development and Trade of the Russian Federation: Federal Customs Service; Federal Reserve Agency; Federal Real Estate Cadastre Agency; Federal Agency for Federal Property Management
· Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation: Federal Service for Supervision of Transport; Federal Air Transport Agency; Federal Highway Agency; Federal Agency for Railway Transport; Federal Agency for Maritime and River Transport; Federal Agency of Geodesy and Cartography	· Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation: Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance; Federal Fisheries Agency; Federal Agency for Agriculture
· Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation: Federal Tax Service; Federal Insurance Supervision Service; Federal Service for Financial and Budgetary Supervision; Federal Service for Financial Monitoring; Federal Treasury (federal service)	· Ministry of Information Technologies and Communications of the Russian Federation: Federal Service for Supervision of Communications; Federal Information Technology Agency; Federal Communications Agency

However, within the structure of federal executive bodies there are federal ministries, services and agencies, the activities of which are managed by the President of the Russian Federation (Diagram 6).

Federal ministries, federal services and federal agencies, the activities of which are managed by the President of the Russian Federation, federal services and agencies subordinate to these federal ministries
· Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation: Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation; Federal Service for Defense Orders; Federal Service for Technical and Export Control; Federal Agency for Special Construction.	· Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation: Federal Penitentiary Service; Federal Registration Service; Federal Bailiff Service.
· Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation Federal Migration Service.	· Ministry of the Russian Federation for Civil Defense, Emergency Situations and Disaster Relief
· Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation	Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation
· State courier service of the Russian Federation	· Foreign Intelligence Service of the Russian Federation	Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation
Main Directorate of Special Programs of the President of the Russian Federation (federal agency)	· Administration of the President of the Russian Federation (federal agency)

The judiciary is designed to administer justice through constitutional civil, administrative and criminal proceedings.

The judicial system of the Russian Federation organizationally consists of several levels. At the federal level, these are the highest courts: the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation. In the republics within the Russian Federation there are constitutional, supreme and arbitration courts of the republics. In other subjects - regional, regional, federal cities and autonomous regions and autonomous districts, people's courts and arbitration courts. At the local level - district and city people's courts (Figure 7).

Scheme No. 7

Conclusion

Thus, the modern Russian state is proclaimed by the Constitution and is being built as a democratic, federal, legal state, with a republican form of government. The highest goal of this state is the realization of human rights and freedoms of all peoples of the Russian Federation, the protection of its integrity, sovereignty and other national values ​​and interests.

In the system of state institutions of the Russian state, an important role belongs to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation and the internal troops, which are organizationally part of its structure. Throughout Russian history, internal troops have worthily fulfilled the tasks of ensuring the security of individuals, society and the state, maintaining constitutional order in many regions of the country, and have been an example of fidelity to military duty.

Literature

5. Large encyclopedic dictionary. – M.: Scientific publishing house “Big Russian Encyclopedia”, 2006.

The foundations of the state and territorial structure of Russia are defined in Article 5 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation and are based on the principle of federalism.

Russian federalism is not only a form of resolving the national question in a multinational country, but also a form of democratization of government. Decentralization of state power and its distribution among regions is an important guarantee of democracy. Based on the principle of federalism, the decentralization of unified state power is ensured by the delimitation of the subjects of authority between the Russian Federation and its subjects and local governments.

Russia, in accordance with the Constitution, consists of republics, territories, regions, cities of federal significance, autonomous regions, autonomous districts - equal subjects of the Russian Federation. At the same time, the legal status of the republic within Russia is determined both by the Constitution of the Russian Federation and by its own Constitution. The legal status of a territory, region, city of federal significance, autonomous region, autonomous district is established, along with the Constitution of Russia, by its own charters.

In accordance with the Constitution of Russia, ordinary (previously called administrative) territories and regions (for example, Stavropol, Krasnoyarsk territories, Smolensk, Ryazan, Pskov and other regions) became equal subjects of the Federation for the first time. Raising their status to the level of republics and autonomous entities within Russia reflects both the historical features of the formation of the Russian Federation itself, and the legal recognition of the role of the Russian people in strengthening statehood. The fact is that Russia, as is known, traditionally, from the very beginning of its existence, includes territories with an indigenous Russian population, and territories of republics, autonomous entities, where other nations and nationalities live compactly. And if previously national (autonomous) entities enjoyed sufficient independence in resolving many issues, the new Constitution of the Russian Federation granted similar rights to both territories and regions in whose territory the majority of the Russian population lives. It should be noted that this decision is fair: Russian people on the territory of a single federal state have the right to enjoy no less rights and opportunities than representatives of other fraternal nations and nationalities.

The state integrity of the Russian Federation is guaranteed by the fact that the sovereignty of Russia extends to its entire territory; the Constitution of the Russian Federation and federal laws have supremacy throughout the entire territory of Russia. The Russian Federation ensures the integrity and inviolability of its territory. It, as a sovereign state, has the right to carry out this responsibility with the use of border troops, the Armed Forces and other state military organizations.

The power of the people in any state cannot be exercised outside the organizational forms through which the people exercise their sovereignty. The people govern the state, freely express their will and give it a generally binding character by enshrining it in legislative acts. The general concept of “sovereignty” (translated as “supreme power”) emphasizes two properties of power – unity and supremacy. In science, this term usually covers three types of sovereignty: popular, national and state. In the organic combination of the characteristic features of each type of sovereignty, the central place belongs to the sovereignty of the people. It is he – the multinational people – who is the source of all state power. This key provision must be understood in such a way that all powers to exercise state power are acquired by state institutions and officials in one form or another as a result of the freely expressed will of the people. Only it makes power in the state legitimate and legitimate. On the scale of the Russian Federation, state power is the most general form of expression of the sovereignty of the people, their supreme will. Each subject of the Federation also has state power. The Constitution of the Russian Federation provides that the subjects of the Federation, outside the scope of its jurisdiction and powers, “possess the fullness of state power.” This state power is an expression of the general will of the people of the republic as part of the Federation, the population of the region, region, autonomy, etc. In the system of local self-government, power belongs to the population of the corresponding city, village, town, and this is part of the people. Local government bodies are not part of the state power system, but are obliged to comply with the Constitution and laws, acts expressing the state will of the people.

The implementation of democracy in the Russian Federation is carried out in various forms: through the system of government bodies, public organizations and parties, through institutions of direct democracy, local self-government. The unity, interconnection and functioning of these forms constitute the political system of the social order. The political system, therefore, is understood as a set of state and public associations through which the people exercise the power that belongs to them according to the Constitution, govern the state, determine and implement domestic and foreign policy.

The Constitution establishes the basic forms of the people's exercise of their sovereign power. “The people,” it is emphasized in paragraph 2 of Article 3 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, “exercise their power directly, as well as through state authorities and local self-government bodies.”

In accordance with paragraph 1 of Article 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 (Federation Council and State Duma), the Government of the Russian Federation, the courts of the Russian Federation (Diagram 1). The classical principle of separation of powers at the present stage of Russia's development is implemented with features that consist in removing the President from the system of executive power to an independent place in the system of supreme bodies of state power.

State authorities of the Russian Federation base their activities on the following constitutional principles:

Formation of state bodies by the people or on their instructions by the relevant authority;

Territorial organization of power structures;

Legality in the activities of public authorities;

The use of national languages ​​along with Russian in government bodies;

Independence of legislative, executive and judicial authorities;

Distinction of subjects of jurisdiction and powers between government bodies of the Russian Federation and government bodies of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation;

Exercising one's powers in the interests of realizing the rights and freedoms of man and citizen.

The Russian Federation carries out its diverse functions through state bodies. A state body (state body) is an integral part of the state apparatus, formed in the manner prescribed by law and endowed with state powers necessary to carry out the functions of state power.

State bodies in the Russian Federation constitute a unified system of state power. Such unity is determined by the federal structure of Russia, its state integrity (Article 5, paragraph 3 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation) and is derived from the sovereignty of the multinational people of the Russian Federation and their ability to form state bodies (Articles 3, 32 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation).

The structure of state bodies of the Russian Federation is understood as the ability of the highest and local bodies of legislative, executive and judicial power to carry out the functions of a unified state power in their inherent organizational and legal forms. Thus, the system of government bodies consists of the following main types: legislative bodies (representative bodies of state power); executive authorities and judicial authorities.

Legislative bodies (representative bodies of state power) consist of the Parliament of the Russian Federation, parliaments of the republics within Russia, representative (legislative) bodies of state power of other subjects of the Federation and local representative bodies of state power - assemblies of deputies, municipal councils, bodies at the rural and urban levels districts

ABSTRACT

for the course "Jurisprudence"

on the topic: “Constitutional foundations of the state structure of the Russian Federation”

Introduction The Russian Federation is a state whose progenitor This is the great, mighty and sacred Rus'. The history of the formation and development of Russia was not easy. For many centuries, our people had to fight against foreign invaders for their national existence and independence. All this affected the formation of national character, the attitude of Russians towards their defenders and towards military service. 1. Brief physical-geographical and demographic characteristics of the Russian Federation Russia is the largest state on the Eurasian continent in terms of area, population and economic power. It spreads over an area of ​​over 17 million square kilometers and occupies most of Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. The length of Russian territory in the meridional direction is 4 thousand km, in the latitudinal direction - 9 thousand km. The westernmost point is on the border with Poland, and the easternmost point is on Ratmanov Island, in the Diomede Islands group in the Bering Strait. The southernmost point is located on the border with Azerbaijan, the northernmost point is on the islands of Franz Josef Land (Rudolph Island). Time zones from 2 to 12 inclusive pass through the territory of the Russian Federation. Russia borders on 16 countries on three continents and is washed by 12 seas and 3 oceans. The total length of its borders is 60,933 km, of which 14,510 km are land, 7,141 km are river, 475 km are lake and 38,807 km are sea. The country's expanses are crossed by the largest rivers - Lena, Ob (the longest river in Russia - 5,410 km from the source of the Irtysh), Volga, Yenisei (the most abundant river - 19,800 cubic meters per second), Amur. The pride of Russia is the deepest lake in the world, Lake Baikal (depth 1,620 m; contains 1/5 of the fresh water of all reservoirs on the globe). According to the results of the All-Russian Population Census of 2002, the population of Russia was 145.167 million people, of which 106.4 million were residents cities (73.3%) and about 38.8 million rural residents (26.7%). More than 120 nationalities and nationalities live on the territory of Russia. Of these: 116 million Russians (80% of the total population). Among other nationalities, whose number exceeds 1 million people: Tatars, Ukrainians, Chuvashs, Bashkirs, Belarusians, Mordovians. The national composition is most visibly manifested in the internal structure of the Russian state, where almost every nationality and nationality has its own form of statehood. 78% of the population of our country lives in its European part, and 22% in the Asian part (in Western and Eastern Siberia, in the Far East). The administrative-territorial division of the Russian Federation includes: 21 republics, 8 territories, 47 regions, 2 federal cities values, 1 autonomous region, 6 autonomous okrugs, 1,866 districts, 1,097 cities, incl. 13 - with a population of over 1 million people, 330 urban districts and districts, 1,794 urban settlements, 24,428 rural administrations. Our Motherland has rich natural resources and proven mineral reserves, and has powerful agricultural potential. The world's largest industrial enterprises and fuel and energy complexes are located on its territory. Russia is distinguished by a high educational and cultural level of the population, developed science, a unique, inimitable culture and spirituality, recognized throughout the world. 2 . The emergence and development of constitutional foundations in Russia Constitution of the RSFSR of 1918. The constitutional and legal formalization of the Republic of Soviets took place at the V All-Russian Congress of Soviets, which on July 10, 1918 adopted the first Constitution (Basic Law) of the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic. The Declaration of the Rights of the Working and Exploited People, approved by the III All-Russian Congress of Soviets in January 1918, was included as an integral part of the Constitution. In it, Russia was declared a Republic of Soviets of Workers', Soldiers' and Peasants' Deputies, which was established on the basis of a free union of free nations as a federation of Soviet national republics. The Constitution established that the highest authority in the RSFSR is the All-Russian Congress of Soviets, which elects the All-Russian Central Executive Committee of no more than 200 people. The latter is entirely responsible to the congress and in the period between congresses is the highest authority of the Republic. Local authorities were congresses of Soviets (regional, provincial, district, volost), consisting of representatives of lower-level Soviets. Congresses of Soviets elected their executive bodies - executive committees. Councils of deputies were formed in cities and villages. The term of office of deputies was 3 months. Naturally, for this reason, congresses of Soviets could not be permanent bodies. The Constitution of the USSR of 1924, the Constitution of the RSFSR of 1925. On December 30, 1922, the First Congress of Soviets of the USSR, consisting of representatives of the RSFSR, Ukraine, Belarus and Transcaucasia, approved mainly the Declaration and the Treaty on the Formation of the USSR. This was the result of the unifying efforts of the Soviet republics. The final formation of the new state ended with the approval by the Second Congress of Soviets of the USSR on January 31, 1924 of the Basic Law (Constitution) of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. The Constitution of the USSR established that the supreme body of power of the USSR was the Congress of Soviets, and in the period between Congresses of Soviets - the Central Executive Committee of the USSR, consisting of the Union Council and the Council of Nationalities. At the XII All-Russian Congress of Soviets, in May 1925, the amended text of the Constitution of the RSFSR was approved , in essence, a new Basic Law was adopted, according to which the RSFSR was part of the USSR and was proclaimed a socialist state of workers and peasants, built on the basis of a federation of national Soviet republics, where all power belonged to the Soviets of workers, peasants, Cossacks and Red Army deputies.

The bearer of supreme power in the RSFSR was the All-Russian Congress of Soviets. In the period between congresses, the All-Russian Central Executive Committee operated, which was elected by the All-Russian Congress of Soviets in the number of members determined by the congress. The All-Russian Congress of Soviets was convened by the All-Russian Central Executive Committee once a year, and then once every two years.

The highest bodies of state power within the territory of each autonomous republic that was part of the RSFSR were the congresses of Soviets of republics, and in the period between congresses - the central executive committees elected by them, the rights of which were determined by the constitutions of the autonomous republics. The highest authority in the territories, regions, provinces, districts, districts, districts and volosts were also the Congresses of Soviets. Representatives of all Councils located on the territory of this administrative unit took part in them.

In the mid-30s, according to party ideology, the foundations of socialism were built in the country, the signs of which were considered: the elimination of a multi-structure economy, the undivided approval of socialist property in its two forms - state and collective farm-cooperative, the elimination of exploiting classes, the formation of new socialist nations, democracy . These changes in the social and state system were intended to be legally formalized by the new Constitution of the USSR.

Constitution of the USSR of 1936. The new Constitution of the USSR was adopted at the VIII Extraordinary Congress of Soviets of the USSR on December 5, 1936. She declared the Soviet Union a socialist state of workers and peasants, the political basis of which is the Soviets of Working People's Deputies. All power in the USSR belonged to the working people of the city and village in the person of the Soviets of Working People's Deputies. At the same time, for the first time, the Soviet Constitution stated that the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) represents “the leading core of all organizations of workers, both public and state.”

The supreme body of state power of the USSR was the Supreme Council, which was elected for a term of four years. It consisted of two equal chambers: the Council of the Union and the Council of Nationalities. The Council of the Union was elected by citizens in electoral districts. The Council of Nationalities was elected by citizens in union and autonomous republics, autonomous regions and national districts.

The highest bodies of state power in the union and autonomous republics were the supreme councils of these republics. The bodies of statehood in the territories, regions, autonomous regions, districts, districts, cities, and settlements were the Councils of Working People's Deputies.

Constitution of the RSFSR of 1937. The new Constitution of the RSFSR was adopted at the XVII Extraordinary All-Russian Congress of Soviets on January 21, 1937. The highest body of state power of the RSFSR was the unicameral Supreme Council of the RSFSR, which was elected by citizens of the Russian Federation in electoral districts. In an electoral district, one candidate was nominated for one deputy mandate (“one candidate - one deputy”). High voter activity during uncontested voting was largely ensured by the organizational measures of party organizations (at polling stations, under the leadership of party committees of enterprises and institutions, campaigning points were created, agitators were assigned to groups of voters, party committees were responsible for voter turnout). All this was explained by the intention of the ruling party to maintain its dictatorship, presenting, through “organized” elections, evidence of the population’s support for the political regime, the party’s course, and transformations in Soviet society and the state.

Constitution of the USSR 1977. At the seventh session of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of the ninth convocation on October 7, 1977, on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of Soviet power, the third Constitution (Basic Law) of the USSR was adopted (in accordance with the Constitution of the USSR, new constitutions of the union and autonomous republics were adopted in April - June 1978. The next Constitution of the RSFSR was adopted at the seventh session of the Supreme Council of the RSFSR of the ninth convocation, April 12, 1978). Its preamble noted that the Soviet state, having fulfilled the tasks of the dictatorship of the proletariat, became national. A developed socialist society has been built in the USSR. The CPSU was declared “the leading and directing force of Soviet society, the core of its political system, state and public organizations.”

For the first time, the Constitution introduced the principle of free elections, stipulating that citizens and public organizations are guaranteed a free and comprehensive discussion of the political, business and personal qualities of candidates for deputies, as well as the right to campaign at meetings, in the press, on television, and radio.

The Constitution of the USSR introduced the institution of mandates from voters (voters gave orders to their deputies), or, in other words, the so-called imperative mandate. In the mid-80s, the CPSU proclaimed a course for the development of democracy, which meant a transition from a one-party to a multi-party system and represented an attempt to reform Soviet power in order to preserve it in new conditions. Provisions concerning the leading role of the CPSU were excluded from the Constitution of the USSR, as well as the constitutions of the union and autonomous republics.

The political system enshrined in the Soviet Constitution and the system of representative bodies of state power existed for more than ten years, until fundamental changes were made to them in 1988 - early 1990s, which reflected the processes that had begun in the public life of the country.

Constitution of the Russian Federation of 1993. In 1993, a fundamentally new stage in the development of Russian statehood began. For the first time in its centuries-old history, Russia has embarked on the path of establishing and developing a democratic state, ensuring freedom of economic activity, realizing the equality of all citizens, and unconditionally fulfilling their duties to the Motherland.

The Constitution, adopted on December 12, 1993 at a national referendum, drew a line under the Soviet period of development of the statehood of our Fatherland and marked the beginning of a new stage in the development of domestic constitutionalism. It regulated the most important social relations, consolidated the constitutional foundations of the Russian Federation and the organization of state power in the country.

By consolidating at the highest legal level the new realities of public life in the political, social and economic spheres, the Constitution is designed to ensure the construction in Russia of a democratic federal legal state with a republican form of government. These initial provisions reflect its most important and fundamental features and form the foundations of the constitutional system of Russia.

3 . State structure of the Russian Federationederations

The foundations of the state and territorial structure of Russia are defined in Article 5 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation and are based on the principle of federalism.

Russian federalism is not only a form of resolving the national issue in a multinational country, but also a form of democratization of government. Decentralization of state power and its distribution among regions is an important guarantee of democracy. Based on the principle of federalism, the decentralization of unified state power is ensured by the delimitation of the subjects of authority between the Russian Federation and its subjects and local governments.

Russia, in accordance with the Constitution, consists of republics, territories, regions, cities of federal significance, autonomous regions, autonomous districts - equal subjects of the Russian Federation. At the same time, the legal status of the republic within Russia is determined both by the Constitution of the Russian Federation and by its own Constitution. The legal status of a territory, region, city of federal significance, autonomous region, autonomous district is established, along with the Constitution of Russia, by its own charters.

In accordance with the Constitution of Russia, ordinary (previously called administrative) territories and regions (for example, Stavropol, Krasnoyarsk territories, Smolensk, Ryazan, Pskov and other regions) became equal subjects of the Federation for the first time. Raising their status to the level of republics and autonomous entities within Russia reflects both the historical features of the formation of the Russian Federation itself, and the legal recognition of the role of the Russian people in strengthening statehood. The fact is that Russia, as is known, traditionally, from the very beginning of its existence, includes territories with an indigenous Russian population, and territories of republics, autonomous entities, where other nations and nationalities live compactly. And if previously national (autonomous) entities enjoyed sufficient independence in resolving many issues, the new Constitution of the Russian Federation granted similar rights to both territories and regions in whose territory the majority of the Russian population lives. It should be noted that this decision is fair: Russian people on the territory of a single federal state have the right to enjoy no less rights and opportunities than representatives of other fraternal nations and nationalities.

The state integrity of the Russian Federation is guaranteed by the fact that the sovereignty of Russia extends to its entire territory; the Constitution of the Russian Federation and federal laws have supremacy throughout the entire territory of Russia. The Russian Federation ensures the integrity and inviolability of its territory. It, as a sovereign state, has the right to carry out this responsibility with the use of border troops, the Armed Forces and other state military organizations.

The power of the people in any state cannot be exercised outside the organizational forms through which the people exercise their sovereignty. The people govern the state, freely express their will and give it a generally binding character by enshrining it in legislative acts. The general concept of “sovereignty” (translated as “supreme power”) emphasizes two properties of power - unity and supremacy. In science, this term usually covers three types of sovereignty: popular, national and state. In the organic combination of the characteristic features of each type of sovereignty, the central place belongs to the sovereignty of the people. It is he - the multinational people - who is the source of all state power. This key provision must be understood in such a way that all powers to exercise state power are acquired by state institutions and officials in one form or another as a result of the freely expressed will of the people. Only it makes power in the state legitimate and legitimate. On the scale of the Russian Federation, state power is the most general form of expression of the sovereignty of the people, their supreme will. Each subject of the Federation also has state power. The Constitution of the Russian Federation provides that the subjects of the Federation, outside the scope of its jurisdiction and powers, “possess the fullness of state power.” This state power is an expression of the general will of the people of the republic as part of the Federation, the population of the region, region, autonomy, etc. In the system of local self-government, power belongs to the population of the corresponding city, village, town, and this is part of the people. Local government bodies are not part of the state power system, but are obliged to comply with the Constitution and laws, acts expressing the state will of the people.

The implementation of democracy in the Russian Federation is carried out in various forms: through the system of government bodies, public organizations and parties, through institutions of direct democracy, local self-government. The unity, interconnection and functioning of these forms constitute the political system of the social order. The political system, therefore, is understood as a set of state and public associations through which the people exercise the power that belongs to them according to the Constitution, govern the state, determine and implement domestic and foreign policy.

The Constitution establishes the basic forms of the people's exercise of their sovereign power. “The people,” it is emphasized in paragraph 2 of Article 3 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, “exercise their power directly, as well as through state authorities and local self-government bodies.”

In accordance with paragraph 1 of Article 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 (Federation Council and State Duma), the Government of the Russian Federation, the courts of the Russian Federation (Diagram 1). The classical principle of separation of powers at the present stage of Russia's development is implemented with features that consist in removing the President from the system of executive power to an independent place in the system of supreme bodies of state power.

Scheme 1 State authorities of the Russian Federation build their activities on the following constitutional principles: - formation of state bodies by the people or on their behalf by the relevant authority; - territorial organization of power structures; - legality in the activities of state authorities; - use of national languages ​​in state authorities along with Russian; - independence of legislative, executive and judicial authorities; - delimitation of subjects of jurisdiction and powers between state authorities of the Russian Federation and state authorities of constituent entities of the Russian Federation; - exercise of their powers in the interests of realizing the rights and freedoms of man and citizen. The Russian Federation carries out its diverse functions through government agencies. A state body (state body) is an integral part of the state apparatus, formed in the manner prescribed by law and endowed with state powers necessary to carry out the functions of state power.

State bodies in the Russian Federation constitute a unified system of state power. Such unity is determined by the federal structure of Russia, its state integrity (Article 5, paragraph 3 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation) and is derived from the sovereignty of the multinational people of the Russian Federation and their ability to form state bodies (Articles 3, 32 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation).

The structure of state bodies of the Russian Federation is understood as the ability of the highest and local bodies of legislative, executive and judicial power to carry out the functions of a unified state power in their inherent organizational and legal forms. Thus, the system of government bodies consists of the following main types: legislative bodies (representative bodies of state power); executive authorities and judicial authorities.

Legislative bodies (representative bodies of state power) consist of the Parliament of the Russian Federation, parliaments of the republics within Russia, representative (legislative) bodies of state power of other subjects of the Federation and local representative bodies of state power - assemblies of deputies, municipal councils, bodies at the rural and urban levels districts (Scheme 2).

The system of executive authorities includes: governments, ministries and other executive authorities of the constituent entities of the Federation, heads of administrations of cities, rural and urban areas. The main task of executive authorities is the implementation (implementation) of the provisions of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, federal laws, regulatory decrees of the President of Russia, as well as decisions of relevant higher (federal, republican, regional, etc.) executive authorities. Due to the fact that these bodies have not only executive, but also administrative power, they are also called executive-administrative bodies (Diagram 3).

The executive power system includes ministries, services, and agencies. The Government of the Russian Federation consists of the Chairman, his deputy(s), federal ministries, federal services and federal agencies (Schemes 4.5).

Federal ministries managed by the Government of the Russian Federation, federal services and federal agencies subordinate to these federal ministries
Ministry of Health and Social Development of the Russian Federation: Federal Service for Supervision of Consumer Rights Protection and Human Welfare; Federal Service for Surveillance in Healthcare and Social Development; Federal Service for Labor and Employment; Federal Agency for Health and Social Development; Federal Agency for Physical Culture, Sports and Tourism	Ministry of Culture and Mass Communications of the Russian Federation: Federal Service for Supervision of Compliance with Legislation in the Sphere of Mass Communications and Protection of Cultural Heritage; Federal Archival Agency; Federal Agency for Culture and Cinematography; Federal Agency for Press and Mass Communications
Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation: Federal Service for Intellectual Property, Patents and Trademarks; Federal Service for Supervision in Education and Science; Federal Agency for Science and Innovation; Federal Agency for Education	Ministry of Natural Resources of the Russian Federation: Federal Service for Supervision of Natural Resources; Federal Water Resources Agency; Federal Forestry Agency; Federal Agency for Subsoil Use
Ministry of Industry and Energy of the Russian Federation: Federal Agency for Industry; Federal Agency for Construction and Housing and Communal Services; Federal Agency for Technical Regulation and Metrology; Federal Energy Agency	Ministry of Economic Development and Trade of the Russian Federation: Federal Customs Service; Federal Reserve Agency; Federal Real Estate Cadastre Agency; Federal Agency for Federal Property Management
Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation: Federal Service for Supervision of Transport; Federal Air Transport Agency; Federal Highway Agency; Federal Agency for Railway Transport; Federal Agency for Maritime and River Transport; Federal Agency of Geodesy and Cartography	Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation: Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance; Federal Fisheries Agency; Federal Agency for Agriculture
Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation: Federal Tax Service; Federal Insurance Supervision Service; Federal Service for Financial and Budgetary Supervision; Federal Service for Financial Monitoring; Federal Treasury (federal service)	Ministry of Information Technologies and Communications of the Russian Federation: Federal Service for Supervision of Communications; Federal Information Technology Agency; Federal Communications Agency

However, within the structure of federal executive bodies there are federal ministries, services and agencies, the activities of which are managed by the President of the Russian Federation (Diagram 6).

Federal ministries, federal services and federal agencies, the activities of which are managed by the President of the Russian Federation, federal services and agencies subordinate to these federal ministries
Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation: Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation; Federal Service for Defense Orders; Federal Service for Technical and Export Control; Federal Agency for Special Construction.	Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation: Federal Penitentiary Service; Federal Registration Service; Federal Bailiff Service.
Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation Federal Migration Service.	Ministry of the Russian Federation for Civil Defense, Emergency Situations and Disaster Relief
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation	Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation
State Courier Service of the Russian Federation	Foreign Intelligence Service of the Russian Federation
Federal Service of the Russian Federation for Control of Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances	Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation
Main Directorate of Special Programs of the President of the Russian Federation (federal agency)	Administration of the President of the Russian Federation (federal agency)

The judiciary is designed to administer justice through constitutional civil, administrative and criminal proceedings.

The judicial system of the Russian Federation organizationally consists of several levels. At the federal level, these are the highest courts: the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation. In the republics within the Russian Federation there are constitutional, supreme and arbitration courts of the republics. In other subjects - regional, regional, federal cities and autonomous regions and autonomous districts, people's courts and arbitration courts. At the local level - district and city people's courts (Figure 7).

Scheme No. 7

Conclusion

Thus, the modern Russian state is proclaimed by the Constitution and is being built as a democratic, federal, legal state, with a republican form of government. The highest goal of this state is the realization of human rights and freedoms of all peoples of the Russian Federation, the protection of its integrity, sovereignty and other national values ​​and interests.

In the system of state institutions of the Russian state, an important role belongs to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation and the internal troops, which are organizationally part of its structure. Throughout Russian history, internal troops have worthily fulfilled the tasks of ensuring the security of individuals, society and the state, maintaining constitutional order in many regions of the country, and have been an example of fidelity to military duty.

Literature

5. Large encyclopedic dictionary. - M.: Scientific publishing house “Big Russian Encyclopedia”, 2006.