In the Russian Federation is determined. Constitutional law. Forms of implementation of democracy
1. The bearer of sovereignty and the only source of power in the Russian Federation is its multinational people.
2. The people exercise their power directly, as well as through state authorities and local self-government bodies.
3. The highest direct expression of the power of the people is the referendum and free elections.
4. No one can appropriate power in the Russian Federation. The seizure of power or the appropriation of power is punishable under federal law.
This article establishes the principle of democracy (people's sovereignty), which determines the foundations of the organization of a democratic state, belonging and the main forms of exercising public power in it.
Part 1. The bearer of sovereignty in the Russian Federation is its multinational people, which acts as a single entity uniting all citizens who have an equal legal connection with the state, regardless of nationality, social status and other circumstances. There are over a hundred different nations, nationalities, ethnic groups in Russia, united by a common destiny on their land and constituting a single multinational people of Russia.
Popular sovereignty, therefore, is primary in relation to the sovereignty of the state: it underlies the state sovereignty of the Russian Federation. The recognition of the people as the bearer of sovereignty means that it is the people as a whole that is the basis of statehood, the source of power in the state, that it has the supremacy in resolving issues of the structure of the state and society.
The principle of popular sovereignty also means that the people are the only source of power in the state. It is the sovereign will of the people, expressed at a referendum, elections, that ultimately determines the legitimacy of the powers of public authorities in the state.
Part 2 of this article establishes the main forms of exercise by the people of their power:
Directly (through a referendum and free elections);
Through public authorities;
Through local governments.
Thus, it is possible
firstly, to single out the forms of direct and indirect exercise of the power of the people (public power). At the same time, the indirect exercise of the power of the people is manifested not only in the activities of representative bodies of power elected directly by the people, but also in the activities of other public authorities in the state (executive, judicial).
secondly, this article makes it possible to single out in the general system of public power: state power, exercised by state authorities, and local government (municipal authority), exercised by local governments.
Therefore, we can conclude that public power in the state (power of the people) has two main forms: the form of state power and the form of local self-government (municipal power).
Public authorities at all territorial levels ultimately have a single source of their power: the sovereign will of the multinational people of Russia.
According to parts 3 of this article, the principle of popular sovereignty determines the special significance of such forms of direct expression by the people of their sovereign will as a referendum and free elections, which are the highest direct expression of the power of the people. The people, expressing their will at a referendum, free elections, independently decide the most important state and public issues, determine the composition of public authorities elected by them, ensure the democratic legitimization of power in the state.
IN parts 4 This article determines that power in the state belongs to the multinational people of Russia as a whole: no part of the people (class, social stratum or group), no one else can appropriate power in the Russian Federation.
The seizure of power or the appropriation of power is a violation of the constitutional foundations of people's sovereignty, the foundations of the constitutional order of Russia and is prosecuted under federal law.
The Criminal Code of the Russian Federation provides for criminal liability for actions aimed at the forcible seizure of power or the forcible retention of power in violation of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, as well as those aimed at the forcible change of the constitutional order of the Russian Federation (Article 278 of the Criminal Code), as well as for public calls for the forcible seizure of power, its forcible retention or forcible change of the constitutional order of the Russian Federation (Article 280 of the Criminal Code).
The sovereignty of the people means that it is to them that sovereign state power belongs, which has such properties as supremacy and independence; The people have full power in the country. The bearer of sovereignty and the only source of power in the Russian Federation is recognized as its multinational people. This provision is the starting point for securing the democratic nature of the Russian Federation. The recognition of the people as the only source of power and the bearer of sovereignty is distinctive feature democratic states with a republican form of government.
The current Constitution of the Russian Federation establishes that the people exercise their power directly, as well as through state authorities and local self-government bodies. It also establishes a number of institutions (forms) of direct democracy, including as the highest direct expression of the power of the people - a referendum and free elections. These institutions also include: meetings, rallies, processions, demonstrations, picketing, individual and collective appeals to state bodies and local governments, popular (civil) initiative at the level of subjects of the Federation and local government (submission by the population of draft legal acts to state authorities and local self-government), people's initiative to hold referendums, people's discussions of issues of state and local importance.
russia people power state
A democratic state is a state in which all social strata and each member of society are provided with broad participation in the management of state and public affairs, strict observance and guarantee of personal, political and other rights and freedoms of man and citizen in order to achieve social harmony, socio-political stability and the common good.
In accordance with the Constitution of the Russian Federation (Article 1), the Russian Federation is a democratic state. Its democratism finds expression first of all in ensuring democracy in it; separation of powers into legislative, executive and judicial; ideological and political diversity; local government.
The proclamation of the Russian Federation as a democratic state is enshrined in a number of constitutional provisions:
Imposing on the state, its bodies and officials the obligation to recognize, observe the rights and freedoms of man and citizen (Article 2);
Recognition of a multinational people as the bearer of sovereignty and the only source of power in the Russian Federation (Part 1, Article 3);
Consolidation of the people's right to exercise their power (to exercise sovereignty) both directly and through state authorities and local governments (part 2 of article 3);
Recognition by the Basic Law of the referendum and free elections as the highest direct expression of the power of the people (part 3 of article 3);
Constitutional ban on the appropriation of power by anyone (part 4 of article 3);
Consolidation of the principle of separation of powers (Article 10), ideological and political diversity (Article 13);
The constitutional possibility of citizens to participate in the management of state affairs (Article 32);
Availability of democratic procedures for the creation and operation of public associations (Article 30), etc.
A multinational people is the bearer of sovereignty and the only source of power in the Russian Federation
In interpreting the democratic nature of the Russian Federation, the thesis that the bearer of sovereignty and the only source of power in the country is its multinational people is especially important (Article 3). This means that Russia is proclaimed a state of democracy, or, in other words, a democratic state (people's power - "democracy" in ancient Greek). Not this or that class, social stratum or group of people, not this or that nation or other ethno-social community, but the Russian multinational people as a whole, as a nationwide unity of the citizens of the country, regardless of their social, ethnic, confessional and other differences.
The recognition of the people as the supreme bearer of all power is an expression of popular sovereignty. Popular sovereignty means that the people, not sharing their power with anyone, exercise it independently and independently of any social forces, use it exclusively in their own interests. Popular sovereignty is indivisible, has and can have only one subject - the people.
The Constitution of the Russian Federation establishes the prerogative of the multinational people of Russia for all power, its sovereignty. This means that the Russian people do not share power with anyone, and no one but themselves can claim power in the Russian Federation. “No one can appropriate power in the Russian Federation,” Art. 3. - The seizure of power or the appropriation of power is punishable under federal law.
This provision directly follows from the fact that sovereignty in the Russian Federation directly belongs to the entire multinational Russian people, and not to part of it, and there is no other source of power here and cannot be. And this, in turn, means that any power in the country is called upon to express and protect the will and interests of the sovereign Russian people, and only such state power can and should be recognized as legitimate and legitimate.
Thus, democracy is the belonging of all power to the people, as well as the free exercise by the people of this power in accordance with the requirements of the law, its sovereign will and fundamental interests. In the Russian Federation, power is legitimized and controlled by the people, the citizens of the Russian Federation.
Elements of democracy in the Russian Federation: 1) a collective subject - citizens of the Russian Federation; 2) object - power.
In accordance with the standards of democratic constitutions of many countries of the world, the Constitution of the Russian Federation (parts 2 and 3 of article 3) speaks of the people exercising their power directly (direct, direct democracy), as well as through public authorities and local governments (representative, indirect democracy ). The combination of such two forms and mechanisms of democracy as direct democracy and representative democracy is one of the most important features of a democratic state.
Depending on the form of expression of the will of the people, representative and direct democracy are distinguished.
The Constitution of the Russian Federation proclaims the sovereignty of the people: the bearer of sovereignty and the only source of power in Russia is its multinational people (Part 1, Article 3). This is typical for a democratic constitutional state with a republican form of government.
The sovereignty of the people means that it is to them that sovereign state power belongs, which has such properties as supremacy and independence; The people have full power in the country. The people have supremacy in the state, in the system of power, its sovereign state will is obligatory for all state authorities, local governments, in general, all persons and organizations on the territory of the state. No one, no part of the people, organization, person should appropriate power in the Russian Federation. The seizure of power or the appropriation of power is prosecuted under federal law - reads Part 4 of Art. 3 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation. Power should come only from the people - its only source.
The most important organs of the state are elected by the vote of the people, receive their powers from it. All state bodies, officials, bodies of local self-government, exercising power, must act in accordance with the will of the people, expressed in the Constitution and laws, in their interests. For the exercise of power, organizational forms, a mechanism of domination are necessary. The people themselves exercise power directly in modern states infrequently, they do it mainly through the system of state bodies and local self-government bodies.
The current Constitution of the Russian Federation establishes that the people exercise their power directly, as well as through state authorities and local self-government bodies. Thus, the following channels for the exercise of democracy are fixed: direct (direct) democracy, public authorities, local governments. A special role in the exercise of power by the people is played by elected representative bodies that embody representative democracy. Representative bodies are available among both state authorities and local governments.
Under direct democracy refers to the direct expression of the will of the people or part of them on issues of state or local importance. The Constitution of the Russian Federation establishes a number of institutions (forms) of direct democracy, including as the highest direct expression of the power of the people - a referendum and free elections. These institutions also include: meetings, rallies, marches, demonstrations, picketing, individual and collective appeals to state bodies and local governments, popular (civil) initiative at the level of subjects of the Federation (for example, in Moscow, the Moscow region) and local government ( introduction by the population of draft legal acts to state authorities and local self-government), popular initiative for holding referendums, popular discussions of issues of state and local significance.
The institutions of direct democracy are varied. Among them there are ways of making final, generally binding decisions (elections, a referendum) and forms of expression of opinion (for example, discussions of draft laws, rallies), which have only an advisory, advisory value, and are not mandatory for state bodies, officials, citizens. Through a number of forms, their will, the opinion can be expressed by the people as a whole - this is a referendum of the Russian Federation, popular elections; with the help of other forms - its part, the population of a subject of the Federation, an administrative-territorial unit, a collective, a group of people. Direct expression of will is also diverse in form: it can be a vote, a discussion, a resolution of a meeting, a rally.
In the system of institutions of direct democracy important place belongs elections- the form of the broadest participation of citizens in the management of public affairs. Through elections, state bodies, local self-government bodies are formed, their personal composition is determined. Representative (legislative) bodies are elected: the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, legislatures subjects of the Federation. In addition, representative bodies of local self-government are also elected. At present, a number of officials are also elected in this way: the President of the Russian Federation, the presidents of the republics in its composition (where this post is provided), heads of administrations, mayors of cities *.
* During a certain period, heads of administrations, governors, mayors, as a rule, were appointed, but their elections were not held.
Along with free elections, the highest direct expression of the power of the people is referendum. The legislation provides for a referendum of the Russian Federation, referendums of the constituent entities of the Federation, and a local referendum. The referendum of the Russian Federation is mentioned in the Constitution of the Russian Federation, while its organization and conduct are regulated in detail by the Federal Constitutional Law “On the Referendum of the Russian Federation” dated October 10, 1995*, as well as the Federal Law “On Basic Guarantees of Electoral Rights and the Right to Participate in a Referendum of Citizens of the Russian Federation”. Federation” of September 19, 1997** as amended and supplemented by the Federal Law of March 30, 1999***
* SZ RF. 1995. No. 42. Art. 3921.
** SZ RF. 1997. No. 38. Art. 4339.
Referendum of the Russian Federation
Referendum of the Russian Federation - a nationwide vote of citizens of the Russian Federation on bills, laws in force and other issues of national importance. The decision made on it is generally binding and does not need additional approval. Important issues of national importance that affect the interests of the people are submitted to a referendum. The issue of adopting a new Constitution of the Russian Federation shall be submitted to a referendum of the Russian Federation without fail if the Constitutional Assembly decides to put a draft of a new Constitution of the Russian Federation to a popular vote. Certain issues cannot be submitted to an all-Russian referendum*. The referendum is held on the basis of equal universal and direct expression of will by secret ballot; participation in the referendum is free, the vote is personal. Each referendum participant has one vote. Every citizen of the Russian Federation who has reached the age of 18 on the day of the referendum has the right to participate in the referendum of the Russian Federation. At the same time, citizens who have been declared legally incompetent by a court or who are held in places of deprivation of liberty by a court verdict do not have the right to participate in a referendum.
* These are questions: changes in the status of subjects of the Russian Federation; early termination or extension of the term of office of the President of the Russian Federation, the State Duma, holding their early elections, early formation of the Federation Council, postponing elections, formation of these bodies; adoption and amendment of the federal budget, execution and amendment of the internal financial obligations of the state; introduction, modification and abolition of federal taxes and fees, as well as exemption from their payment; taking emergency and urgent measures to ensure the health and safety of the population; amnesties and pardons. In addition, issues submitted to a referendum should not restrict or cancel the universally recognized rights and freedoms of man and citizen and the constitutional guarantees for their implementation.
The referendum of the Russian Federation is held on the initiative of: 1) at least two million citizens of the Russian Federation who have the right to participate in the referendum of the Russian Federation, provided that no more than 10% of them live in the territory of one constituent entity of the Russian Federation or in aggregate outside the territory of the Russian Federation; 2) the Constitutional Assembly in the case when it submits to a popular vote a draft of a new Constitution of the Russian Federation. Only these subjects can put forward a legally significant demand for a referendum. The initiative of the specified number of citizens is implemented in a certain order. An initiative group is formed to collect signatures in support of such an initiative; this group indicates the wording of the issue to be voted on and collects at least 2 million signatures of citizens within no more than three months. Subsequently, signature lists and other necessary documents are submitted to the Central Election Commission, which sends the relevant documents with its conclusion to the President of the Russian Federation. He, after verification and recognition by the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation of compliance with constitutional requirements, appoints a referendum of the Russian Federation.
The preparation and holding of a referendum is organized by commissions for conducting a referendum: the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation and election commissions of constituent entities of the Russian Federation acting as relevant commissions for holding a referendum, as well as territorial (district, city, etc.) and precinct commissions for holding a referendum.
Citizens of the Russian Federation, public associations have the right, observing the laws, to freely campaign “for” or “against” the holding of a referendum, “for” or “against” participation in a referendum, “for” or “against” a bill, a law in force or another issue, submitted to a referendum in the Russian Federation. Campaigning must be terminated at zero o'clock local time on the eve of the day preceding the day of the referendum; on the day of the referendum, as well as on the day preceding it, campaigning is prohibited.
The ballot paper accurately reproduces the wording of the question submitted to the referendum, and indicates the options for expressing the will of the voter - “for” or “against”, under which empty squares are placed, in one of which the citizen must put a sign when voting. If a citizen votes for the adoption of the issue submitted to the referendum of the Russian Federation, he puts a “plus” sign or any other sign in the square under the word “for”, if he is against, then he puts a plus sign or any other sign in the square under the word “against” ". The secrecy of the vote is ensured.
The results of the referendum of the Russian Federation are determined by the Central Election Commission. The referendum of the Russian Federation is recognized as valid if more than half of the citizens who have the right to participate in the referendum took part in the voting. The decision is considered adopted if more than half of the citizens who took part in the voting voted for it in the Russian Federation as a whole. (It should be borne in mind that the number of registered voters who have the right to participate in a referendum is usually much larger than the number of those who took part in the vote. For example, according to official data, 58 people took part in the voting on the draft Constitution of the Russian Federation in December 1993, 1 million people - 54.8% of all registered voters, of which there were 106.1 million, while 32.9 million people voted "for" - 58.4% of those who voted with valid ballots*.)
All-Russian referendums have already been held: March 17, 1991 - on the issue of introducing the post of President in Russia; April 25, 1993 - on a number of issues: on confidence in the President of the Russian Federation, approval of the socio-economic policy carried out since 1992 by the President and the Government of the Russian Federation, on early elections of deputies, the President of the Russian Federation; December 12, 1993 - on the adoption of the new Constitution of the Russian Federation.
Referendums may also be held in subjects of the Federation, in administrative-territorial formations.
An important role in the exercise of power belonging to the people is played by government departments. They do an enormous amount of management work. State power in the Russian Federation is primarily exercised by the President of the Russian Federation, the Federal Assembly (the Federation Council and the State Duma), the Government, and the courts of the Russian Federation. In the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, state power is exercised by the bodies of state power formed by them (presidents, governors, legislative bodies, governments, administrations, etc.).
Despite the branching of the system of state bodies, their diversity, the principle of unity of the state power system is constitutionally enshrined, according to which the state apparatus is required to act in concert, observing the Constitution of the Russian Federation and laws. Only in this way can the activities of the apparatus be subordinated to the will of the people, its sovereignty is ensured, and the people can exercise their power through state bodies. This also requires the existence of effective democratic institutions, channels of influence on the state apparatus by the people. Such a role is played by the institutions of direct democracy, first of all, the elections of state bodies, officials, and also, which is especially important, representative bodies of state power. They are the connecting links between the people and the professional state apparatus, somewhat isolated from society. Therefore, the importance of elected representative bodies, embodying representative democracy, is great. They represent the people, express their will and interests.
Representative democracy means the exercise of power by the people through representative bodies. Representative bodies are elected directly by the people, consist of its authorized representatives - deputies, play a huge role in the formation and expression of the state will of the people, personify it. The Parliament of Russia, the representative bodies of its constituent entities exercise legislative power, express the state will of the people in laws regulating the organization and activities of other power structures, the behavior of all people and organizations on the territory of the country. Representative democracy should promote the control of the state by the people.
Of great importance in the exercise of the power of the people are the officials of the state elected by them, primarily the President of the Russian Federation. The institution of a popularly elected President is an effective means of realizing popular sovereignty. Through him (and he heads the state), the people also influence the state apparatus in order to implement their will; it is the President of the Russian Federation who determines the main directions of internal and foreign policy carried out by the executive branch.
Local governments
Another one form of implementation of democracy - local governments. They are separated from the system of state authorities, they are not included in their system. Local self-government is independent within its powers; it ensures that the population resolves issues of local importance. Self-government is carried out by the local population - integral part people through forms of direct expression of will at the local level: elections, referendums and through local governments.
All considered main organizational and legal forms of the exercise of democracy are interconnected, should serve to implement the sovereignty of the people - the single and only constitutional source of power in the country.
Above were only schematically shown the constitutional forms of democracy, its legal framework. The real exercise of the power of the people, the management of society is complex, multifaceted. In the exercise of power, in politics, statesmen, political leaders, parties, and other public associations take an active part. They win the support of voters, have an effective influence on the formation, expression through democratic institutions of the will of the people, the opinions of social strata and groups, on the definition and implementation of state policy. The processes of exercising power take place within the framework of a political system that embraces various organizational forms of democracy.
As already noted, political power cannot exist outside of an organization through which it could be carried out and within the framework of which the political, imperious will of the people would be revealed and formed. Such an organization is, first of all, the state - a political organization of the whole people, which is a mechanism for the implementation of political power, the subject of social management. It includes the most important institutions of democracy.
Other organizations also participate in the exercise of power - political parties and other public associations.
All the above-mentioned organizations, democratic institutions make up the political system - a complex of state and public organizations, political institutions through which political power is exercised, the participation of the people in political life.
The political system is a complex, branched organization, and the role of different components of the political system is different. If the state is the sovereign political organization of the whole people, then parties, other public organizations- only participants in the exercise of political power. Following the laws, they express the will of their members, groups of people, certain strata of society and do not have power.
So, the structure of the political system, which covers various state and non-state institutions of democracy, includes the state as a whole, public associations (political parties, mass social movements, various public organizations).
K Block 2. Fundamentals of the Constitutional System in the Russian Federation.
Control questions for Block 2:
1. How to consistently link the prescriptions of Part 3 and Part 5 of Art. 13 of the Constitution?
The Russian Federation recognizes political diversity and a multi-party system.
The creation and activities of public associations whose goals or actions are aimed at forcibly changing the foundations of the constitutional order and violating the integrity of the Russian Federation, undermining the security of the state, creating armed groups, inciting social, racial, national and religious hatred are prohibited.
Political diversity is allowed, but it is impossible to create parties that violate the integrity of the Russian Federation. Parties should not disturb the stability in society.
The former constitution spoke of a "socialist choice", and Art. 7 of the current Constitution defines Russia as a "welfare state".
Are these concepts identical, if not, what is their difference?
In a socialist state, the possibility of such a situation is completely excluded. Labor there is not a commodity, but an honorable right and duty of every citizen. The basic principles of socialism: "The free development of everyone is a condition for the free development of society"; "From each according to his ability, to each according to his work"; "Who does not work shall not eat". Many still remember that there was no unemployment in the USSR, and parasitism was considered a crime and was prosecuted. If in a capital society the main goals are to make a profit, increase capital, then in a social society it is to increase the personal time of each citizen for his self-development, recreation, raising children (when he performs his share of socially useful labor and ensures a decent standard of living for citizens). In the USSR, with the development of the economy and the growth of labor productivity, the length of the working week was constantly reduced and the duration of holidays increased (especially those granted to women for the birth and upbringing of children and to students for advanced training).
More than once I heard that "there is more socialism in Sweden than in the USSR." This is far from true. The standard of living in a particular state is not a characteristic of the social system. The social system characterizes the position that the working people occupy in the state. If everything that a society produces is fair (according to labor), distributed among its members, if the disclosure of the abilities of each does not depend on the thickness of the parents' pocket, if the entire able-bodied population is provided with work and among them there are no significant groups forced to live on handouts, this is socialism . If everything is not so, if hundreds of thousands, millions of citizens are forced to become parasites, to live on handouts - "social assistance", at a time when thousands due to the labor of others "are mad with fat", this is capitalism.
And it's up to everyone to decide: does he prefer for himself, his children and grandchildren life in a socialist or capitalist society (albeit "social")?
1. The bearer of sovereignty and the only source of power in the Russian Federation is its multinational people.
2. The people exercise their power directly, as well as through state authorities and local self-government bodies.
3. The highest direct expression of the power of the people is the referendum and free elections.
4. No one can appropriate power in the Russian Federation. The seizure of power or the appropriation of power is punishable under federal law.
1. In accordance with Art. 1 of the Constitution, the Russian Federation is a democratic state. His democratism finds expression primarily in democracy; separation of powers into legislative, executive and judicial; political diversity; local government.
The Constitution states (Article 3) that the bearer of sovereignty and the only source of power in the Russian Federation is its multinational people. This means that Russia is proclaimed a state of democracy, or, in other words, a democratic state (people's power - "democracy" in ancient Greek). Each of the two categories "people" and "power" that make up the concept of "democracy" is complex and requires special consideration.
From a legal point of view, the concept of people is identified with the concept of "citizens" and is defined as belonging to a given, associated within the framework of a single state, a set of people to the corresponding state. The people form the physical substratum of the state.
It should be said that during the years of Soviet power, the people was understood as a certain historical community of people, which changes depending on the development tasks solved by society in a given period. In accordance with this, the people could consist only of working people or include those social strata who, not belonging to the working people in terms of their social status, nevertheless objectively participated in solving the problems of the country's progressive development. Such an approach to the definition of the concept of "people" opened up wide opportunities for the totalitarian state to apply discriminatory measures against millions of citizens of the country objectionable for one reason or another.
Power is the ability to dispose or control someone and something, to subordinate others to one's will. Power is a social phenomenon. It arises together with the emergence of society and exists in any society, since any society requires management, which is provided by various means, including coercion. With the emergence of the state, state power also arises as one of the essential features of the state. The state power has as its main elements the general will and force capable of ensuring the submission to this general will of all members of society.
State power is characterized by the sovereignty of the state, which is manifested in its supremacy, unity and independence.
State power in the Russian Federation is not the only form of people's power. Another form of its power is local self-government. Local self-government bodies are not included in the system of state authorities of the Russian Federation.
Recognition of the multinational people of the Russian Federation as the supreme bearer of all power is an expression of people's sovereignty. Popular sovereignty means that the people, not sharing their power with anyone, exercise it independently and independently of any social forces, use it exclusively in their own interests. Popular sovereignty is indivisible, has and can have only one subject - the people.
The Constitution establishes the prerogative of the multinational people of Russia for all power, its sovereignty. This means that the Russian people do not share power with anyone, and no one but themselves can claim power in the Russian Federation.
Thus, democracy in the Russian Federation is the ownership of all power by its people, as well as the free exercise by the people of this power in full accordance with their sovereign will and fundamental interests.
In the conditions of democracy in the Russian Federation, the exercise of power is constituted, legitimized and controlled by its people, i.e. citizens of the Russian Federation, since it acts in the forms of self-determination and self-government of the people, in which they can participate equal rights all citizens of Russia. People's power as a form of state and a method of government is thus transformed into an organizational principle of the possession of power and its exercise in the Russian Federation, which determines that the solution of any state tasks or the exercise of power needs legitimation coming from the people or ascending to it. The idea of the people as the starting and ending point of democratic legitimation is basic in understanding our democracy.
2. The people of the Russian Federation exercise their power both directly and through state authorities and local self-government bodies. Depending on the form of expression of the will of the people, representative and direct democracy are distinguished.
Representative democracy is the exercise of power by the people through elected authorized representatives who make decisions that express the will of those they represent: the entire people, the population living in a particular territory.
Elected representation is the most important means of ensuring genuine democracy. Elected representation is formed by state bodies and local self-government bodies elected by the people.
Direct democracy is a form of direct expression of the will of the people or any groups of the population.
The institutions of direct democracy include: a referendum, elections, orders to deputies, reports of deputies, recall by the population of a deputy, a member of an elected body of local self-government, an elected official local government; voting on issues of changing the boundaries of the municipality, transformation of the municipality; gatherings and meetings of citizens, appeals of citizens; lawmaking initiative; territorial public self-government; public hearings; citizen surveys, etc.
3. "The supreme direct expression of the power of the people," states the Constitution, "are the referendum and free elections."
According to the Referendum Law, a referendum is a nationwide vote of Russian citizens on issues of national importance. The referendum is held on the basis of universal, equal, direct and free expression of the will of the citizens of the Russian Federation by secret ballot.
Citizens of the Russian Federation have the right to participate in a referendum regardless of gender, race, nationality, language, origin, property and official status, place of residence, attitude to religion, beliefs, membership in public associations, as well as other circumstances. Citizens of the Russian Federation participate in the referendum on an equal footing. Each participant in the referendum has an equal number of votes. A citizen of the Russian Federation votes for the issue (issues) submitted to the referendum or against it (them) directly.
Participation of a citizen of the Russian Federation in a referendum is free and voluntary. No one has the right to exert influence on a citizen with the aim of forcing him to participate or not to participate in a referendum, to put forward an initiative to hold a referendum, to prepare and hold a referendum, as well as to impede his free expression of will. See also comments to Art. 32, 84 (p. "b"), 130, 135.
The referendum, as the highest direct expression of the power of the people, within the meaning of the Constitution, cannot be aimed at denying the legitimate free elections that have taken place, which are also the highest direct expression of the power of the people, since in fact this would lead to a revision of their results and, as a result, to a violation of the stability and continuity of functioning public authorities.
The institution of a referendum of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation due to the integrity of Russia and the unity of the system of state power, due to the sovereignty of its multinational people (part 1 of article 1, part 1 of article 3, part 1 of article 4, parts 1 and 3 of article 5 of the Constitution ), should not be used to oppose the will of the population of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation to the will of federal legislation.
The norms of the Constitution do not prevent the possibility of introducing federal law institute of recall of the highest official (head of the highest executive body of state power) of the constituent entity of the Russian Federation. At the same time, however, the federal legislator must take into account what follows from parts 2 and 3 of Art. 3 of the Constitution, the ratio of forms (institutions) of direct democracy. Recall, as one of these forms, should not be used to destabilize elected institutions of power and, ultimately, democracy itself. Consequently, the legislator, if he introduces the institution of recall, is obliged to provide general principles recall mechanism so that the very meaning of the elections is not distorted (see Decree of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation of 07.06.2000 N 10-P).
Elections are understood as the participation of citizens in the exercise of the power of the people by selecting representatives from their midst by voting to perform their functions in state bodies or local self-government bodies in exercising power in accordance with the will and interests of citizens expressed in elections.
The main thing in elections is that they are a form of exercise by citizens of their power. The most significant sign of elections is the direct expression of the will of citizens and the nomination by them of representatives from among themselves to exercise democracy. This is fully consistent with the rule according to which the right to participate in government, primarily active and passive suffrage, is granted to citizens of a particular state, i.e. persons with citizenship. The right to vote is the right of a citizen, not just a person. See also comments to Art. 32, 81, 84 (p. "a"), 96, 97, 109, 130.
Elections of state bodies and local self-government bodies provided for by the Constitution are free and are held on the basis of universal, equal and direct suffrage by secret ballot.
Independently establishing the system of their state authorities and forming them, the subjects of the Russian Federation are obliged to act in accordance with the fundamentals of the constitutional order of the Russian Federation, including the principle of free elections, guaranteeing the freedom of expression of the will of citizens and not violating democratic principles and norms of public law (see Resolution of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation dated 04.27.1998 N 12-P*(4)).
Proclaiming a referendum and free elections as the highest direct expression of the power of the people and guaranteeing in Part 2 of Art. 32 the right of citizens of the Russian Federation to participate in free elections and in a referendum, the Constitution, as noted by the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, proceeds from the fact that the named higher forms of direct democracy, each having its own purpose in the process of exercising democracy, are equivalent and, being interconnected, complement each other . The sequence of their listing in Art. 3 of the Constitution (referendum - free elections) does not give grounds for concluding that a referendum has a priority role, just as Art. 32 of the Constitution, which, defining the right of citizens to participate in the direct exercise of democracy, first names the right to elect and be elected to public authorities, and then the right to participate in a referendum (see Decree of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation of June 11, 2003 N 10-P).
By virtue of interrelated provisions h. 1 Article. 1, part 3, art. 3 and parts 1 and 2 of Art. 32 of the Constitution, electoral rights as subjective rights act as an element of the constitutional status of the voter, at the same time they are an element of the public law institution of elections, they embody both the personal interest of each individual voter and the public interest, which is realized in the objective results of elections and the formation of this basis of public authorities.
Within the meaning of Part 1 of Art. 1, part 3, art. 3, part 3, art. 17 and parts 1 and 2 of Art. 32 of the Constitution in their interconnection, the constitutional values associated with the exercise of electoral rights may come into conflict with each other, since the interests of individual voters, which predetermine their will in the election process, including by voting "against all candidates", do not always coincide with the public interest in the formation of public authorities. At the level of the constitutional and legal status of the individual, this is, on the one hand, the right of every citizen to take part in the election of representatives of the people in elected public authorities and to be elected as such a representative, and on the other hand, the right of every citizen, at his own discretion, to refuse to trust some or all candidates running in the elections; at the level of the institution of elections as a whole, this is the formation of public authorities, their representative and legitimate nature (see Resolution of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation of November 29, 2004 N 17-P * (5)).
4. The Constitution states that no one can appropriate power in the Russian Federation. This means that the state recognizes as legitimate only such possession of power, which is based on the law and the procedures established by it. Any other acquisition of power or authority is recognized as unlawful and entails responsibility.
The Criminal Code (Chapter 29) provides for liability for the forcible seizure of power or the forcible retention of power, public calls for a violent change in the constitutional order (Articles 278, 280).
The norms of the Criminal Code on liability for crimes against interests serve the purposes of protecting the constitutional order from unlawful encroachments. public service, justice, administration (chapter 30-32), all provisions of the law obliging the state to guard the right of citizens to elect and be elected, to participate in a referendum (art. 141, 142), as well as other constitutional rights and freedoms of citizens.
