The constitution and social demand for change in contemporary Russian society

Available in Russian

Available for free

Author: Andrey Medushevsky

DOI: 10.21128/1812-7126-2019-1-21-41

Keywords: elites; leadership; legal reforms; legitimacy; political institutes; political regime; professional community; Russian Constitution; social demand for change; transition of power

Abstract

The predominant Post-Soviet orientation of the Russian social consciousness on stability as a reaction to the twofold collapse of the country during the 20th century is now receding. In the past quarter of a century (after the collapse of USSR and the adoption of 1993 Russian Constitution) the goals of the transitional period have been fulfilled as officially reported, a new generation has come of age, and new dynamic social groups are beginning to associate their perspectives with social changes. This growing demand for change is mainly concerned with the social sphere, but could potentially touch the area of constitutional priorities as well. The general problem is as follows: how can the Russian Constitution and political order based on it answer this growing request to fulfill still unarticulated social expectations which, under certain preconditions, could provide a negative mood? On the other hand, how can social change influence society’s vision of the Constitution, as well as the attitudes of intellectuals, politicians, and officials? In what ways will the Constitution need to adapt for the forthcoming global and national social transformations, first of all in order to confront the question of power transition in 2024. In this article the author debates the following questions: the main contemporary challenges to Russian constitutionalism, the interdependent logic of Constitutional basic norms and political regime dynamics, the dysfunctions of the legal system and parameters of political reforms prospects for developing constitutional order in light of powertransition processes, and the possible answers of the political elite and professional community to the growing demand for social and constitutional change.

About the author: Andrey Medushevsky – Doctor of Sciences (Philosophy), Tenured Professor, Higher School of Economics, Moscow, Russia.

Citation: Medushevsky A. (2019) Konstitutsiya i sotsial'nyy zapros na izmeneniya v sovremennom rossiyskom obshchestve [The Constitution and social demand for change in contemporary Russian society]. Sravnitel'noe konstitutsionnoe obozrenie, vol. 28, no. 1, pp. 21–41. (In Russian).

References

(2015) 1985–2015: Tsennosti Perestroyki v kontekste sovremennosti [The values of Perestroyka in a contemporary context], Moscow: Gorbachevfond. (In Russian).

Auzan A. A. (2015) Effekt “kolei” i problema obshchestvennogo dogovora [The “path-dependence” effect and the problem of social contract]. In: Sotsial'nyy liberalism: mezhdu svobodoy i etatizmom [Social liberalism: between freedom and statism], Saint Petersburg: Leont'evskiy tsentr, pp. 185–189. (In Russian).

Avak'yan S. A. (2012) Nuzhna li konstitutsionnaya reforma v Rossii [Does Russia need constitutional reform?]. Konstitutsionnoe i munitsipal'noe pravo, no. 9, pp. 2–9. (In Russian).

Bagdasaryan V. E, Sulakshin S. S. (2012) Vysshie tsennosti Rossiyskogo gosudarstva [The supreme values of the Russian state], Moscow: Nauchnyy expert. (In Russian).

Baturin Iu. (2008) Konstitutsionnye etyudy [Constitutional etudes], Moscow: Institute for law and legal policy. (In Russian).

Bondar' N. S. (2015) Sudebnyy konstitutsionalizm: doktrina i praktika [Judicial constitutionalism: doctrine and practice], Moscow: Norma. (In Russian).

Busygina I., Filippov M. (2012) Politicheskaya modernizatsiya gosudarstva v Rossii: neobkhodimost', napravleniya, izderzhki, riski [Political modernization of the state in Russia: necessitiesx, directions, prices, and risks], Moscow: Liberal'naya missiya. (In Russian).

Denisov S. A. (2018) Imitatsiya konstitutsionnogo stroya. Kniga 1 [Imitation of the constitutional order. Book 1], Ekaterinburg: Gosuniversitet. (In Russian).

Duka A. V. (ed.) (2012). Vlastnye struktury i gruppy dominirovaniya [The power institutes and groups of dominance], Saint Petersburg: Intersotsis. (In Russian).

(2011) Epokha El'tsina: Ocherki politicheskoy istorii [Yeltsin’s epoch: A survey of political history], Moscow: El'tsin-tsentr. (In Russian).

Filatov S. (2000) Sovershenno nesekretno [Completely not secret], Moscow: Vagrius. (In Russian).

Filippov P. (2016) Vozmis' i sdelay [To start and to do], Saint Petersburg; Moscow: Norma. (In Russian).

Filippov P. S, Boiko T. M., Berman V. P. (2014) Esli by prezidentom byl ty: dlya lyudey, kotorye khotyat ponyat' razvilki sovremennoy istorii Rossii [If you were the President: For those who want to understand the bifurcations in current Russian history], Saint Petersburg; Moscow: Norma. (In Russian).

Gaidar E., Chubais A. (2011) Razvilki noveyshey istorii Rossii [Bifurcations in current Russian history], Saint Petersburg: Norma. (In Russian).

Khasbulatov R. I. (1994) Velikaya rossiyskaya tragediya [The great Russian tragedy], Moscow: Sims. (In Russian).

Kliamkin I. (2018) Kakaya doroga vedyot k pravu? [What way brings you to the law?], Moscow: Mysl'. (In Russian).

Kolesnikov A. (2014) Dialogi s Evgeniem Yasinym [Dialogs with Evgeniy Yasin], Moscow: NLO. (In Russian).

Kononov A. L. (2017) Osoboe mnenie sud'i Kononova [The dissenting opinion of judge Kononov], Moscow: Kuchkovo pole. (In Russian).

(1995–1996) Konstitutsionnoe soveshchanie: stenogrammy, materialy, dokumenty [Constitutional council: minutes, materials, documents], in 20 vols., Moscow: ROSSPEN. (In Russian).

(2016) Konstitutsionnyy krizis v Rossii i puti ego preodoleniya: Doklad “Otkrytoy Rossii” i Instituta sovremennoy Rossii [Constitutional crisis and the ways to overcome it: Report of “Open Russia” and the Institute of contemporary Russia], 12 March. Available at: https://openrussia.org/post/view/12766 (accessed: 31.01.2019). (In Russian).

(2013) Konstitutsiya Rossiyskoy Federatsii: 20 let spustya [Constitution of the Russian Federation: 20 years later]. Konstitutsionnyy vestnik, no. 3, pp. 67–93. (In Russian).

Krasnov M. (2010) Doktrina “podrazumevaemykh (skrytykh) polnomochiy” glavy gosudarstva v rossiyskoy konstitutsionno-pravovoy praktike [The doctrine of the presumed (hidden) prerogatives of the head of state in the Russian constitutional practice]. Konstitutsionnyy vestnik, no. 2, pp. 68–82. (In Russian).

Krasnov M. (2013–2014) Na puti k depersonifikatsii rossiyskoy vlasti [On the way toward the depersonifacation of Russian political power]. Trudy po rossievedeniu, Moscow: INION RAN, no. 5, pp. 269–293. (In Russian).

Makarenko B. I. (ed.) Partii i partiynye sistemy: sovremennye tendentsii razvitiya [Parties and party systems: contemporary trends of development], Moscow: Politicheskaya entsiklopediya. (In Russian).

Mariino I. (2006) President i osnovnoy zakon Rossii. Ottsy-osnovateli konstitutsii: pravovye positsii [The President and the Supreme Law of Russia. The founding-fathers of the Constitution: legal positions], Moscow: ALMI (In Russian).

Mariino I. (2007) President Rossiiskoy Federatsii: konstitutsionno-pravovye otnosheniya. Ot Konstitutsionnogo soveshchaniya k sovremennoy praktike [President of the Russian Federation: legal-constitutional relations. From the Constitutional Council to contemporary practice], Moscow: ALMI. (In Russian).

Mariino I. (2014) Konstitutsionnoe soveshchanie 1993 goda: istoriko-pravovoy analiz [Constitutional Council of 1993: historical and legal analysis]. Sotsial'no-politicheskie nauki, no. 1, p. 95–106. (In Russian).

Medushevsky A. N. (ed.) (2012). Osnovy konstitutsionnogo stroya Rossii: dvadzat' let razvitiya [The fundamentals of Russian constitutional order: 20 years of development], Moscow: Institut prava i publichnoy politiki. (In Russian).

Medushevsky A. N. (2014) Konstitutsionnyy monitoring: kontseptsiya, metodika i itogi ekspertnogo oprosa v Rossii v marte 2013 goda [Constitutional monitoring: concept, methodology and results of an expert survey in Russia in March 2013], Moscow: Institut prava i publichnoy politiki. (In Russian).

Medushevsky A. N. (ed.) (2014) Konstitutsionnye printsipy i puti ikh realizatsii: rossiyskiy context [Constitutional principles and the ways for their implementation: the Russian context], Moscow: Institut prava i publichnoy politiki. (In Russian).

Medushevsky A. N. (2015) Politicheskie sochineniya: pravo i vlast' v usloviyakh sotsial'nykh  transformatsiy [Political works: law and power in social transformation periods], Moscow; Saint Petersburg; Tsentr gumanitarnykh initsiativ. (In Russian).

Medvedev D. A. (2018) 25 let Konstitutsii: balans mezhdu svobodoy i otvetstvennost'yu [25 years of Constitution: the balance between freedom and responsibility]. Zakon, no. 12, pp. 8–16. (In Russian).

Milov V., Medushevsky A., Zaslavskiy I. (2018) Constitution and Economy after Putin: A Roadmap for a New Russia, Washington: Free Russia. Available at: https://www.4freerussia.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/AfterPutin-full.pdf (accessed: 31.01.2019).

Mityukov M. A. (2014) V Gosudarstvennoy Dume: Vystupleniya, stat'i, interv'yu, dokumenty, nevnikovye zapiski [In the State Duma. Speeches, articles, interviews, documents, diaries], Moscow: Prospekt. (In Russian).

Moroz O. (2007) Krasnye bol'she ne vernutsya [The “Red” will not return], Moscow: Rus'-Olimp. (In Russian).

Morshchakova T. G. (2010) Sudebnoe pravoprimenenie v Rossii: o dolzhnom I real'nom [The judicial implementation of law in Russia: what it should be and what it is in reality], Moscow: Valent. (In Russian).

(2005) Neokonchennaia istoriya. Tri tsveta vremeni: Besedy M. S. Gorbacheva s politologom B. F. Slavinym [Unfinished history. Three colors of time: The interview of M. S. Gorbachev with political scientist B. F. Slavin], Moscow: Mezhdunarodnye otnosheniya. (In Russian).

Nureev R. M. (2012) Politicheskaya ekonomiya rossiyskoy vertikali vlasti [Political economy of the Russian vertical of power]. In: Ekonomicheskaya svoboda i gosudarstvo; druz'ya ili vragi [Economic freedom and the state: friends or enemies], Saint Petersburg: Leont'evskiy tsentr, pp. 87–113. (In Russian).

Nussberger A. (2008) Konstitutsionnaya shokovaya terapiya v Rossii [Shock therapy in the making of the Russian constitution]. Konstitutsionnyy vestnik, no. 1, pp. 64–77. (In Russian).

Pastukhov V. B. (2012) Stsenarii apokalipsisa: sud'ba rossiyskoy gosudarstvennosti v XXI veke [Scenarios of apocalypses: the destiny of Russian statehood in the 21st century]. Trudy po rossievedeniyu, Moscow: INION RAN, vol. 4, pp. 144–180. (In Russian).

Pivovarov Yu. S. (2014) Russkoe nastoyashchee i sovetskoe proshloe [Russian present and Soviet past], Moscow; Saint Petersburg: Tsentr gumanitarnykh initsiativ. (In Russian).

Pliskevich N. M. (2012) Chelovecheskiy capital v transformiruyushcheysya Rossii [Human capital in transforming Russia], Moscow: Institut ekonomiki. (In Russian).

Pliskevich N. M. (2014) Transformatsiya sistemy “vlasti-sobstvennosti” v Rossii: regional'nyy aspekt [The transformation of the system of “powerproperty” in contemporary Russia: the regional aspect], Moscow: Institut ekonomiki. (In Russian).

(2013) Ponimaya devyanostye [Understanding the nineties], Moscow: Znanie. (In Russian).

(2018) Pravovoe gosudarstvo v Rossii: missiya nevypolnima?: Materialy nauchnoy konferentsii (Moskva, 27 fevralya 2018 goda) [A law-based state in Russia: mission impossible?], Moscow: Fond “Liberal'naya missiya” (In Russian).

Pumpyanskiy A., Kovalev S., Zhutovskiy B. (2011) Delo Khodorkovskogo [The Khodorkovskiy case], Moscow: Zebra E. (In Russian).

Rumyantsev O. G. (ed.) (2007–2010) K istorii sozdaniya Konstitutsii Rossiyskoy Federatsii. Konstitutsionnaya komissiya: stenogrammy, materially, dokumenty (1990–1993 gg.): v 6 tomakh [The history of the creation of the Constitution of the Russian Federation. Constitutional commission: minutes, materials, documents (1990–1993): in 6 vols.], Moscow: Fond konstitutsionnykh reform. (In Russian).

Rumyantsev O. (2013) Konstitutsiya devyanosto tret'ego: Istoriya yavleniya [The Constitution of 1993: The history of a phenomenon], Moscow: Fond konstitutsionnykh reform. (In Russian).

Ryzhkov V. (ed.) (2018) Rossiya 2017: puti razvitiya v usloviakh mezhdunarodnoy napryazhyonnosti: Sbornik materialov XXIV mezhdunarodnoy konferentsii [Russia 2017: the ways of development in the conditions of international insecurity: Collected papers of the XXIV international conference], Barnaul: Si-press. (In Russian).

Schablinskiy I. G. (2014) Evolyutsiya politicheskogo regima v Rossii. Konstitutsionnye osnovy i neformal'nye praktiki [The evolution of political regime in Russia. Constitutional grounds and informal practices], Moscow: TEIS. (In Russian).

Shakhray S. (2013) Neizvestnaya Konstitutsiya [The Unknown Constitution], Moscow: Krasnaya zvezda. (In Russian).

Sheynis V. L. (2005). Vzlyot i padenie parlamenta: perelomnye gody v rossiyskoy politike (1985–1993) [The rise and fall of the parliament: the crucial years in Russian politics], Moscow: Mysl'. (In Russian).

Sheynis V. L. (2014) Vlast' i zakon: politika i konstitutsia v Rossii v XX–XXI vekakh [Power and law: politics and constitution in Russia in the 20th and 21st centuries], Moscow: Mysl'. (In Russian).

(2013) Verkhovenstvo prava kak faktor ekonomiki [The supremacy of law as a factor of economic development], Moscow: Mysl'. (In Russian).

Yasin E. G. (2012) Ekonomika Rossii nakanune pod'yoma [The Russian economy on the eve of growth], Moscow: Izdatel'skiy dom VShE. (In Russian).

Yavlinskiy G. A. (2011) Lozh' i legitimnost' [The lie and legitimacy], Moscow: Yabloko. (In Russian).

Zor'kin V. D. (2018) Bukva i dukh Konstitutsii [The letter and the spirit of the Constitution]. Rossiyskaya gazeta, 9 October. (In Russian).