Many modern states are federations. Among these are Russia. The traditions of federalism are also developed in the USA, Canada, Germany and many other western countries. What is the specificity of this model of organization of government? What are the features of its pattern, formed in Russia?
Definition of federalism
What is federalism? Under this term, it is customary to understand the form of organization of state power, in which the political center delegates part of its authority to the level of the subjects of the federation or delimits its managerial competences with them. Depending on the national specifics of the state model, the scope of powers of the elements of the federation may vary. Examples of countries in which federal entities have sufficiently pronounced political independence are the USA, Russia, and Germany.
The federal model of government in any country functions in accordance with certain principles. They are usually determined by law. The principle of federalism means a certain model of building political communications, which is implemented by all entities that are part of the state. Their essence can also be expressed in an economic context. The principle of federalism is, in this aspect, a set of rules and norms that reflect the specifics of the budget or tax policy. This mechanism of interaction between the political center and the regions largely determines how the distribution of powers between them is carried out.
Federalism and Sovereignty: The American Model
The principles of federalism largely reflect such an aspect as the sovereignty of the subjects that form the state. But the approach to the interpretation of this term may vary. The basic principles of federalism laid down in the US Constitution suggest that sovereignty is equally shared between the state at the level of the political center and the states.
Russian model of sovereignty
In Russia, the only bearer of state sovereignty is the political center. The subjects of the Russian Federation cannot act as politically independent units. This fact is confirmed by one of the decisions of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, which considered the question of whether the national republics that are part of the Russian Federation have more pronounced sovereignty than, for example, the region. None of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation possesses powers higher than that of the similar political units forming the federation.
Factors for choosing a federal model
Such a difference in approaches to understanding sovereignty, which is observed when studying the systems of organization of state power of the Russian Federation and the USA, has a historical justification. The fact is that the formation of the American federation went on in the course of centripetal trends: initially independent states, which bore all the signs of sovereignty, united into a common state. On the whole, the situation is similar in Germany: the German state, in a form that is close to the modern one, was formed as a union of originally independent states.
In the Russian Federation, the situation is different. For many centuries, Russia has developed as unitary state. Only after the revolution of 1917 were the first attempts to introduce the principles of federalism in the country, which were enshrined in the formation of the Soviet model of government. Although formally the USSR was not considered federal state: no similar terminology was used at the level of the country's Constitution.After the collapse of the USSR, a federal model of the device of the Russian Federation was legislated.
Features of the Russian federal model
What are the key principles of Russian federalism? One of these can be called the equality of the subjects that form the federation. There are six types of relevant political units in the Russian Federation:
- area;
- the edges;
- autonomous okrugs;
- republics;
- autonomous regions;
- cities of federal significance;
It can be noted that the federal structure of Russia in its modern form is generally similar to that which was formed in Soviet times on the territory of the RSFSR. The main source of law fixing the model of the state structure of Russia is the Constitution.
Another major principle of federalism in the Russian Federation: each of subjects of federation has a pronounced independence. Regions may have their own constitution or charter, which has similar functions, the legislative system, as well as the structure of the executive branch. Moreover, if the parliaments of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation are not subordinate to the Federal Assembly, the supreme legislative body, then regional governments are in vertical subordination in relation to the corresponding structure of the executive branch at the level of the political center.
Federalism and municipal authority
The status of municipalities of the Russian Federation is interesting. Legally, they are not included in the Russian system of state power. The activities of local parliaments and administrative structures are not directly accountable to the relevant authorities at the regional and political center levels. However functioning local government systems in many Russian regions it is largely dependent on budget funding provided by the center or the regional government. Let's consider this aspect in more detail.
The specifics of fiscal federalism of the Russian Federation
What are the principles of fiscal federalism that have emerged in Russia? We have identified one of its aspects above: many municipalities depend on financial revenues generated at the level of regional budgets and the federal system of state reserves. But there are cities and areas that are quite capable of providing themselves. Similar patterns are also characteristic of the subjects of the federation: some are donor regions, others are subsidized political units.
In order to balance the financial situation between the various subjects of the federation, the Russian authorities have developed a rather specific budget system. Which, on the one hand, allows you to implement the key principles of Russian federalism, namely, the equal rights of regions and their independence in certain political competencies, on the other hand, preserves their vertical subordination in relation to key power structures at the level of the political center.
Tax factor
The main source of budget revenues in the Russian Federation is taxes and fees. They are divided into three main types - federal, regional and local. However, this classification does not imply that they will be assembled by the relevant authorities. No, their actual calculation and enumeration is carried out by local structures of the Federal Tax Service. However, they are called federal, regional and local, based on the addressing of their enrollment in the budget aspect of the appropriate level.
Are subsidies compatible with the federal model?
The largest taxes are federal. These include, for example, personal income tax paid by all citizens, as well as corporate income taxes. It turns out that the largest amount of taxes goes to the federal center? Not certainly in that way. In Russia, a rather specific principle of tax federalism is also organized. In accordance with it, the fees charged to the budget of the appropriate level, nevertheless, can in a certain proportion be returned to the level of regions and municipalities.This happens on the basis of the norms prescribed in the Budget Code of the Russian Federation. So, in some cases, local budgets can receive about 90% of taxes that are federal or regional in the form of deductions according to established standards.
Another thing is that in many cities, enterprises simply cannot generate so much revenue that taxes are formed on its basis, and, accordingly, deductions from them at the norms in volumes sufficient to meet the needs of the municipality or the region as a whole. In this case, the federal center appoints measures of budget support - grants, subventions, targeted loans, etc.
The principles of federalism in budget terms reflect the specifics of the economic development of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation. The fact is that in Russia there are regions that are objectively better developed than others, and there are those that are far behind in terms of economic modernization. In the United States, this situation is not so pronounced - the level of development of the states as a whole is comparable. And therefore, the American budget model is characterized by greater decentralization than in the Russian Federation. Although subsidies are not an alien phenomenon for the US states.
Federalism in the Russian Federation: the nuances of regional politics
We found that the principles of federalism in the Russian Federation in the economic aspect are expressed in the fact that the budget system of Russia, on the one hand, is decentralized - regions and municipalities have an independent financial system. On the other hand, the corresponding administrative-political units often cannot be fully independent of the center due to the specifics of economic development.
But what about the political aspect of the interaction between the Russian political center and the subjects of the federation?
The situation is ambiguous. In the period from 1991 to 2005, the heads of the subjects of the federation were elected by the population of the region. In 2005-2011, they were appointed political center. Now the population again chooses the head of the region. It is also possible in the constituent entities of the Russian Federation to adopt laws by which the head will be elected by the local parliament. Is it fair to say that with a greater level of democracy, regions have more pronounced political independence?
Interpretation matters
It all depends on how you interpret the relevant procedures. On the one hand, we have a formal reason to say that during the election of the heads of regions by the population, the independence of the subjects is higher. On the other hand, the principles of federalism, voiced in the Constitution of the Russian Federation, suggest that, regardless of the mechanism for the formation of key posts in the regions, the development of the subject should be subject to independent determination of political priorities. That is, exactly how the head of the region is elected is not a determining factor, if we adhere to the interpretation in question. The main thing is the actual filling of his powers. Which, if we consider the constitutional principles of federalism, seems quite significant.
Does Russia need federalism?
According to some researchers, the real independence of the subjects of the federation in Russia is possible subject to pronounced economic sovereignty. The principle of financial federalism, implemented in the Russian Federation, so far objectively does not allow the subjects of the federation to be largely independent of the political center. However, this does not at all predetermine any difficulties in organizing the public administration system of the Russian Federation. And in many ways, again, for historical reasons: traditions that reflect the functioning of a centralized political system in Russia have been developed incomparably longer than federalism.
Does Russia need to strive to build a federal state, bringing the standards of organization of political governance closer to the western ones? The answer to this question, firstly, depends on the processes of economic development of the regions and on their willingness to develop independently of subsidies: we have determined above that political sovereignty cannot be realized without economic. Secondly, it is extremely important that the citizens of the Russian Federation are ready for an appropriate modernization of the public administration system.
The historical aspect of the state structure of Russia
Both processes should not occur in forced mode.The history of Russia has repeatedly proved the destructiveness of abrupt transitions from one system of political organization to another. It is quite possible that the current geopolitical situation is contributing to just the same systematic abandonment of the course towards the federal arrangement of the country taken in the early 90s. And this path, at least, will not contradict the political tradition of the Russian Federation, which, as we have determined, has historically been a unitary state.
Regarding this thesis, there are objections based on the argument that the Russian Federation is a multinational country and the peoples of Russia will want a special status. However, again we return to history.
Unitary tradition plays a significant role
The Russian Empire was an equally multinational state. The census conducted during the reign of the king shows that in the territories of many provinces that coincide with today's national republics, the percentage of indigenous peoples was higher than now. Only in Soviet times did Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians come to them at an active pace, bringing with them elements of East Slavic culture and their languages. At the same time, small nationalities in the Russian Empire felt great in a unitary state.
