Constitutional Changes and a New Stage of Russian Federalism Development

Abstract

The  amendments  and  additions  to  the  Constitution  of  the  Russian  Federation  of  1993, approved by popular vote, should be considered as the significant advance in the development of the legal foundations of the Russian state, including a wide range of issues, related to the Russian model of federalism and its implementation in the practice of state and municipal administration. These changes can hardly be regarded as one of the stages of the federal reform, especially since the final goals of this reform were not clearly stated earlier and even now remain very uncertain. Nevertheless, as it’s shown in the article, some of these changes can have a significant impact on the nature and mechanism of functioning of the Russian federal state, in particular, on the activities of state and municipal government bodies. The article suggests that constitutional changes and additions in 2020 can significantly strengthen the  democratic  and  social  nature  of  the  state.  At  the  same  time,  it’s  argued  that  these changes should not be given the status of “finiteness”. It is obvious that the federal reform in the country, no matter how it is regarded, has not exhausted its potential, which in the foreseeable future may give an impetus to the further development of the legal foundations of Russian federalism, including the sphere of its constitutional regulation.