A republican form of government can be represented. Republic as a method of government

A republican form of government can be represented. Republic as a method of government

The form of government characterizes the structure of the highest bodies of state power, the procedure for their formation, the distribution of competence between them, and the relationship with each other. It is influenced by the correlation of social forces, the level of culture (primarily legal), the country's traditions, foreign experience, etc. Social reasons, as a rule, are put forward most often during periods of revolutionary events. The increasing role of parliament in a number of countries led to the emergence of a parliamentary republic.

Republic is a form of government, according to which the highest power in the state belongs to the elected bodies - the parliament, the president; along with them there is independent justice and local self-government. Internal classification (according to the powers of the president) - parliamentary and presidential republics. Also, various mixed forms stand out: dualistic monarchy - a mixture of absolute and constitutional; mixed - semi-presidential, semi-parliamentary republics - are determined by the different scope of powers of the president and parliament; it is also possible to mix the monarchy and the republic in super-presidential states with a lifetime presidency (some African states - Nigeria, etc.) and in elective monarchies (some Islamic states of the East - the UAE, etc.).

Republic- (lat. respublica) a nationwide affair. Republican form of government- this is a form of government in which power is exercised by elected bodies, elected for a specific term. In the republic, the head of state is the president, who is elected in various ways, but from among the citizens of the state. In different countries, presidential elections are held in different ways, but in all countries the president is elected by the people.

The following main features of the republic can be distinguished:

The existence of a sole or collegial head of state;

Election for a specified term of the head of state and other supreme bodies of state power;



Exercise of state power not by its own right, but by order of the people;

Legal responsibility of the head of state in cases provided for by law;

Obligation of decisions of the supreme state power for all other state bodies;

Priority protection of the interests of citizens of the state, mutual responsibility of the individual and the state;

There is a division of powers into legislative, executive and judicial.

One of the first republics formed in the Athenian state in the VIII century. BC. and in the 5th-4th centuries. BC. was recognized as a democratic republic.

Presidential republic - it is a form of government in which the head of state is a president elected by universal suffrage and combining in one person the powers of the head of state and the head of government.

In a republic of this type, state administration is built on the principle of a rigid separation of powers. The President rules, the Parliament (Congress, National Assembly, etc.) makes laws. A presidential republic is distinguished, as a rule, by an extra-parliamentary way of electing a president (popular election) and forming a government, and by the absence of government responsibility before parliament. The government is formed by the president, but often with the consent of parliament. The government is accountable to the president. The president is deprived of the right to dissolve parliament, and, conversely, parliament can initiate a process of his removal from power (impeachment) against the president. In contrast to impeachment, the president has his own "weapon" against the government, he can veto laws passed by parliament.

Another model of a presidential republic is such a structure of the form of government when the president is head of state, but does not combine this status with that of the head of government. Then, in addition to the distribution of powers enshrined in the Constitution, the president, as mentioned above, forms a system of bodies - state and public - under the president, which assist him in the implementation of his powers as the head of state, the guarantor of the constitution.

(USA, Argentina, Mexico, Brazil, Russian Federation and others)

Parliamentary republic - this is a form of government in which an elected official (president, chancellor, etc.) is at the head of the state, and the government is formed by parliament and is accountable for its activities to parliament, and not to the head of state.

The parliamentary republic is characterized by the proclamation of the principle of the supremacy of parliament, to which the government is politically accountable for its activities. The formal distinctive feature of this type of republic is the presence of the post of prime minister, who is elected (appointed) by the parliament. The government is formed only by parliamentary means from among the leaders of the party that won the majority in parliament, and remains in power as long as it has the support of the parliamentary majority. The president's participation in the formation of the government is nominal. Although it is formally vested with great powers (it has the right to dissolve parliament), in practice it has no effect on the exercise of state power. Any of its actions can be carried out only with the consent of the government, the normative acts emanating from it acquire legal force, as a rule, only after approval by the government or parliament, which are responsible for them.

(Italy, Germany, Finland, India, Turkey).

Mixed form or semi-presidential form of the republic- this is a form of government in which the features of a parliamentary and presidential republic are combined and coexist. For the first time this form of republic was introduced in France in 1958 at the initiative of Charles de Gaulle.

The president is elected by the people, but is not the head of the executive branch. Executive power is vested in the government, which bears primary responsibility to the president and limited responsibility to parliament.

In a mixed republic, the president can appoint deputy prime ministers and ministers, regardless of party composition and forces. The appointment of the prime minister takes place in different ways: independently or with the consent of parliament. The president has the power to fire the prime minister, an individual minister, or the entire government.

Thus, in a mixed republic, the president does not belong to any of the branches of power and the government is accountable to the president. (RF, Kazakhstan, Romania, France, etc.)

A republic is a form of government in which the highest state power is vested in elected bodies, elected for a fixed term and responsible to the electorate.

The republic is characterized by a democratic way of forming the supreme bodies of the state; in developed countries, the relationship between the highest bodies is based on the principle of separation of powers, they have a connection with voters and are responsible to them.

The republican form of government originated in the slave states. It found its most striking manifestation in the democratic Athenian Republic. Here, all state bodies, including the highest (the most important of them was the National Assembly), were elected by the full citizens of Athens Theory of State and Law: A Textbook for High Schools / Ed. S.S. Alekseeva. - M., 2011. - P. 157 .. With the development of public life, it changed, acquired new features, more and more filled with democratic content.

Athenian Democratic Republic (V-IV centuries BC). Its features and significant democracy were due to the social structure of Athenian society, the nature of slavery, which does not recognize the transformation of free Athenians into slaves, as well as the presence of collective slavery. During the republican period, an effective system of government bodies with a clear structure and strictly defined functions took shape in Athens. The system of state bodies consisted of a popular assembly, a council of five hundred, elected officials, a jury, and the Areopagus (the highest judicial and political body).

The highest organ of state power in Athens was the People's Assembly, to which all other bodies and officials were subordinate. Full-fledged Athenian citizens who have reached 20 years of age took part in its work. The main function of the people's assembly was the adoption of laws, but a variety of administrative and judicial activities were also carried out. The People's Assembly declared war and made peace; was in charge of external relations; elected military leaders (strategists) and other officials; was in charge of religious affairs, food issues, confiscation of property. Every citizen could apply to the National Assembly on any issue of interest to him. Acting as a judicial body, the People's Assembly confirmed charges of high treason and abuse of officials, and could consider cases of especially dangerous state crimes directly.

The highest body of executive power was the council of five hundred. It was formed from representatives of the Athenian territorial divisions (policies) and directed the daily practical activities of the state.

The Areopagus was an extremely influential organ of government. He could cancel the decisions of the people's assembly, control the activities of the council of five hundred and officials. The Areopagus consisted of archons (senior officials of the policies) and former archons, who were appointed for life. The reforms of Ephialtos (462) deprived the Areopagus of higher political functions, and it turned into a purely judicial body.

Elements of the future separation of powers are visible in the structure of the Athenian republic: the people's assembly is a legislative body; council of five hundred - the executive branch; Areopagus - the supreme judicial power.

Republican rule in Athens was built on the basis of a number of democratic principles, which in many respects determine the signs of modern statehood: election; urgency of authority; collegiality; lack of hierarchical subordination; retribution for the performance of state functions; accountability.

The greatest figures of ancient culture lived and worked in Ancient Athens, whose names in the minds of a modern person are in no way connected with the concept of slavery, slave dependence. It is hardly possible now to imagine the Athenian state without the historical works of Herodotus, Polybius and Plutarch, Homer's poems, the philosophical views of Heraclitus, Socrates, Plato, Anaxagoras, Democritus, Aristotle, Epicurus, the mathematical conclusions of Pythagoras, the tragedies of Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euriphenes, sculptural works of Phidias, who led the construction of the majestic Parthenon temple.

Spartan aristocratic republic (V-IV centuries BC). Sparta, in contrast to Athens, who headed the democratic part of the population of the poleis, united around itself mainly their aristocratic part. Along with the obvious remnants of the communal system, Sparta had a strong army that kept numerous slaves - helots - in obedience.

Formally, the supreme power in the state belonged to two kings, in fact, it was limited in favor of the aristocracy. The kings were military leaders, in wartime they belonged to the judiciary, they were in charge of the affairs of the cult.

Legislative power was exercised by the council of elders (gerusia). Gerousia consisted of two kings and 28 councilors, elected from among the representatives of the aristocracy for life. The highest government power was exercised by the college of ephors, who were annually elected from among the honored aristocrats. Ephors exercised control over the activities of all state bodies and officials, including the kings. They considered the most important civil and criminal cases, decided foreign policy issues, and recruited troops.

In Sparta, the popular assembly did not play a big role. It actually did not have legislative powers. Appointments to positions, issues of war and peace, which were formally within the competence of the People's Assembly, were predetermined in advance by other state bodies.

Roman aristocratic republic (V-II centuries BC). The supreme state power in republican Rome was the Senate. The members of the Senate were appointed by specially authorized persons (censors), who in turn were appointed by the People's Assembly. All issues resolved in local authorities (centuries) were previously discussed in the Senate. Formally, the Senate obeyed the decisions of the People's Assembly, however, if the decisions of the latter did not correspond to the "interests of Rome," he declared them invalid or suggested that the officials responsible for these decisions resign from their posts. The prerogative of the Senate was to establish a dictatorship, after which all officials of the republic passed into the subordination of the dictator, whose term of office, however, was limited to six months. The Senate also had other important powers: it disposed of the treasury and state property, resolved issues of war and peace, appointed commanders of troops and judicial collegiums.

It would apparently be unfair to accuse the Roman Republic of its extreme "aristocracy", since it had many real democratic institutions of democracy in its arsenal. The National Assembly, and later the People's Tribunate, did everything possible to protect citizens from abuse of power. Despite the dominant position of the Senate, the state life of the republic mainly ensured the urgency of the powers of officials, their accountability to the people's assembly, the collegial structure of state institutions Khropanyuk V.N. Theory of State and Law: A Textbook for Higher Educational Institutions / Ed. V.G. Strekozova. - M., 2008. - S. 104 ..

Thus, the public law of the Roman Republic developed fairly clear provisions on the system of authorities and administration, which allowed it to successfully exist and develop for several centuries. Subsequently, the elements of the Roman republican constitutional system found their application in the formation of the statehood of many countries of the world in modern and modern times V.G. Medvedev. The system of authorities and administration in public law of the Roman republic / V.G. Medvedev // Society and Law. - 2010. - No. 1. - P. 23 ..

But to a greater extent, the provisions of Roman law were perceived. Roman jurists for the first time formulated the most important legal institution of a civilized society - the right to property. They subdivided the system of law into two parts: private law and public law. Public law included all those rules that relate to the "position of the Roman state" as a whole, and private law governing relations between individuals. Such a relationship between legal norms in most legal systems of our time is a natural reality. Legal institutions of ownership, sale and purchase, various forms of ownership originate from Roman law - this is their historical and practical value.

City-republics (feudal republics). This form of government emerged in the Middle Ages along with feudal monarchies. Feudal republics were formed as a result of the strengthening of the power and independence of large cities, which were recognized as having the right to choose their own governing bodies, to issue laws, and to judge citizens. In relation to the central government (seigneur), the city was obliged to make certain contributions, to allocate citizens for military service.

The republican feudal form of government is the result of the development of urban self-government into sovereignty. The city was governed by the city council, consisting of representatives of the aristocracy and elected by the council of the mayor (mayor).

The most pronounced city-republics were Florence, Venice, Genoa - in Italy; Novgorod and Pskov. Free cities also took shape in Germany, France, England, where the main role was played not by farmers, but by merchants and artisans.

The structure of the state power of the city-republics was simple. In the Republic of Venice, for example, the supreme organs of power and administration were the Grand Council, Senoria, Senate, Council of Forty and Council of Ten, which were formed from 200-300 of the most noble townspeople. In the Novgorod Republic, the main issues of domestic and foreign policy were decided by the city veche (national assembly), in which all citizens could take part. However, his activities were controlled by the boyar council (council of masters), which included the "lord", the princely governor, the townspeople, the thousand and the boyars.

The most essential feature of many city-republics was the recognition of the freedom of citizens and the freedom of market relations. If the serf, it was noted in the charters, lives for a year and one day within the walls of the city and if during this time the master does not lay claim to him, then he will forever receive freedom Khropanyuk V.N. Theory of State and Law: A Textbook for Higher Educational Institutions / Ed. V.G. Strekozova. - M., 2008. - S. 106 ..

A parliamentary republic is a type of modern form of government, in which the supreme role in the organization of state life belongs to parliament.

The first common feature of parliamentary forms of government is the nominal role of the head of state in the state mechanism, his high moral and political status as a representative and symbol of the state. Dolinovsky S.L. Formation and development of a parliamentary monarchy in Great Britain / S.L. Dolinovsky // History of State and Law. - 2008. - No. 17. - P. 13 ..

In such a republic, the government is formed by parliamentary means from among the deputies belonging to those parties that have the majority of votes in parliament. The government is collectively accountable to parliament for its activities. It remains in power as long as it has the support of the parliamentary majority. If the majority of parliament members lose confidence, the government either resigns or, through the head of state, achieves the dissolution of parliament and the appointment of early parliamentary elections.

As a rule, the head of state in such republics is elected by the parliament or by a specially formed parliamentary collegium. The appointment of the head of state by the parliament is the main form of parliamentary control over the executive branch. The procedure for electing a head of state in modern parliamentary republics is not the same. In Italy, for example, the president of the republic is elected by members of both chambers at their joint meeting, but three delegates from each region, elected by the regional council, also participate in the elections. In federal states, parliamentary participation in the election of the head of state is also shared with representatives of the members of the federation. Thus, in the Federal Republic of Germany, the President is elected by the Federal Assembly, consisting of members of the Bundestag and the same number of persons elected by the Landtags of the Lands on the basis of proportional representation. Elections for the head of state in a parliamentary republic can also be carried out on the basis of universal suffrage, which is typical, for example, in Austria, where the president is elected by the population for a term of six years.

The head of state in a parliamentary republic has quite extensive powers. He promulgates laws, issues decrees, has the right to dissolve parliament, appoints the head of government, is the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, etc.

The head of government (prime minister, chairman of the council of ministers) is usually appointed by the president. He forms the government headed by him, which exercises supreme executive power and is responsible for his activities before parliament. The most essential feature of a parliamentary republic is that any government is only competent to govern the state when it enjoys the confidence of parliament.

The main function of parliament is to legislate and control the executive branch. The parliament has important financial powers, since it develops and adopts the state budget, determines the prospects for the country's socio-economic development, and decides on the main issues of foreign, including defense, policy.

The parliamentary form of republican government is such a structure of the highest bodies of state power, which really ensures the democracy of public life, freedom of the individual, creates fair conditions for a human community based on the principles of legal legality. T.V. Plotnikova, R.V. Puzikov. Theory of State and Law: Textbook / T.V. Plotnikova, R.V. Puzikov. - Livny, 2011. - S. 202 ..

A presidential republic as a form of government is characterized primarily by the fact that the elected head of state is also the head of government, which he appoints in a number of countries with the consent of parliament and which he can dissolve. The dignity of the presidential form of government lies, first of all, in the fact that the popularly elected president is the focus of national aspirations, acts as a symbol of the nation, a symbol of citizens' belonging to a single state. This form empowers one person who can exercise leadership in an emergency. And it is no coincidence that, faced with certain complex problems, some countries (for example, France in the 50s of the XX century) emphasize the importance of the presidency. The presidential system of government, in principle, provides a greater degree of political stability than the parliamentary one, since the government (president) is elected for a fixed term determined by the constitution. The presidential form of government, in turn, is not perfect. First, unlike a parliamentary form of government, it is fraught with the possibility of friction in the relationship between the executive and legislative branches of government and provoking a constitutional crisis. The likelihood of the latter increases especially if the president and the parliamentary majority belong to different parties or political trends. Suggestions that the president is constantly above the party struggle and the politicking of lobbyists may not be well founded. In other words, the choice between parliamentary and presidential forms of government may mean a choice between a unified but unstable leadership and a stable, but fraught with conflict between the two powers.

Second, there is hardly an optimal way to elect a president. Each of them has its own strengths and weaknesses. Minority demands and the introduction of proportional representation under the presidential system are not so important, if only because of the decline in parliamentary influence. The method of presidential elections is in the first place in terms of importance. Direct elections seem to be the simplest and most democratic. But there are varieties of direct elections, when the choice of methods for holding them does not always depend on the president. Presidential power can be highly dependent on the legislative branch, which can determine a lot, for example, the procedure for reelecting a president for a second term in an extremely complicated manner.

The presidential republic is one of the most common forms of government in Latin American countries. Presidential rule is established in 12 countries: Brazil, Venezuela, Haiti, Guatemala, Honduras, Dominican Republic, Colombia, Costa Rica, Mexico, Paraguay, El Salvador and Ecuador. The states of Latin America are characterized by a special understanding of the role of the president and attaching special importance to the executive branch headed by him. The special status of the president not only exists in practice, but is also enshrined in the constitutions of most of these countries by V.K. Stenin. Parliamentary control and parliamentary investigation in presidential and semi-presidential republics / V.K. Stenina // Legal world. - 2007. - No. 4. - P. 50 ..

In the specifics of the political life of a country, taking into account one or another correlation of political forces, established traditions or introduced reforms, mixed or intermediate (between a presidential republic and a parliamentary republic) forms of government are possible General theory of law and state: Textbook / Ed. V.V. Lazarev. - M., 2011. - S. 196 ..

There is one more distinguishing feature of a presidential republic, which is usually overlooked, but which has the most qualifying value in determining the form of government. This sign consists in the fact that the president, as the head of state, determines the foundations of state policy, and defines it using constitutional procedures, the most important among which are the president's messages to parliament. The literature rightly points out that the main directions of policy determined by the President of Russia should not be perceived "as purely informational, which can only be taken into account by other power structures" Gelieva I.N. Some questions of the form of government in Russia / I.N. Gelieva // Society and Law. - 2008. - No. 1. - P. 19 ..

Presidential and parliamentary republics have both advantages and disadvantages.

The advantages of a presidential republic are usually attributed to its stability and greater efficiency, since the president, possessing broad powers, largely determines the policy of the state, and managerial influence is more purposeful, since it comes from the center.

The main drawback of a presidential republic is the excessive concentration of power in the hands of one person - the president. Hence the possibility of its abuse, which often leads to the cult of personality and the transformation of a presidential republic into a super-presidential one, when representative bodies practically lose their significance.

A parliamentary republic is considered more democratic, since the government is formed by a collegial body - parliament, and not by one person, as in a presidential republic. Therefore, there are no objective prerequisites for the concentration of power in one hand. The main disadvantage of a parliamentary republic is that frequent government crises are possible under a multi-party system. An example is Italy, where up to the 90s the government changed almost every year L.A. Morozova. Theory of State and Law: Textbook / L.A. Morozov. - M., 2012. - S. 89 ..

The republican form of government has a number of advantages over the monarchy and, therefore, the greatest prospects for preservation in the future. The ability of the country's population to directly form the supreme body of the state, its periodic rotation and accountability to the population - all this is most fully consistent with the principles of democracy, involving the population in managing the affairs of the state and society and minimizes the chances of individual bodies or officials to usurp state power, establish a regime of terror in the country and gross violations of human rights.

In this regard, the agitation of the mass media of the Russian Federation and some political figures for the restoration of the monarchy in Russia, for the transfer of power to one of the distant relatives of the last Tsar of Russia, Nicholas II, looks quite comical. Believing that the Russian people need a sole "guardian of their spirit and traditions," the supporters of the monarchy are not at all embarrassed by the fact that the proposed guardian of foreigners not only does not know the "national spirit", but at best speaks Russian very badly. .M. Theory of state and law: Textbook for universities / V.M. Raw. - M., 2010. - S. 70 ..

However, diplomat and publicist Fyodor Karpov back in the 16th century. quite clearly stated his position regarding the form of government desirable for Russia. Power and domination in society are necessary, for otherwise “life will be chaotic; in a riot, the strong will oppress the powerless ... ". With numerous references to Aristotle and Cicero, Fyodor Karpov argued that "every city and every kingdom should be ruled by chiefs, therefore, countries and peoples need kings and chiefs." Tsars and chiefs, according to F. Karpov, should together rule the "common human cause" Zolotukhina N.M. Medieval thinkers of Russia about the form of government / N.M. Zolotukhina // History of State and Law. - 2012. - No. 14. - P. 10 ..

In the specifics of the political life of a particular country, taking into account one or another correlation of political forces, established traditions or introduced reforms, mixed or intermediate (between a presidential republic and a parliamentary republic) forms of government are possible.

A characteristic feature of mixed (semi-presidential, semi-parliamentary) republics is the double responsibility of the government - both to the president and to the parliament. In such republics, the president and parliament are directly elected by the people. The head of state is the president here. He appoints the head of government and ministers, taking into account the alignment of political forces in parliament. The head of state, as a rule, presides over the meetings of the cabinet of ministers and approves its decisions. The parliament also has the ability to control the government by approving the country's annual budget, as well as through the right to issue a vote of no confidence to the government Matuzov N.I., Malko A.V. Theory of State and Law: Textbook / N.I. Matuzov, A.V. Malko. - M., 2004. - S. 39 ..

Theorists of mixed forms of government are driven by the idea of ​​strengthening statehood by eliminating government crises, frequent changes of governments for reasons of political conjuncture, optimization of the methods of organization and relationships between the highest bodies of state power, central and local authorities. These problems can be especially acute in newly formed states that have emerged as a result of integration and disintegration processes. However, the commendable desire to concentrate in a "hybrid", mixed form only the positive features of traditional forms of government and to avoid their shortcomings is not always embodied in a new organic quality. Such an important dignity of the presidential form of government as the strength of the constitutional position of the government, which cannot be dismissed by parliament due to the struggle of parliamentary factions in a mixed, "semi-presidential" republic, is largely lost due to the strengthening of the controlling powers of the highest legislative representative body of power. In turn, the undoubted advantage of a parliamentary republic is the government's responsibility to parliament, its duty to take into account the emerging balance of political forces in its policy, public opinion is practically reduced to naught in such an “atypical” form of government as a “semi-parliamentary” republic. In the latter case, an increase in the powers of the president entails an almost automatic decrease in the role of the representative institution of power. Something similar happens with the legislative introduction of restrictions on the vote of no confidence in the government in parliamentary republics or with the establishment of the responsibility of individual ministers to parliament in presidential forms of government General theory of law and state: Textbook / Ed. V.V. Lazarev. - M., 2011. - S. 197 ..

In the conditions of military regimes, presidential-militaristic republics arise. Most often this is a temporary form, but in Algeria and Nigeria it existed for more than ten years. Here military rule is established: the supreme power rests on the army.

The search for the best form of government in the state has been going on since ancient times. However, an ideal model, suitable for absolutely all states, hardly exists. The Russian philosopher and jurist I. A. Ilyin (1883-1954) wrote about this: “Every people and every country is a living individuality with its own special data, with its own unique history, soul and nature. Therefore, each people is entitled to its own, special, individual state form and constitution, corresponding to him and only to him. There are no identical peoples, and there should not be the same forms and constitutions. Blind borrowing and imitation is ridiculous, dangerous and can be disastrous. " As for modern Russia, according to the form of government it is a presidential republic. The Constitution of the Russian Federation (adopted by popular vote on December 12, 1993) // Rossiyskaya Gazeta. - 1993. - No. 237. with a strong executive power. This is confirmed, first, by the increase in the presidential term of office from four to six years; secondly, the heads of regions are now not directly elected by the population through direct elections, but are appointed by the parliaments of the constituent entities of the Federation on the proposal of the President of the Russian Federation; thirdly, he also appoints all leaders in the system of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, as well as in the system of regions.

The presence of a strong executive power is confirmed by the powers of the head of the Government of the Russian Federation, who:

1) manages the Government of the Russian Federation and organizes its work;

2) ensures the functioning of the system of federal executive bodies;

3) ensures the unity of the system of executive power on a national scale Morozova L.A. Theory of State and Law: Textbook / L.A. Morozov. - M., 2012. - S. 90 ..

It is generally accepted that Russia needs a strong presidential power that is capable of ensuring political stability and effective governance in the country. However, the desire to stabilize the system conflicts with the demands of democratization. The Russian semi-presidential system with pronounced elements of presidentialism conserves a monocratic regime, hindering real political competition and the development of pluralism. Therefore, the weakening of the presidential components of the form of government and the strengthening of parliamentary elements (subject to their "rationalization"), with other favorable factors, can create an effective and democratic system of power in the country Zaznaev O. Russian form of government: past, present and future / O. Zaznaev // Comparative Constitutional Review. - 2006. - No. 4. - P. 88 ..


Introduction 3

Chapter 1. Forms of the state 5

1.1. Concept and classification of state forms 5

1.2. Concepts and classification of forms of government 8

Chapter 2. Republican form of government 12

2.1. Concepts and features of the republic 12

2.2. Presidential Republic 13

2.3. Parliamentary Republic 14

2.4. Other types of republics 16

Chapter 3. Form of government in the Russian Federation 21

Conclusion 29

List of sources used 30

Introduction

Territory, population, power are the substantive characteristics of the state, which reflect the common that is inherent in all states. However, states are very significantly different from each other in terms of their internal organization, which is expressed in the concept of "form of the state." Political life in society and the stability of state institutions largely depend on the form of the state. One of the elements of the form of the state is the form of government, which characterizes the formation and organization of the highest bodies of state power, their relationship with each other and the population; depending on the characteristics of the form of government, states are subdivided into monarchical and republican.

By the form of government, we mean the system of formation and relations between the head of state, the highest bodies of legislative and executive power. The form of government is historically formed in the process of struggle and interaction of social and political forces of the corresponding society.

The form of government is fundamental for studying the constitutional and legal regulation of the organization and functioning of the state. This is not just an abstract theoretical category of science, like, say, sovereignty or democracy, but the key with which we can only understand the meaning of a particular system of government bodies established by the constitution of the corresponding state.

Under the agrarian system, the meaning of the form of government was reduced only to determining how the position of the head of state was replaced - by inheritance or by elections. With the decomposition of feudalism and the transition to an industrial system, accompanied by a weakening of the power of monarchs, the emergence and strengthening of popular (national) representation, the typology of forms of government began to enrich: the most important was not the hereditary or elected head of state in the country, but how relations are organized between the head of state, parliament, government, how their powers are mutually balanced, in a word, how the separation of powers is arranged. And today, when analyzing the form of government of a particular state, we are primarily interested not in whether it is a republic or a monarchy, but in what kind of republic or monarchy is established here.

Thus, the forms of government differ depending on whether the supreme power in the state belongs to one person, who is at the same time a symbol of the state, or it is exercised through various democratic institutions (representative authorities, referendums, etc.). In this regard, all states by the form of government are divided into monarchies and republics.

The republic is characterized by a democratic way of forming the supreme bodies of the state. In developed states, the relationship between the highest authorities is based on the principle of separation of powers, the authorities have a connection with voters and are responsible to them, which is relevant at the present time.

The purpose of this work is to study the republican form of government.

Work tasks:

    Study the forms of the state, the concept and classification of forms of government.

    Define the concepts and features of the republican form of government. Study the types of republics, namely, presidential, parliamentary and other types of republics.

The object in this study is the form of government of the state, and the subject of study is the republic as a form of government.

Chapter 1. Forms of the state

1.1. Concept and classification of state forms

The state was created by people who intended to achieve certain goals with its help, in particular, to survive, to protect themselves and their property from internal and external encroachments. At the same time, due to various kinds of circumstances, they were forced to choose the appropriate organizational and political forms of the state's existence in order to achieve their goals. With all the diversity and peculiarities of state forms, due to climatic, ethnographic and other factors, one can observe common features in them. Comparison of the general and the particular makes it possible to reveal the statistics and dynamics of state life, to understand that state power is implemented in clearly defined structural and organizational forms, is expressed in specific areas of activity and is provided by a system (mechanism) of appropriate means and institutions.

The form of the state characterizes the continuity, stability, viability of state power as an essential manifestation of any state. The study of the form of the state is important for modern state building, improving organizational and managerial principles. The form of the state is a way of organizing political power, encompassing the form of government, the form of government and the political regime. This is a structure that is influenced by both socio-economic factors and natural, climatic conditions, national-historical and religious characteristics, the cultural level of development of society, etc. 1

If the category "essence of the state" answers the question: what is the main, natural, determining in the state, then the category "form of the state" interprets the questions of who and how rules in society, how state-power structures are arranged and operate in it, how the population is united in a given territory, how it is connected through various territorial and political formations with the state as a whole, how political power is exercised, with the help of what methods, techniques.

To investigate the state from the point of view of its essence means to reveal the will and interests of such strata of society, groups, classes, which it primarily expresses and protects. To consider the state from the point of view of content means to establish how and in what directions it operates. To study the state from the point of view of its form means, first of all, to study its structure, its main components, internal structure, the main methods of the formation and implementation of state power.

When considering the form of the state, it is important to keep in mind that the form of the state, as well as its essence and content, has never remained and does not remain once and for all established, unchanged. Under the influence of many economic, socio-political, ideological and other factors, it has always changed and developed.

At present, the form of the state is understood as the organization of state power and its structure as a whole. The form of the state is characterized by an inextricable link with its content. The latter allows you to establish the affiliation of state power, its subject, to answer the question of who exercises it. The study of the forms of the state sheds light on how the power in the state is organized, which bodies are represented, what is the procedure for the formation of these bodies, how long the period of their powers is, finally, what methods are used to exercise state power, etc.

It is clear that the problem of the form of the state is acquiring not only theoretical, but also paramount practical and political significance. The effectiveness of state leadership, the effectiveness of government, the prestige and stability of the government, the state of law and order in the country depend on how the state power is organized and how it is implemented. That is why the problem of the form of the state has a very significant political aspect.

The form of the state, i.e. the structure of state power, its organization consists of three main elements:

The form of government (the procedure for organizing state power, including the method of forming higher and local government bodies and the procedure for their relationship with each other and with the population).

The form of state structure (reflects the territorial structure of the state, the relationship between the state as a whole and its constituent territorial units; according to the form of state structure, states are divided into unitary and federal).

The political (state) regime (is a system of methods, methods and means of exercising state power; depending on the characteristics of the set of these methods of state rule, democratic and anti-democratic political (state) regimes are distinguished). 2

Thus, the form of the state is its structural, territorial and political structure, taken in the unity of the three above-mentioned components. This understanding of the form of the state did not develop immediately. For a long time, it was considered to consist of a form of government and a form of government, to which a political regime and political dynamics were subsequently added.

The study of the form of the state shows how power is organized in the state, what is the procedure for the formation of state bodies, what methods are used in this to exercise state power, etc., which has not only theoretical, but also practical and political significance. It is practice that shows that the effectiveness of state leadership, the effectiveness of government, the stability of power, the state of law and order in the country depend on how the state power is organized.

There is no clear relationship between the type and form of the state. On the one hand, within the same type of state, various forms of organization and activity of state power can be found, and on the other, states of different types can be clothed in the same form. The originality of the specific form of the state of any historical period is determined, first of all, by the degree of maturity of public and state life, the tasks and goals that the state sets itself. In other words, the category of the form of the state directly depends on its content and is determined by it.

The cultural level of the people, its historical traditions, the nature of religious beliefs, national characteristics, natural living conditions and other factors have a serious impact on the form of the state. The specifics of the form of the state is also determined by the nature of the relationship between the state and its bodies with non-state organizations (parties, trade unions, social movements, the church and other organizations). 3

In different countries, state forms have their own characteristics, characteristic features, which, as social development progresses, are filled with new content, enriching in interconnection and interaction. At the same time, the form of all existing states, especially modern ones, has common features, which makes it possible to define each element of the state form.

1.2. Concepts and classification of forms of government

The form of government means the organization of the supreme state power, especially its higher and central bodies, the structure, competence, the procedure for the formation of these bodies, the duration of their powers, the relationship with the population, the degree of participation of the latter in their formation. The form of government is the leading element in the form of the state, interpreted in a broad sense.

The form of government makes it possible to understand:

How are the highest bodies of the state created and what is their structure;

What is the principle underlying the relationship between higher and other state bodies;

How the relationship is built between the supreme state power and the population of the country;

To what extent does the organization of the highest bodies of the state allow ensuring the rights and freedoms of a citizen?

At one time, Aristotle distinguished between forms of government depending on whether the supreme power is exercised individually (monarchy), by a limited number of persons (aristocracy), by the entire population (democracy).

This criterion has remained until our time: the forms of government differ depending on whether the supreme power is exercised by one person or belongs to an elected collegial body. In this regard, monarchical and republican forms of government are distinguished.

A monarchy can be called a state where the supreme power belongs to one person who uses it at his own discretion, by right, which is not delegated to him by any other power, while in a republic it is delegated to one or several persons always for a certain period by the whole people or a part of it. to whom sovereignty belongs. This provision characterizes the modern monarchy, however, over the course of many centuries, the historical experience of many states has given rise to a wide variety of monarchies, which are difficult to cover with a single verified formula. The term "monarchy" of Greek origin means "autocracy", "autocracy", although exceptions are known.

The general features of the monarchical form of government, regardless of its varieties, is that the head of state is a monarch who exercises his power by inheritance, although there are options when elections are put in place for a particular monarchical dynasty (the house of the Romanovs in Russia). The monarch acquires power according to the principle of blood, inheriting it according to his own right ("by the grace of God", as is usually indicated in his title, or in the case of election - "by the grace of God and the will of the people"). The monarch does not bear any legal responsibility for his political actions - in the "Approved Charter" of 1613 Mikhail Romanov was assigned "responsibility in his affairs to the one heavenly king." In the hands of the monarch, all the fullness of the supreme state power is concentrated, the monarch acts as the source of all law, only with his expression of will certain decisions can acquire the force of law. The monarch is at the head of the executive branch, justice is done on his behalf, he has the right to pardon. In the international arena, in relations with other states, the monarch alone represents his state. He enjoys the title (prince, duke, king, tsar, emperor), receives a significant amount from the state treasury, and has the right to special protection.

With an unlimited, absolute monarchy, the monarch enjoys all of the above rights, of course, and unlimitedly (hence the name), regardless of any other power, with limited - through or obligatory assistance of any bodies or authorities existing, regardless of the monarch. Aristotle in the classification of monarchies proceeded from psychological foundations - a monarchy from a "correct" form of government turns into a "wrong", tyranny and despotism, if instead of the interests of all the monarch pursues personal, selfish interests, rules arbitrarily. Legal grounds are now taken into account. The constitutional monarchy is divided into representative (dualistic) and parliamentary. In both, the monarch shares power with parliament.

In dualistic monarchies (Prussia, Austria, Italy, Romania in the past), the monarch retains the executive power, the right to form a government, appoint and remove other officials responsible to him ministers (governors, prefects, etc.), he has the right of veto and the right to unrestricted dissolution of parliament. However, in the legislative sphere, the right of a representative body is guaranteed by the power to vote the budget.

In parliamentary monarchies (modern England, Belgium, Norway, Sweden), the ministers appointed by the head of state depend on the vote of confidence of the parliament, the monarch has the right of a suspensive veto, and only in certain cases provided for by law, he dissolves the parliament. The orders of the monarch acquire legal force only when they are countersigned by the corresponding minister. The legal position of the monarch is significantly limited. Even private issues of public life, such as pardoning a criminal, cannot be resolved without the consent of parliament. Parliament regulates the personal life of the monarch (marriage, palace service, etc.).

Unlike a monarchy, under a republican form of government, the popular majority is the only source of legal power. The very origin of the term "republic" is associated with the people. In the republic, power is exercised by representative bodies elected by the people for a specified period. There are parliamentary and presidential republics.

The choice of government is influenced by a number of factors, but the long-term interests of state stability should be decisive here, and not momentary political problems and one or another alignment of forces.

Chapter 2. Republican form of government

2.1. Concepts and signs of the republic

A republic is a form of government in which the supreme state power is exercised by elective bodies elected by the population for a specified period.

Common features of a republican form of government are as follows:

Power comes from the people;

Election for a specified term of the head of state and other government bodies;

Legal and political responsibility of state bodies for the results of their activities;

The secular nature of the power of the head of state.

The republican form of government originated in the slave states. She found the most striking manifestation in the Republic of Athens. Here all organs of the state, including the highest ones (the most important of which was the National Assembly), were elected by full citizens of Athens. As social life developed, it changed, acquired new features, and was more and more filled with democratic content. However, the aristocratic republic was more widespread in the slave-owning states, where the military-land nobility took part in the formation and work of the elected bodies of the supreme state power. 4

In the era of feudalism, the republican form of government did not exist often. It arose in those medieval cities that had the right to self-determination (Venice, Genoa, Lubeck, Novgorod, Pskov).

Based on who forms the government, to whom it is accountable and controlled, the republics are divided into presidential, parliamentary and mixed. In presidential republics (USA, Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela, Bolivia, Syria, etc.), it is the president who plays this role, in parliamentary (Germany, Italy, India, Turkey, Israel, etc.) - parliament, in mixed (France, Finland , Poland, Bulgaria, Austria, etc.) - jointly the president and parliament.

2.2. Presidential republic

In a presidential republic, the president is elected independently of parliament, either by an electoral college, or directly by the people, and at the same time is the head of state and government. He himself appoints the government and directs its activities. The parliament in such a republic cannot pass a vote of no confidence in the government, and the president cannot dissolve the parliament. However, the parliament has the ability to restrict the actions of the president and the government with the help of adopted laws and through the establishment of a budget, and in some cases - to remove the president from office (when he violated the constitution, committed a crime). The president, in turn, is endowed with the right of a suspensive veto (from the Latin - prohibition) on decisions of the legislature.

Thus, a presidential republic is characterized by the following features:

Combining the powers of the head of state and government in the hands of the president;

Lack of the institution of parliamentary responsibility of the government;

Extra-parliamentary method of electing the president and forming the government;

The responsibility of the government to the president;

Concentration of enormous political, military and socio-economic power in the hands of the president.

The United States of America is the classic presidential republic. In accordance with the US Constitution, which is based on the principle of separation of powers, it is clearly defined that the legislative power belongs to the parliament, the executive power belongs to the president, and the judicial power belongs to the Supreme Court. The President of the United States is elected by the population of the country through indirect elections - through the electoral college. The number of electors must correspond to the number of representatives of each state in parliament (congress). The government is formed by the president who won the election from persons belonging to his party. The presidential form of government in different countries has its own characteristics. In France, the president is elected by universal suffrage. The candidate who receives the absolute number of votes is considered elected. The same procedure for electing the president has been established in the Russian Federation since 1991.

It is characteristic of all presidential republics, despite their diversity, that the president either combines the powers of the head of state and head of government in one person (USA), or directly appoints the head of government and participates in the formation of the cabinet or council of ministers (France, India).

In civilized countries, the presidential republic is distinguished by a strong executive power, along with which, according to the principle of separation of powers, the legislative and judicial branches function normally. An efficiently operating mechanism of balances and checks that exists in modern presidential republics contributes to the possibility of harmonious functioning of the authorities and avoids arbitrariness on the part of the executive branch.

In modern civilized society, there are no fundamental differences between parliamentary and presidential forms of government. They are brought together by common tasks and goals of ensuring the most optimal organization of social life, guaranteed free development of the individual, reliable protection of his rights and various interests. 5

2.3. Parliamentary republic

A parliamentary republic is a form of government in which the supreme role in the organization of government life belongs to parliament.

In such a republic, the government is formed by the parliament from deputies belonging to those parties that have the majority of votes in parliament. The government is accountable to parliament for its activities and remains in power as long as it has the support of the parliamentary majority. If the majority of parliament members lose confidence, the government either resigns or, through the head of state, achieves the dissolution of parliament and the appointment of early parliamentary elections.

As a rule, the head of state in such republics is elected by the parliament or by a specially formed parliamentary collegium. The appointment of the head of state by the parliament is the main form of parliamentary control over the executive branch. The procedure for electing a head of state in modern parliamentary republics is not the same. In Italy, for example, the president of the republic is elected by the members of both chambers at their joint meeting, but at the same time, three delegates from each region, elected by the regional council, also participate in the elections. In federal states, parliamentary participation in the election of the head of state is also shared with representatives of the members of the federation. Thus, in the Federal Republic of Germany, the President is elected by the Federal Assembly, consisting of members of the Bundestag and the same number of persons elected by the Landtags of the Lands on the basis of proportional representation. Elections for the head of state in a parliamentary republic can also be carried out on the basis of universal suffrage, which is typical, for example, in Austria, where the president is elected by the population for a term of six years.

The head of state in a parliamentary republic promulgates laws, issues decrees, has the right to dissolve parliament, appoints the head of government, is the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, etc.

The head of government (prime minister, chairman of the council of ministers) is usually appointed by the president. He forms the government headed by him, which exercises supreme executive power and is responsible for his activities before parliament. The most essential feature of a parliamentary republic is that any government is only competent to administer the state when it enjoys the confidence of parliament. 6

The main function of parliament is to legislate and control the executive branch. The parliament has important financial powers, since it develops and adopts the state budget, determines the prospects for the country's socio-economic development, and decides on the main issues of foreign policy, including defense policy.

The parliamentary form of republican government is such a structure of the highest bodies of state power that really ensures the democracy of public life, freedom of the individual, creates fair conditions for human society based on the principles of legal legality.

2.4. Other types of republics

The history of the state-organized society, its peoples knows several basic types of republican rule.

Athenian Democratic Republic (V-IV centuries BC). Its features and significant democracy were due to the social structure of Athenian society, the nature of slavery, which does not recognize the transformation of free Athenians into slaves, as well as the presence of collective slavery. During the republican period, an effective system of government bodies with a clear structure and strictly defined functions took shape in Athens. The system of state bodies consisted of a popular assembly, a council of five hundred, elected officials, a jury, and the Areopagus (the highest judicial and political body). The highest organ of state power in Athens was the People's Assembly, to which all other bodies and officials were subordinate. Full-fledged Athenian citizens who have reached 20 years of age took part in its work. The main function of the people's assembly was the adoption of laws, but a variety of administrative and judicial activities were also carried out. The People's Assembly declared war and made peace; was in charge of external relations; elected military leaders (strategists) and other officials; was in charge of religious affairs, food issues, confiscation of property.

The highest body of executive power was the council of five hundred. It was formed from representatives of the Athenian territorial divisions and directed the daily practical activities of the state.

The Areopagus was an extremely influential organ of government. He could cancel the decisions of the people's assembly, control the activities of the council of five hundred and officials. The Areopagus consisted of archons (senior officials of the policies) and former archons, who were appointed for life. The reforms of Ephialtos (486) deprived the Areopagus of higher political functions, and it turned into a purely judicial body.

Elements of the future separation of powers are visible in the structure of the Athenian Republic: the people's assembly is a legislative body; council of five hundred - the supreme judicial branch.

Spartan aristocratic republic (V-IV centuries BC). Sparta, in contrast to Athens, who headed the democratic part of the population of the policies, united around itself mainly their aristocratic part. Along with the obvious remnants of the communal system, Sparta had a strong army that kept numerous helot slaves in obedience.

Formally, the supreme power in the state belonged to two kings, in fact, it was limited in favor of the aristocracy. The kings were military leaders, in wartime they belonged to the judiciary, they were in charge of the affairs of the cult.

Legislative power was exercised by the council of elders (gerusia). Gerousia consisted of two kings and 28 councilors, elected from among the representatives of the aristocracy for life. The highest government power was exercised by the college of ephors, who were annually elected from among the honored aristocrats. Ephors exercised control over the activities of all state bodies and officials, including the kings. They considered the most important civil and criminal cases, decided foreign policy issues, and recruited troops.

In Sparta, the popular assembly did not play a big role. It actually did not have legislative powers. Appointments to positions, issues of war and peace, which were formally within the competence of the People's Assembly, were predetermined in advance by other state bodies.

Roman aristocratic republic (V - II centuries BC). The supreme state power in republican Rome was the Senate. The members of the Senate were appointed by specially authorized persons (censors), who in turn were appointed by the people's assembly. All issues resolved in local authorities (centuries) were previously discussed in the Senate. Formally, the Senate obeyed the decisions of the People's Assembly, however, if the decisions of the latter did not correspond to the "interests of Rome," he declared them invalid or suggested that the officials responsible for these decisions resign from their posts. The prerogative of the Senate was the establishment of a dictatorship, after which all officials of the republic passed into the subordination of the dictator, whose term of office, however, was limited to six months. The Senate also had other important powers: it disposed of the treasury and state property, resolved issues of war and peace, appointed commanders of troops and judicial collegiums.

The merit of Roman statehood is that it had a great influence on the nature and structure of state power in a number of countries of later civilizations. But to a greater extent, the provisions of Roman law were perceived. Roman jurists for the first time formulated the most important legal institution of a civilized society - the right to property. They subdivided the system of law into two parts: private law and public law. Roman public law included all those norms that relate to the "position of the Roman state" as a whole, and private law regulated relations between individuals. Such a relationship between legal norms in most legal systems of our time is a natural reality. Legal institutions of ownership, sale and purchase, various forms of ownership originate from Roman law - and this is their historical and practical value. 7

A socialist republic is a special form of government that emerged in a number of countries as a result of the socialist revolution and, according to the founders of Marxism-Leninism, should have become a truly democratic republic, ensuring the sovereignty of the working people, headed by the working class and its party.

Soviet legal science identified the following main features of a socialist republic:

The leading role belongs to the representative bodies, which form the basis of the apparatus of state power.

A socialist republic must combine the political, economic and cultural leadership of social life in a single state mechanism, which would allow state power to sovereignly dispose of the socialized means of production, regulate and control the distribution of material and spiritual wealth.

In the socialist republics, the highest and local bodies are united into a single representative system based on the principle of democratic centralism.

Under socialist rule, the legislative and executive powers are united in the person of working representative institutions.

The socialist republican form of government presupposes the accountability and control of the executive and administrative bodies to the legislative branch.

The socialist republic creates the necessary conditions and prerequisites for ensuring the leading role of the working class and its party in social and state life.

The theoretical foundations of the socialist republic were laid in the works of K. Marx and F. Engels. This theory was further developed in the works of V.I. Lenin and was applied in practice in Russia.

There are three types of socialist form of government: the Paris Commune, the Soviet Republic and the People's Democratic (People's) Republic, which initially act as a form of the dictatorship of the proletariat.

At present, the socialist form of government has survived only in the form of a people's republic in the PRC, Vietnam, and Cuba.

A characteristic feature of mixed (semi-presidential, semi-parliamentary) republics is the double responsibility of the government - both to the president and to the parliament. In such republics, the president and parliament are directly elected by the people. The head of state is the president here. He appoints the head of government and ministers, taking into account the alignment of political forces in parliament. The head of state, as a rule, presides over the meetings of the cabinet of ministers and approves its decisions. Parliament has the ability to control the government by approving the country's annual budget, as well as through the right to pass a vote of no confidence to the government. eight

Chapter 3. Form of government in the Russian Federation

The Russian Federation has a presidential form of government. The post of President, elected by popular vote, was introduced in our country on the basis of the results of the referendum on March 17, 1991.

In accordance with the Constitution, the President of the Russian Federation is the head of state. The power of the President is limited by the limits of the Constitution of the Russian Federation. The Constitution provides that the President acts in accordance with the procedure established by it. The general framework of his powers is determined by the principle of separation of powers and the requirement of the Constitution, according to which decrees and orders of the President of the Russian Federation should not contradict the Constitution and laws of Russia. nine

The President of Russia, being legally distanced from all branches of government, creates rules, manages, resolves disputes, and exercises constitutional control.

The President has the right to use the veto right at the stage of signing federal laws (part 3 of Article 107 of the Constitution), including as a guarantee of ensuring their constitutionality. He has the right to suspend the acts of the executive authorities of the constituent entities of the Federation, primarily in the event of a conflict of these acts with the Constitution of the Russian Federation (part 2 of article 85 of the Constitution). In the event of a conflict of decisions and orders of the Government of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, the President has the right to cancel them (part 3 of article 115 of the Constitution).

Ensuring the unity of the executive power in the state, the President, by his decrees, prescribes to the relevant bodies and officials the need to follow the Constitution of the Russian Federation.

The President of the Russian Federation has the right to send to the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation inquiries about the constitutionality of federal laws, regulations of the Federation Council, the State Duma, the Government of the Russian Federation, constitutions of republics, charters, as well as laws and other regulations of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, apply to the Constitutional Court on the interpretation of the Constitution ( Article 125). The President uses these powers in practice, given to him by the Constitution and the Federal Constitutional Law.

On the basis of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, the President ensures the unity of the executive power in Russia and the exercise of the powers of the federal state power throughout its territory. Decrees and orders of the President are binding on the entire territory of the federal state. ten

To resolve disagreements between federal government bodies and government bodies of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, as well as between government bodies of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, the President has the right to use conciliation procedures. At the same time, the Federal President and the Government of the Russian Federation, in accordance with the Constitution, ensure the exercise of the powers of the federal state power throughout the territory of Russia.

In order to achieve coordinated functioning and interaction of public authorities, resolve disputes about competence, the President of the Russian Federation has the opportunity to use, in addition to the approval procedures, other means specified in the Constitution, including submitting a request to the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation.

The Constitution of the Russian Federation grants the President the right to address the Federal Assembly with annual messages on the situation in the country, on the main directions of domestic and foreign policy.

A citizen of the Russian Federation who is at least 35 years old and has permanently resided in Russia for at least 10 years (part 2 of article 83 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation of 1993) can be elected President of the Russian Federation. The President of the Russian Federation is elected in accordance with the Federal Law of January 10, 2003 “On the Election of the President of the Russian Federation”.

The President in accordance with the Constitution "appoints the Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation with the consent of the State Duma. The President's proposal on this issue is submitted to the State Duma no later than two weeks after the newly elected President takes office or after the resignation of the RF Government, or within a week from the day the State Duma rejects the candidacy for the post of Chairman of the Government.

The State Duma considers a candidate for the post of Prime Minister within a week from the date of the proposal. The President of the Russian Federation or his plenipotentiary representative in the Federal Assembly formally nominate the candidate to the deputies. The consent to the appointment of the Chairman of the Government shall be deemed to have been received if the majority of the total number of deputies of the State Duma voted for the proposed candidate. If the State Duma rejects the candidacy for the post of Prime Minister, the President submits a new candidate for approval by the Chamber. In the event of a two-fold rejection of the nominated candidates for the post of Prime Minister, the President has the right to submit a third nominee to the State Duma within a week from the date of rejection of the second nominee. After the State Duma has three times rejected the nominated candidates for the Chairman of the Government, the President appoints the Chairman of the Government without her consent, dissolves the State Duma and calls new elections (Part 4, Article 111 of the Constitution). eleven

The President of the Russian Federation has the right, at his discretion, to preside over meetings of the Government, thereby taking the place of the Chairman of the Government. At such meetings, the most important issues of state life are considered. This right of the President is associated with his status as the head of state, which determines the main directions of the country's domestic and foreign policy, and gives grounds to characterize the President as the head of the executive branch.

When the Government submits a letter of resignation, the President may disagree with the Government's statement and instruct him to continue performing his duties without specifying a time limit or, if he agrees to resign, to instruct the Government to fulfill its duties until a new Government of Russia is formed.

By virtue of the Constitution, the President has the right to disagree with decisions of the State Duma to express a vote of no confidence in the Government or to refuse confidence. At the same time, the Constitution provides for the obligation of the President, under certain conditions, to announce the resignation of the Government or to dissolve the State Duma (parts 3 and 4 of Art. 117). At the same time, the Constitution establishes various conditions and procedures for resolving a government crisis in connection with a vote of no confidence or a refusal of confidence in the Government. 12

The President of the Russian Federation shall submit to the Federation Council candidates for the office of judges of the Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court, the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation, and the Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation. The appointment of these officials is carried out by the Federation Council. He, on the proposal of the President, may dismiss the Prosecutor General from office. The President of the Russian Federation independently appoints judges of other federal courts. As for the dismissal of judges, they are irreplaceable by virtue of the Constitution. The procedure for terminating the powers of a judge is established by federal law.

The President of the Russian Federation heads the Security Council and forms its composition. On the basis of the RF Law of March 5, 1992 "On Security", this constitutional body prepares decisions of the President in the field of security, considers issues of internal and external, as well as Russian military policy in this area, strategic problems of state, economic, social, defense , information, environmental and other types of security, the issues of predicting emergency situations, taking measures to prevent them and overcome the consequences, solves other problems in the field of ensuring the safety of the individual, society and the state. 13

The President of the Russian Federation, being, by virtue of the Constitution, the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Russia, appoints and dismisses the high command of the Armed Forces (commanders of military branches, military districts, etc.).

The appointment or removal of a diplomatic representative is preceded by consultations with the committees and commissions of the Federal Assembly. According to Art. 191 of the Rules of Procedure of the State Duma, such committees may be the Committee on International Affairs and the Committee on Affairs of the Commonwealth of Independent States and Relations with Compatriots. fourteen

Elections of deputies of the State Duma are also called by decrees of the President of the Russian Federation. Election day is the first Sunday after the expiration of the constitutional term for which the State Duma of the previous convocation was elected. The period from the date of the appointment by the President of the election to the day of the election must be at least four months. The State Duma meets for its first meeting on the thirtieth day after its election. However, the President can convene a meeting of the State Duma even earlier than this period (part 2 of article 99 of the Constitution). The constitution defines the term of office of the Duma - four years (part 1 of article 96).

The President of the Russian Federation dissolves the State Duma only in cases determined by the Constitution itself. If the State Duma rejects the candidates for the post of Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation submitted by the President three times, the President dissolves the Duma and appoints new elections (part 4 of Art. 111); if the State Duma within three months re-expresses no confidence in the Government, the President has the right to dissolve the Duma (part 3 of article 117); The State Duma may be dissolved by the President if he refuses to trust the Government, when the question of such confidence was put before it by the Chairman of the Government (Part 4, Art. 117). In the last two cases, an alternative to the dissolution of the State Duma is the decision of the President to resign the Government.

Bills submitted by the President to the State Duma as urgent bills are subject to extraordinary consideration at meetings of the Duma (Article 46 of the State Duma Rules of Procedure). The President approved the Regulation on the procedure for interaction with the chambers of the Federal Assembly in the legislative process.

The President of Russia is responsible for signing and promulgating federal laws. This is the traditional function of the head of state, completing the legislative process by making the law binding.

From the constitutional status of the President as the head of state and guarantor of the Constitution follows his obligation to include in the constitutional text the content of amendments and changes through the official publication of acts adopted in accordance with Art. 136 and 137 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation.

The President does not have the right to reject the adopted amendments and changes to the Constitution - he is obliged to promulgate them, as in the cases provided for in Art. 107 (part 3) and 108 (part 2) of the Constitution, entrusting the President with the authority to take certain actions to prepare adopted acts for publication.

The Constitution of the Russian Federation entrusts the President with the leadership of the foreign policy of the Russian Federation, that is, the general course of the state in international relations. The Constitution does not contain provisions on the goals and principles of foreign policy, the place and role of the Federal Assembly in the development and approval of the concept of foreign policy are not defined. Thus, Art. 86 of the Constitution gives the President the exclusive responsibility for its development and implementation. For its part, the Government is taking measures to ensure the implementation of Russia's foreign policy.

In accordance with the Constitution, the President negotiates and signs international treaties of the Russian Federation.

The powers of the head of state to negotiate and sign international treaties are recognized by the law of international treaties. According to paragraph 2 "a" of Art. 7 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, the head of state, by virtue of his function and without the need for a special presentation of powers, is considered a person representing his state when performing all actions related to the conclusion of treaties.

Nevertheless, the legislator considered it necessary to incorporate this norm of international law into national legislation. So, in paragraph 1 of Art. 12 of the Federal Law of July 15, 1995 "On International Treaties of the Russian Federation" it is written that the President, as the head of state, in accordance with the Constitution and international law, negotiates and signs international treaties of the Russian Federation without the need to present powers.

The President accepts the credentials and letters of recall from diplomatic representatives. Credential - a document that is issued to the heads of foreign diplomatic missions in the rank of extraordinary and plenipotentiary ambassadors or envoys to certify their representative character and accreditation. 15

The Constitution provides for broad powers of the President in the areas of organizing state defense, political leadership of the Armed Forces, and command and control of troops. The President, in accordance with the Constitution, forms and heads the Security Council, approves the military doctrine, appoints and dismisses the high command of the Armed Forces, negotiates and signs international treaties on joint defense, on collective security and disarmament, is the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, and introduces martial law.

In accordance with Art. 87 of the Constitution and the Federal Law "On Defense", the President, by Decree No. 1102 of July 25, 1996, formed the Defense Council of the Russian Federation and approved the Regulations on it. The Defense Council is a permanent advisory body that prepares decisions of the President in the field of military development, the implementation of the most important decisions of the Security Council on strategic issues of defense policy. The President of the Defense Council is the President, while the Deputy Chairman is the Prime Minister. The composition of the Defense Council is approved by the President.

The President introduces martial law on the entire territory of the Russian Federation or in some of its localities with the declaration of a state of war, as well as in the event of an immediate threat of aggression. 16

Martial law is introduced by a presidential decree with immediate notification of this to both chambers of the Federal Assembly. The presidential decree on the imposition of martial law requires the approval of the Federation Council (clause "b", part 1 of article 102 of the Constitution). 17

The President of Russia issues decrees and orders.

The current Constitution of Russia in 1993 provides for the possibility of removing the President from office on the basis of charges brought against him of high treason or committing another serious crime. The elements of such crimes are determined by the Criminal Code. Unlike resignation, which is voluntary, the removal of the President of the Russian Federation from office presupposes the forcible deprivation of the head of state of his powers.

The Constitution of Russia, like the basic laws of other countries, only regulates the removal of the President from office. After impeachment, the President can be held accountable if he has committed a crime, according to the norms of criminal law, as an ordinary person.

Conclusion

This paper considers the republic as a form of government. Here were examples of different variants of the republican form of government around the world. From this we can conclude that the global processes of democratization of society lead to the fact that the republican form of government is becoming one of the most massive in the world.

But at the same time, in many countries, the republic as a form of government goes through evolution, gradually getting rid of the elements of the monarchy, and more and more responding to the principle of separation of powers, becoming a form of government that reflects the interests of citizens.

And in the Russian Federation, these processes are not going easy. But the fact that in 1993 the Constitution of the Russian Federation was adopted, which is a guarantee that the Russian state is on the path of developing democracy.

Many criticize the state structure of Russia. This is a normal process. State power must exercise its powers for the people and serve the people. Therefore, it can be modified in the course of its existence in order to fully reflect the interests and aspirations of the people.

So in France, after the short existence of the fourth republic, a new constitution was adopted and the scheme of exercising state power of the republic was adjusted, which was more suitable for a given country and a given people. Now we have received the result of this reform. For various social indicators, France is one of the first places in the world.

This example reflects the principles of the functioning of the republic in a truly democratic state, where the authorities exercise their powers for the people and for the sake of the people.

This example is very instructive for Russia, where participation in the process of governing the country is still viewed as an opportunity to gain access to the "feeding trough", and the principles of democracy enshrined in the Constitution are not fully applied.

List of sources used

Regulations

    The Constitution of the Russian Federation (adopted by popular vote on December 12, 1993) // Rossiyskaya Gazeta dated December 25, 1993 N 237 (as amended and supplemented by N 6-FKZ on December 30, 2008 and December 30, 2008 No. N 7-FKZ) // Russian newspaper dated January 21, 2009. N 7.

    Federal Constitutional Law No. 3-FKZ of May 30, 2001 "On the State of Emergency" (as amended and supplemented by No. 1-FKZ of March 7, 2005) // Parliamentary Gazette of June 1-7, 2001 No. 99 ...

    Federal Law "On the Central Bank of the Russian Federation (Bank of Russia)" dated July 10, 2002 (as amended and supplemented by November 25, 2009 N 281-FZ) // Collected Laws of the Russian Federation. 2002, no. 28, art. 2790.

    Resolution of the State Duma "On no confidence in the Government of the Russian Federation" dated July 21, 1995 // Collected Laws of RF 1995. No. 26 Art. 2446.

    Regulations on the plenipotentiary representative of the President of the Russian Federation in the federal district, approved by the Decree of the President of R.F. dated May 13, 2000 No. 849 // Russian newspaper. - 2000 .-- May 16.

    Regulations on the approval of the composition of the Security Council of the Russian Federation dated November 14, 2005 // Rossiyskaya Gazeta. - 2005 .-- November 17.

Special literature

    Baglai M.V., Tumanov V.A. Small encyclopedia of constitutional law. - M .: Bek, 1998 .-- 505 p.

    Denisov A.I. The essence and form of the state. M., 1960 .-- 389 p.

    Komarov S.A. Theory of Government and Rights. - M .: Norma, 2004 .-- 448 p.

    Krasnov Yu.K., Yenigibaryan R.V. Theory of State and Law: textbook - 2nd ed. revision. and supplemented. - M .: Norma, 2007 .-- 576 p.

    Kudryavtsev Yu.A. Political regimes / Yu.A. Kudryavtsev // Jurisprudence. 2002. -No. 1. - S. 54 -58.

    V.V. Lazarev Theory of State and Law: textbook 2nd revision. and add. ed. - M .: Law and Law, 2002 .-- 520 p.

    Levakin I.V. Modern Russian statehood: problems of the transitional period // state and law, 2003. - №1. - S. 27 - 34.

    Malko A.V. Theory of Government and Rights. - M: Jurist, 2007 .-- 512 p.

    Marchenko M.N. Theory of State and Law: textbook 2nd ed. rework. and add. - M .: TK Welby publ. Prospect, 2006 .-- 640 p.

    Morshchakova T.G. the constitutional court of the Russian Federation. Resolutions. Definitions: Study Guide 5th ed. revised. and supplemented. - M .: Jurist, 2003. - 624 p.

    Perevalov V.D. Theory of Government and Rights. - M .: Yurayt, 2008 .-- 616 p.

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  1. Republican the form reign (1)

    Task >> State and law

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  2. Originality republican shape reign in the cities of Magna Graecia

    Law >> History

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The republic, being an ancient form of social organization, is currently the most widespread and in demand in the world as a method of government regulated by the majority of its citizens.

According to the republican principles of government, citizens of the state exercise their political rights and freedoms by regularly electing their representatives (deputies, president) to the highest authorities and thereby controlling their composition.

Thus, in a republic-state, the powers of the supreme authorities (parliament and president) should be based on popular confidence. The people determine who should take a place in the structure of state power that represents their interests.

Republic- This is a form of government, which is based on the electoral principle. The highest authority under a republican form of government, as opposed to monarchical, carried out by the will of the people or the institution (parliament) representing it.

* Is a form of government in which the lifelong right to supreme power is inherited by one person (monarch).

History of the origin of the republic

The republic appeared in antiquity as an opposition to the monarchy. She opened a new way of government - on a democratic basis. Full citizens of the policy were given the opportunity to govern the ancient city-state by participating in a meeting or council.

Etymologically, "republic" goes back to the Latin res - business and publicus - public, nationwide, which in combination is translated as "public, people's business."

Signs of a modern republic

Since antiquity, the world has been developing, and the republic, without losing its key democratic principles, has acquired new features. Among the main features of the republic are:

  • The presence of a chief person (president) or a collegial body (parliament) representing the state and carrying out the functions of legislative and / or executive power.
  • Selectivity of the head of state and the supreme authorities for a specified period.
  • Submission of the head of state to the Constitution.
  • Mutual responsibility of the individual and the state before the law.
  • The principle of separation of powers into three branches (in most republics).

Varieties of the republic

The republics, depending on who has more powers in governing the state, the president or parliament, as well as on the mechanism for exercising power, are divided into:

  • presidential, in which parliament is subordinate to the president, who forms and administers the government;
  • parliamentary, in which the parliament appoints the president, convenes the government and controls it;
  • mixed, in which the presidential and parliamentary powers are balanced or are fighting among themselves: the government is formed by them jointly and is responsible to both; at the same time, who owns the real power, the prime minister or the president who heads the parliament, depends on the number of votes they receive.

From the point of view of state structure and territorial integrity of the republic, there are:

  • Unitary - territorially uniform states, such as Italy, France, Japan, Poland.
  • Federative - consisting of parts (subjects of the federation) that share power with the governing center (president and / or parliament). These republics include: Russia, USA, Germany.
  • Union - members of large state associations with a republican or monarchical form of government (USSR, Islamic Republic).

Republics in the modern world

Parliamentary republics emerged first as a result of the bourgeois revolutions in Holland, England and France and spread throughout modern Europe and the world. Today the parliamentary republics are: Austria, Greece, Ireland, India, Portugal, Germany. All these countries are represented by the Prime Minister, who leads the government and the parliamentary majority.

The United States is considered the first presidential republic, in which the president opposed himself to parliament, which became an effective way of governing the confederation. Now the presidential republics are: Russia, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, etc.

In the modern world, there are also:

  • super-presidential republics, with a unified power in the person of the president, supported by the army (Syria, Latin American countries);
  • military-presidential republics headed by a revolutionary military council;
  • presidential-monocratic republics, with an unlimited presidential term (Iraq, Tunisia, Guinea).

1.1 The concept of the form of government of the state

The form of government means the organization of the supreme state power, especially its higher and central bodies, the structure, competence, procedure for the formation of these bodies, the duration of their powers, relations with the population, the degree of participation of the latter in their formation. The form of government is the leading element in the form of the state, interpreted in a broad sense.

At one time, Aristotle distinguished between forms of government depending on whether the supreme power is exercised individually (monarchy), by a limited number of persons (aristocracy), by the entire population (democracy).

This criterion has remained up to the present time: the forms of government differ depending on whether the supreme power is exercised by one person or belongs to an elected collegial body. In this regard, monarchical and republican forms of government are distinguished.

A monarchy can be called a state where the supreme power belongs to one person who uses it at his own discretion, by right, which is not delegated to him by any other power, while in a republic it is delegated to one or several persons always for a certain period by the whole people or a part of it. to whom sovereignty belongs. This provision characterizes the modern monarchy, however, over the course of many centuries, the historical experience of many states has given rise to a wide variety of monarchies, which are difficult to cover with a single verified formula. The term "monarchy" of Greek origin means "autocracy", "autocracy", although exceptions are known. 1

Unlike a monarchy, under a republican form of government, the popular majority is the only source of legal power. The very origin of the term "republic" is associated with the people. "Respublica est res populi" - stressed Cicero, considering the state "a matter of the people." In the republic, power is exercised by representative bodies elected by the people for a specified period. There are parliamentary and presidential republics.

The choice of government is influenced by a number of factors, but the long-term interests of state stability should be decisive here, and not momentary political problems and one or another alignment of forces. The merit of a parliamentary republic is the unity of the highest echelons of the executive branch, since the head of the executive branch (the prime minister) and his cabinet are appointed and controlled by parliament, more precisely, by the parliamentary majority. As long as the government has the support of the majority of legislators, it fulfills its functions, not excluding the presentation of bills. With the loss of the parliamentary majority, the government resigns. With all the variations that exist in parliamentary republics, the president plays a minor role; the executive branch is, in fact, a continuation of the legislative branch, and thus the possible conflict between the two branches of government is minimized. 1

The disadvantages of a parliamentary republic boil down, first, to the extreme fragmentation of the party system, which condemns the parliamentary coalition to a similar fragmentation, and the government to instability. With an underdeveloped party system, even extremist (small) parties can become part of the parliamentary coalition of the majority. This can become as pernicious as the deadlock in the relationship between the executive and the legislature. 2

Secondly, the threat of tyranny that a simple parliamentary majority is able to create, i.e. the effectiveness and stability of parliamentary forms of government depend on the nature of the political parties competing for seats in parliament. The fate of parties and the structure of the party system are largely determined by the way legislators are elected, i.e. majority or proportional systems. 1

A presidential republic as a form of government is characterized primarily by the fact that the elected head of state is also the head of government, which he appoints in a number of countries with the consent of parliament and which he can dissolve. The dignity of the presidential form of government lies primarily in the fact that a popularly elected president is the focus of national aspirations, acts as a symbol of the nation, a symbol of citizens' belonging to a single state. This form empowers one person who can exercise leadership in an emergency. And it is no coincidence that, faced with certain complex problems, some countries (for example, France in the 50s of the XX century) emphasize the importance of the presidency. The presidential system of government, in principle, provides a greater degree of political stability than the parliamentary one, since the government (president) is elected for a fixed term determined by the constitution. The presidential form of government, in turn, is not perfect. First, unlike a parliamentary form of government, it is fraught with the possibility of friction in the relationship between the executive and legislative branches of government and provoking a constitutional crisis. The latter is especially likely if the president and the parliamentary majority belong to different parties or political currents. Suggestions that the president is constantly above the party struggle and the politicking of lobbyists may not be well founded. In other words, the choice between parliamentary and presidential forms of government may mean a choice between a unified but unstable leadership and a stable, but fraught with conflict between the two powers.

Second, there is hardly an optimal way to elect a president. Each of them has its own strengths and weaknesses. Minority demands and the introduction of proportional representation under the presidential system are not so important, if only because of the decline in parliamentary influence. The method of presidential elections is in the first place in terms of importance. Direct elections seem to be the simplest and most democratic. But there are varieties of direct elections, when the choice of methods for holding them does not always depend on the president. Presidential power can be highly dependent on the legislative branch, which can determine a lot, for example, the procedure for reelecting a president for a second term in an extremely complicated manner. 1

In the specifics of the political life of a particular country, taking into account one or another correlation of political forces, established traditions or introduced reforms, mixed or intermediate (between a presidential republic and a parliamentary republic) forms of government are possible. 2

Theorists of mixed forms of government are driven by the idea of ​​strengthening statehood by eliminating government crises, frequent changes of governments for reasons of political conjuncture, optimization of the methods of organization and relationships between the highest bodies of state power, central and local authorities. These problems can be especially acute in newly formed states that have emerged as a result of integration and disintegration processes. However, the commendable desire to concentrate in a "hybrid", mixed form only the positive features of traditional forms of government and to avoid their shortcomings is not always embodied in a new organic quality. Such an important dignity of the presidential form of government as the strength of the constitutional position of the government, which cannot be dismissed by parliament due to the struggle of parliamentary factions in a mixed, "semi-presidential" republic, is largely lost due to the strengthening of the controlling powers of the highest legislative representative body of power. In turn, the undoubted advantage of a parliamentary republic is the government's responsibility to parliament, its duty to take into account the emerging balance of political forces in its policy, public opinion is practically nullified in such an “atypical” form of government as a “semi-parliamentary” republic. In the latter case, an increase in the powers of the president entails an almost automatic decrease in the role of the representative institution of power. Something similar happens with the legislative introduction of restrictions on the vote of no confidence in the government in parliamentary republics or with the establishment of the responsibility of individual ministers to parliament in presidential forms of government.

1.2. The concept and essence of the republican form of government

In contrast to the monarchy under the republican form of government, the only source of power under the law is the popular majority. The very origin of the term republic (from Lat. Res publica - public business) is a form of government that is characterized by the election of the head of state, usually referred to as the president.

The republican form of government was used in the ancient world (for example, a democratic republic in Athens and an aristocratic one in Rome), many cities of the state were republics in the Middle Ages (Dubrovnik in Yugoslavia, Bremen in Germany). But this form was most widespread in modern times, after the victory of the bourgeois revolutions. The first republic associated with such revolutions was the United States. 1

The republic is the most democratic form of government, since it assumes that the powers of any branch of government, any supreme body, including the head of state, are ultimately based on the mandate of the people. But it should be emphasized that this conclusion is correct only other things being equal.

The republic is also a fairly ancient form of government. It is found in slave (Athens, Sparta, Rome) and feudal (Venice, Genoa, Novgorod, Pskov, etc.) states, but it was most widespread in the New Time. Already in the first Mesopotamian city-states (IV-III centuries BC), as later in the ancient Greek city-states, power had a complex structure. And in this structure, the supremacy of power often remained with a democratic body - an assembly and a council. At the same time, the meeting was attended by all full-fledged citizens, all citizens of the city-state, who made the main decisions, elected a council to conduct current state affairs. Foreigners and slaves, as a rule, were excluded from participation in government.

The commanders, the leaders of the squads carried out the decisions of the meeting, were in the service of the council. Republican rule is sometimes based on the principle of dividing a single state power into a number of powers: legislative, executive and judicial. This means that different organs of the state are tasked with performing different functions of governing the state. Parliament (People's Assembly, National Assembly, Duma, Supreme Council, Congress, etc.) is charged with passing laws. The government and its bodies (executive and administrative bodies) - to implement laws, organize their implementation. The judicial authorities - to monitor the implementation of laws, hold them accountable for their violation, etc. 1

In other words, the bodies of republican government are endowed with different powers and areas of activity (competence) for the implementation of a single state power. Despite the separation of powers, all republican bodies are called upon to implement in a coordinated, systematic, organized manner a single state power and cannot function without each other.

Consequently, the separation of powers allows, firstly, to better solve the tasks assigned to each of the authorities, secondly, to prevent abuse of power, which becomes very likely with a monopoly of power, and thirdly, to exercise control over the actions of state bodies.

Historically, the first republics were the USA (1787) and France (1792).

The fact that during the period of bourgeois and national liberation revolutions the republic was given preference over the monarchy in most cases, as well as the fact that the modern model of the monarchical form of government acquired many features of the republican one testifies to the effectiveness of the latter. At the same time, it should be borne in mind that a pseudo-republican state structure is possible, which, while retaining the external forms inherent in the republic, is characterized by the illegitimacy of power. For example, fascist Germany in the second half of the 1930s - mid-1940s, modern monocratic republics in some countries of Latin America.

The republic also differs from the monarchy in the sphere of the education of the authorities. In essence, a republic is a form of government in which all the highest bodies of state power are elected by the people or formed by a nationwide representative institution. Different countries have different electoral systems, but the fact that the people, in one way or another, necessarily participate in the formation of government bodies, remains unchanged.

In the republic, the authorities are elected for a fixed term. Most countries impose an additional restriction on how many times a person can be elected to a particular position. Thus, the principle of turnover is being implemented in the republic.

Officials in the republic are responsible. Of course, it is primarily of a political nature and can be expressed in such actions as early recall, resignation, dissolution of parliament, removal from office, etc. It is precisely the clear distribution of competence between state bodies that makes it possible to establish at which part of the state mechanism a malfunction occurred and where one or another official needs to be replaced. In modern states, this form of government is predominant.

The following main features are inherent in the republican form of government. First, the highest state power in the republic always belongs to the elected bodies. Secondly, the head of state is either an elected person or an elected body. The monarch, as such, is absent. Thirdly, the elected bodies, which possess the supreme state power, including the head of state, are elected for a fixed term and are replaceable. The life-long head of state, which is found in individual republics, is generally not characteristic of the republican form of government and introduces elements of the monarchy into it. Fourthly, the elected bodies, to which the supreme state power belongs, exercise power not at their own discretion, but in the interests of the country's population or any social groups. And, fifthly, the republican form of government presupposes the responsibility of the elected bodies exercising the highest power in the state before their voters. 1 Common features of a republican form of government are:

- the existence of a sole and collegial head of state;

- election for a specified term of the head of state and other supreme bodies of state power;

- the exercise of state power not on its own, but on the instructions of the people;

- legal responsibility of the head of state in cases provided for by law;

- binding decisions of the supreme state power.

The existence of a sole head of state is expressed in the presence of the presidency, and collegiality is manifested in the presence of three branches of government: legislative, executive and judicial. With this system of organization of power, a system of checks and balances is implemented, which is the basis of the rule of law.

Election for a certain period of the head of state and other supreme bodies of state power for a certain period is expressed in the fact that these bodies are elected by direct popular vote and exercise their powers for a certain period established by the Constitution.

Now many jurists are raising the question that, in particular, in Russia there is a bias of this principle on the part of the judicial branch of government, which is expressed in the fact that judges are practically not controlled by anyone. The State Duma has repeatedly raised the issue of revising the status of judges. It may be advisable to introduce into the Russian Constitution the institution of elective judges and to limit the term of their powers. 1

The exercise of state power not on its own, but on behalf of the people is expressed in the rule of law, the subordination of all bodies of state power to the law, the principle of the functioning of state power not for the sake of the interests of the state power itself, but in the interests of the people.

The legal responsibility of the head of state in the cases provided for by law is expressed in the fact that if there are signs of a crime in the actions of the head of state, he should be held accountable, but before that he is removed from office. To implement this provision, the constitutions contain the institution of impeachment.

The binding nature of the decisions of the supreme state power is expressed in the fact that this power acts in accordance with the law and obeys the law. So the Constitution of Russia stipulates that Federal laws, presidential decrees, government decrees are valid throughout Russia and are subject to mandatory execution.

The republican form of government was finally formed in the Athenian state. As social life developed, it changed, acquired new features, and was more and more filled with democratic content.

There are other, distorted forms of the republic, when the president is not elected by citizens, but is proclaimed as such by a military or revolutionary council after a coup d'état, when the president is proclaimed president for life, etc.

It is customary to divide republics into presidential (for example, the USA) and parliamentary (for example, India). The first of these forms was especially widespread. Until the 90s, there were no parliamentary republics in Africa, and there are none in Latin America either. In the classical literature on constitutional law, there are 3 main types of republican forms of government: presidential, parliamentary and mixed. 1

2. BASIC TYPES OF THE REPUBLICAN FORM OF GOVERNMENT

2.1 Presidential republic

There are parliamentary and presidential republics.
The presidential (dualistic) republic is somewhat reminiscent of the dualistic monarchy, however, it has very significant differences from it.
First of all, the principle of separation of powers is most consistently applied here, and the relationship between the branches of government is based on the principle of so-called "checks and balances."

Both the legislative branch and the executive branch in a presidential republic receive their mandates directly from the people. The head of the executive branch is the president elected by the people, who combines these functions with those of the head of state. There is no government as a collegial body, ministers are individually subordinate to the president. Judges, like senior officials of the executive branch, are appointed by the president with the consent of the upper house of parliament, which in this case proceeds not from the political face of the candidates, but from their competence and moral qualities. The president can remove ministers and other officials of the executive branch appointed by him on his own: he cannot be forced to work with those with whom he cannot and does not want to work. 1

The main feature of this form of government is the lack of responsibility of the executive branch to parliament for the policy pursued. Parliament cannot remove its officials if they have not broken the law. For their activities, they do not need the political confidence of parliament. Therefore, in presidential republics, there is often a situation characterized by the fact that the president belongs to one party, and the majority in parliament is another. Nevertheless, they are forced to cooperate, because none of the branches of government can constitutionally eliminate the other (the removal of executive and judicial officials by parliament through the so-called impeachment can take place only if serious offenses are committed by these persons).

A presidential republic is one of the varieties of the modern form of government, which, along with parliamentarism, combines the powers of the head of state and the head of government in the hands of the president.

The presidential form of government is characterized by the following features:

1) the combination in the hands of the president of the powers of the head of state and the head of government;

2) extra-parliamentary method of electing the president;

3) the extra-parliamentary method of forming the government and the absence of the institution of parliamentary responsibility;

4) the president does not have the right to dissolve parliament;

5) the formal distinctive feature of the presidential republic is the absence of the post of prime minister. 1

The most characteristic features of a presidential republic include:

- extra-parliamentary method of electing the president and forming the government;

- the responsibility of the government to the president, and not to parliament;

- broader powers of the head of state than in a parliamentary republic.

In a presidential republic, the president - the head of state and the head of the executive branch, as a rule, is elected independently of parliament (for example, in Mexico by direct vote of voters, in the United States - by indirect vote). In a classic presidential republic, there is no prime minister.

The United States of America is the classic presidential republic. The US Constitution, namely Article IV, states the following: "The United States guarantees each state in the present Union a republican form of government." The republican form of government in the United States was realized in the form of a presidential republic: the president of the republic is the head of state and government; the government is not accountable to Congress; the president does not have the right to dissolve the chambers of Congress.

The principle of separation of powers was taken as the basis for building a system of state power, which in American conditions was transformed into the so-called system of checks and balances. In the constitution, an organizational separation was made between three branches of government - Congress, the President and the Supreme Court, each of which was given the opportunity to act independently within the constitutional framework. The established relations between these organs are intended to prevent the strengthening of one of them at the expense of the other and to prevent one of the parts of this system from acting in a direction opposite to that of other organs. The actual relationship between the three main bodies of power - Congress, the President (he is called not the President of the Republic, but the President of the United States) and the Supreme Court are constantly changing, but the very principle of separation of powers remains unshakable. 1

All established legislative powers are vested in the United States Congress, which consists of the Senate and House of Representatives. But the constitution speaks not of the legislative branch in general, but only of the powers of the legislative branch specified in the constitution itself. Consequently, Congress has limited legislative powers. This is due to the fact that there are 50 more state legislatures in the United States, which legislate in accordance with their powers.

The executive power is exercised by the President, his powers are quite extensive. The entire state administrative apparatus is directly subordinate to him: ministers, heads of numerous departments, he directly supervises a huge executive apparatus. The President of the Republic and the executive state apparatus form the presidential power in the United States. The president forms the administration, cabinet of ministers, executive boards. The Cabinet of Ministers is an advisory body; the President is not obliged to follow his advice. The Cabinet of Ministers does not pass any government acts.

The president appoints ministers, as, for example, in the United States or Brazil, and in this case there is no separate government from the president, the ministers make up the president's cabinet, his administration, where ministers have only an advisory vote (they, of course, exercise executive power delegated to them by the president) ... This means that the cabinet is formed by the party (very rarely - by a bloc of parties) that won the presidential, not parliamentary elections, and the president is the leader of the ruling party, although in many countries, being elected, he resigns from party duties and acts as "Non-partisan" figure. The president is free to select ministers and does so at his own discretion (in Nigeria, the United States and some other countries, however, when appointing ministers, the consent of the upper house of parliament, the Senate, is required). As a rule, ministers are responsible for their activities only to the president and cannot be dismissed by a vote of no confidence in parliament. 1

As already mentioned, in most presidential republics there is no special post of prime minister, it is the president. If in a presidential republic there is a post of prime minister (Egypt, Peru, Syria, etc.; sometimes it is provided for by the constitutions, but it may not be mentioned by them, and in many countries of Asia and Africa it was either introduced or abolished), then this is the so-called administrative prime minister. Legally, he is the head of the government, but in reality, the policy of the government is determined by the president, under whose leadership the official meetings of the Council of Ministers are held, where the most important issues are resolved (less important issues are resolved under the chairmanship of the administrative prime minister).

Restraints and balances are manifested, in particular, in the fact that the president can slow down the legislative activity of parliament by imposing a suspensive (suspension) veto on the laws he has passed, which requires a qualified majority of votes in both houses of parliament to overcome. In turn, the upper house of parliament can prevent the appointment of officials by the president, and in addition, it ratifies (and can refuse to do so) the international treaties concluded by the president. The judiciary controls the constitutionality of acts of both the parliament and the president, thereby ensuring the observance of the rule of law by both the legislative and executive branches.

In the presidential republic, a "tough" separation of powers is carried out: the president has no right to early dissolve parliament (in practice, this happens in developing countries; for example, in 1993 the President of Peru suspended the constitution and dissolved parliament, however, having appointed new elections), but also Parliament has no right to remove ministers by a vote of no confidence. Sometimes in a presidential republic, parliament has the right to remove ministers (for example, Uruguay, Costa Rica), but it is always stipulated that this does not apply to the actual head of government - the president, and even with regard to the resignation of ministers, the decisive word belongs to him. The responsibility of the government (ministers - where, as, for example, in the United States, there is no government collegium) to the president, and not to parliament, is the main feature of a presidential republic. True, the parliament in such a republic has certain powers (often very significant) in terms of control and administration. In some countries, they are widely sold (USA), in others - traditionally to a small extent (Mexico).

In a presidential republic, such a situation is quite possible (it is called "divided government"), when the president belongs to one party, and the majority of seats in parliament belong to the opposition party (s). This has happened several times in Venezuela, Costa Rica, USA. The role of the president is especially great in the countries of the East. Often they appoint their sons as their successors as leaders of the ruling party and state (DPRK in 1994, Azerbaijan in 2003, Syria in 2000, Iraq in 2000).

Due to the special role of the head of state, the concentration of large powers in his hands, the president's reliance directly on the army, individual countries of Latin America were called super-presidential republics. However, in recent decades, such republics have emerged in Asia and Africa, where the power of the presidents has been even more strengthened. They were the leaders of the only legal, if not even the only party, proclaimed by the constitution in various formulations as the guiding force of society and the state. The presidents were the main ideologists of the country, the creators of the officially proclaimed obligatory ideology (Ghana under President Kwama Nkrumah, Guinea under President Sekou Tour, Zaire under President Mobutu, Turkmenistan under President S. Niyazov, etc.). Finally, many of these leaders in different countries (Zaire, Tunisia, Uganda, Turkmenistan, Equatorial Guinea, etc.) have been proclaimed presidents for life by constitutions or other acts. Thus, a presidential-monocratic republic arose, a form of presidential absolutism. As a result of the collapse of totalitarianism at the turn of the 80s and 90s. and in the early 90s. XX century this form has disappeared as a legal phenomenon. 1

A special form of the republic is a form of government that is established in many states as a result of military coups. This is a fairly common phenomenon in developing countries: since the formation of independent states in Latin America (about 200 years ago), more than a thousand military coups have taken place in the countries of this region, as well as in Asia and Africa, more than half of them were successful and led to the creation of a new system of government. In this case, parliament, as a rule, is dissolved (the exception was, for example, Brazil, where in 1964 only its purge was carried out), the government and the president are removed from their posts. A new supreme body is created - a military council (revolutionary council, council of national salvation, etc.), its chairman - the leader of the coup, is proclaimed by the president of the republic. Military governors, commandants, etc. are appointed to the localities. Civil courts are usually retained from the former bodies, but in parallel with them military tribunals are created, which also judge civilians (according to certain corpus delicti). Although, under military rule, local elections for grassroots representative bodies may be held (as has been the case on numerous occasions in Algeria and Nigeria), they are placed under the supervision of the military authorities. Thus, in fact, a republic without republican institutions is being created; one can say "that this is a presidential-military republic.

The dignity of the presidential form of government lies, first of all, in the fact that the popularly elected president is the focus of national aspirations, acts as a symbol of the nation, a symbol of citizens' belonging to a single state. This form empowers one person who can exercise leadership in an emergency. And it is no coincidence that when faced with complex problems, some countries strengthen the importance of the presidency. The presidential system of government, in principle, provides a greater degree of political stability than the parliamentary one, since the cabinet is appointed for a fixed term determined by the constitution.

The head of state in a presidential republic receives his powers as a result of being elected for a certain term (usually from 4 to 7 years, in Latvia - for 3 years) from among the citizens of the state (in Argentina, Ireland, Iceland, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and some other countries not only men, but also women were elected to this post) and is responsible before the court for unlawful acts during the period in power.

The presidential form of government, in turn, is not perfect. First, unlike a parliamentary form of government, it is fraught with the possibility of friction in the relationship between the executive and legislative branches of government and provoking a constitutional crisis. The likelihood of the latter increases especially if the president and the parliamentary majority belong to different parties or political currents. Suggestions that the president is always above the party struggle and the politicking of lobbyists may not be well founded. In other words, the choice between parliamentary and presidential forms of government may mean a choice between a unified but unstable leadership and a stable, but fraught with conflict between the two powers. Second, there is hardly an optimal way to elect a president. Each of them has its own strengths and weaknesses. The method of presidential elections is in the first place in terms of importance. Direct elections seem to be the simplest and most democratic. But there are also many models of direct elections, and the choice of methods does not always depend on the president. Presidential power may be more dependent on the legislative branch, on which a lot may depend, for example, the procedure for reelecting the president for a second term in an extremely complicated manner. 1

The state regime under this form of government is only dualistic. Depending on the circumstances, the significance and role of a particular parliament or president may be stronger or weaker, but this does not change the quality of the state regime.

Presidential republics are common in Latin America. This form of government is also found in some countries in Asia and Africa. True, sometimes in these countries the power of the head of state actually goes beyond the constitutional framework, and, in particular, the Latin American presidential republics were characterized by researchers as super-presidential. In the last 10-15 years, however, the situation in many of these countries began to change and approach the constitutional standard.

2.2 Parliamentary form of government

All of the above about the parliamentary monarchy, with the exception of the question of the head of state, can be attributed to the parliamentary form of government.
Instead of a weak monarch, we see a weak president, who is typically elected either by parliament or by a wider collegium that includes, along with parliament, ordinary parliamentarians from the parliaments of federal subjects or representative regional self-government bodies. The extensive powers that sometimes the constitution gives to the president of a parliamentary republic are carried out, as a rule, by the government, which, in the person of its head or minister, countersign the acts of the president. It is significant that part 1 of Article 74 of the Constitution of the Republic of India of 1949 as amended by the 42nd and 44th amendments directly established the president's obligation to follow the advice of the government.

The main feature of a parliamentary republic, like a parliamentary monarchy, is the political responsibility of the government to parliament. As there, this responsibility is often joint and several: distrust of one member of the government, especially its head, entails the resignation of the entire government.
Instead of resigning, the government can ask the president to dissolve parliament (its lower house) and call new elections.

In a parliamentary republic, two state regimes are also possible - parliamentary and ministerial.

There are not so many purely parliamentary republics. These include Germany, Hungary, Italy, India, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Estonia, and some others. In those countries where a multi-party system determines the operation of a parliamentary state regime, it leads to frequent government crises. In Italy, for example, the government remains in power for less than a year on average, although the party composition of governments usually remains almost unchanged, and personal changes are insignificant.
The advantage of a parliamentary republic is the unity of the highest elements of power, since the head of the executive branch (prime minister) and his cabinet are appointed and controlled by parliament, or rather by the parliamentary majority. As long as the government has the support of the majority of legislators, it fulfills its functions, not excluding the presentation of bills. With the loss of the parliamentary majority, the government resigns. With all the variations that exist in parliamentary republics, the president does not play a significant role; the executive branch is essentially a continuation of the legislative branch, and thus a possible conflict between the two branches of government is minimized.

The disadvantages of a parliamentary republic boil down, first, to the extreme fragmentation of the party system, which condemns the parliamentary coalition to a similar fragmentation, and the government to instability. With an underdeveloped party system, even extremist (small) parties can appear as part of the parliamentary coalition of the majority. This can turn out to be no less pernicious than the deadlock in the relationship between the executive and the legislature. Secondly, the threat of tyranny that a simple parliamentary majority is able to create, i.e. efficiency, stability of parliamentary forms of government depends on the nature of political parties competing for seats in parliament. The fate of parties and the structure of the party system are largely determined by the way legislators are elected, i.e. majority or proportional system.

2.3. Mixed government

As already mentioned, in modern conditions "pure" forms of presidential parliamentary republics are significantly rare. On the one hand, presidential republics provide for some weakened forms of political responsibility of ministers (but not the cabinet as a whole, since it is headed by a president who is not responsible to parliament), on the other hand, hybrid forms of republics appear. The first path is typical for individual countries of Latin America (this is Venezuela, Peru, Uruguay, Colombia, etc.), where the constitutions provide for the responsibility of ministers to parliament. The second way of creating mixed, hybrid forms was indicated by the French Constitution of 1958 and, with significant changes, was adopted by Greece (1975), Portugal (Constitution of 1976 until further changes), etc. 1

A mixed republic combines the features of both a presidential and a parliamentary republic. But this combination is different. For example, according to the 1958 Constitution of the French Republic, the president is elected by the citizens and leads the government, which is typical for a presidential republic. At the same time, the government appointed by him must enjoy the confidence of the lower house of parliament - the National Assembly, which is typical for a parliamentary republic. At the same time, the president can dissolve the National Assembly at his own discretion, which is not typical for either type of republican form of government in Portugal, Madagascar (before 1922), in Belarus, Russia, Ukraine, Armenia and other countries as the actual leader government is the president, which brings these hybrid forms closer to the presidential republic (under his chairmanship in some countries the so-called official meetings of the government of the Council of Ministers are convened), at which the most significant issues are resolved), but there is also the constitutional office of the prime minister (in a number of presidential republics such a position was either introduced or abolished at the discretion of the president). This is the administrative prime minister, he is in charge of organizational work, presides over less important government meetings, this is done by the president.

The prime minister and members of the government are appointed by the president; the government is accountable to parliament. The latter denounces this form from the presidential republic and brings it closer to the parliamentary one. However, the government's responsibility to parliament is extremely difficult. In France, a resolution of censure can be adopted by a majority of the entire composition of the National Assembly and can be submitted for discussion only in three cases: in two cases when the demand for confidence comes from the government itself and in one - from the deputies, but the draft must be signed at least 1 / 10 of the composition of the lower chamber. If the resolution is not adopted, the deputies who introduced it are deprived of the right to introduce another resolution of censure until the end of the session. In practice, for the entire duration of the 1958 constitution, such a resolution was adopted only once (in 1962), but this entailed not the resignation of the government, but the dissolution of the lower house by the president. In Madagascar, the political responsibility of the government under the 1975 Constitution was possible only in one case: when the government rejected the development plan proposed by the government. Under the conditions of the undivided domination of the presidential party in parliament until the 90s. it was unrealistic. In addition, in case of distrust, the president has the right to decide whether he dismiss the government or dissolves parliament with the appointment of new elections. The president himself - the real head of the government - is not resigning. The virtual absence of political responsibility of the government to parliament brings these hybrid forms closer to the presidential republic.

Along with the excessive strengthening of the power of the president in one group of countries, in other states, tendencies of softening of the presidential omnipotence were revealed. The result was presidential republics with parliamentary elements; presidential-parliamentary and parliamentary-presidential (depending on the real role of one of these bodies). These elements are characterized by the fact that the president is elected directly by citizens, regardless of parliament (as in a presidential republic), but this form of government provides for the possibility of a vote of no confidence in the government and (or) ministers (but not the actual head of government - the president) who remain in that at the same time they are responsible to the president (double responsibility). True, this responsibility has varying degrees: the main responsibility is still the responsibility of ministers to the president, under whose leadership the ministers work. An example of this is the constitutional changes in Venezuela, Colombia, Uruguay, Peru, Ecuador and some other Latin American countries, where the parliament can express no confidence in ministers, although this often requires a qualified majority of 2/3 votes, and the question of no confidence can only be raised a significant number of members of parliament (usually at least 1/10). In addition, the president, in certain cases, has the right not to dismiss the government or minister, even after a vote of no confidence in parliament. 1

In some countries (for example, Uruguay, France, Ukraine), it is possible to express a vote of no confidence only to the entire council of ministers (but not to individual ministers), which is characterized by constitutions as an executive body. In some post-socialist states, prime ministers often have to be appointed with the consent of parliament, but the appointment of ministers by the president does not require such consent; he appoints ministers at his own discretion. The responsibility of the entire composition of the government in connection with the expression of a vote of no confidence is possible, but extremely difficult (for example, a two-fold rejection of the government program in Belarus is necessary, once is not enough). In other cases, a double vote of no confidence is not required, but the question of no confidence in the government can be raised only by a significant part of the total number of members of parliament (in Ukraine - 1/3 of the unicameral parliament), but still, with a vote of no confidence, the president sometimes has the right to decide for himself whether to dismiss the government. resign or dissolve parliament. In addition, the president has the right to dismiss the government at any time at his discretion, the consent of the parliament is not required, and new elections to the lower house are not held.

The government in a semi-presidential republic may itself raise the issue of trust. Thus, it usually tries to strengthen its position or pass a law in parliament, threatening otherwise with its resignation. In many semi-presidential republics, a number of acts of the president, in order to be valid, need the counter-signature (signature) of the prime minister. The considered phenomena testify to the emergence of presidential-parliamentary or parliamentary-presidential republics and reflect current trends in the development of constitutional law in the countries of the world.

The features of presidentialism are even more pronounced in some post-socialist states. In Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, the parliament can express no confidence in the government, but this does not entail legal consequences: the decision to resign the government is made by the president. He has the right to disagree with parliament. In Russia, the lower house of parliament has repeatedly assessed the work of the government as unsatisfactory, and this did not entail any consequences. If in Russia the parliament tries to insist and within three months again expresses no confidence in the government (this is the term established by the constitution), then it will put itself in jeopardy: the president has the right to choose - dismiss the government or dissolve the lower house of parliament.

The constitutions establish a double responsibility of ministers: before the president and parliament, but only the first type of responsibility is real.

Experience has shown that a changeable form of government is effective provided that the government, based on the parliamentary majority, and the president adhere to the same political orientation. Otherwise, between the president, on the one hand, and the prime minister and the parliamentary majority, on the other, a conflict may arise, for the resolution of which constitutional means are not always sufficient.

In a number of countries, the president is elected by citizens, which is typical for a presidential republic, and has a number of powers that give him the opportunity to actively intervene in the political process, but in practice he does not use them ("dormant powers"), and the existing state regime is typical of a parliamentary republic (parliamentarianism or ministerialism). An example is Austria, Ireland, Iceland, where “the person number 1” is still not the head of state, but the head of the government.

2.4. Other forms of republican government

Other forms of republican government include a super-presidential republic, a republic with monarchical elements, a Soviet republic, and a theocratic one. Due to the special role of the head of state, the concentration of great powers in his hands, individual countries of Latin America have long been called super-presidential republics. However, in recent decades, such republics have emerged in Asia and Africa, where the power of the presidents has been even more strengthened. They were the leaders of the only legal, if not even the only party, proclaimed by the constitution in various formulations as the guiding force of society and the state. The presidents were the main ideologists of the country, the creators of the officially proclaimed obligatory ideology (Ghana under President Kwama Nkrumah, Guinea under President Sekou Type, Zaire under President Mobutu, etc.). Finally, many of these leaders in different countries (Zaire, Tunisia Uganda, Equatorial Guinea, etc.) have been proclaimed presidents for life. Thus, a presidential-monocratic republic arose, a form of presidential absolutism. 1

At present, in connection with the processes of global democratization, there are almost no such forms of a presidential republic in the world, but it cannot be ruled out that they will appear in the future.

A special form of super-presidential republic is the form of government that is established in many states as a result of military coups. This is a fairly common phenomenon in developing countries: since the formation of independent states in Latin America (about a century and a half ago), more than a thousand military coups have taken place in the countries of this region, as well as in Asia and Africa, more than half of them were successful and led to the creation of a new control systems. In this case, parliament, as a rule, is dissolved (the exception was, for example, Brazil, where in 1964 only its purge was carried out), the government and the president are removed from their posts. A new supreme body is created - a military council (revolutionary council, council of national salvation, etc.), its chairman - the leader of the coup, is proclaimed the president of the republic. Military governors, commandants, etc. are appointed to the places. Civil courts are usually retained from the former bodies, but in parallel with them military tribunals are created, which also judge civilians. Although, under the conditions of military command, local elections of grassroots representative bodies can be held (as was the case three times in Algeria and twice in Nigeria), they are placed under the supervision of the military authorities. Thus, in fact, a republic without republican institutions is being created; one can say that it is a presidential-militaristic republic. However, in other developing countries, the concept of the double role of the army (military and political) is used, and the armed forces serve as the backbone of many "civil" presidential republics (Indonesia, Turkey, etc.). 2

Specific features were possessed by a presidential republic in some former socialist-oriented countries. In some states (Angola, Benin, Congo, Mozambique), it was practiced to elect the president of the republic by the supreme body (congress or central committee) of the country's only ruling party. The chairman of this party, elected by its congress, became, in accordance with this party post, automatically the president of the republic. He received only investiture (approval, delivery of power) in parliament: the latter could neither refuse to recognize him as president, nor elect another person as president. Such a president relied not only on the state, but also on the actually ruling party apparatus. 1

Republic with monarchical elements. We have already talked about presidents for life. Such a post, created for the first time in Yugoslavia for Josip Broz Tito, the first president of Yugoslavia, who led the liberation struggle of the Yugoslav peoples against the fascist invaders, was later established in some countries of Asia and Africa: in the 60s - in Indonesia, in the 70s - in Tunisia, Uganda, Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea and some other countries. The post of permanent president for life was combined (except for Indonesia) with a one-party system (the president for life has always been the leader of this party), with the proclamation of the president as “the spiritual leader of the people,” the founder of a new ideology, declared state. One of these presidents for life, Bokassa, went even further: he proclaimed himself the emperor of the Central African Empire (he was overthrown in 1979). In the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the son of President-for-Life Kim Il Sung was declared his heir and became the country's leader in 1994. The Institute for President-for-Life and especially the announcement of this post as hereditary brings this republican form of government closer to the monarchy.

As noted, the form of government created under the conditions of

military regimes

The presidents of such republics are not elected by the population or by any legitimate constitutional body, such as parliament or a special electoral college. They are proclaimed as presidents by a group of their coup d'état accomplices who form a military, revolutionary, or other council. In these conditions, the parliament is dissolved, the constitution is completely or in large part canceled (sometimes it is suspended, which in fact does not change the state of affairs), elections of local bodies are rare exceptions, governance is built on the basis of a rigid hierarchy of military powers. Thus, an unusual kind of republic is created, in which there are virtually no republican institutions. 1

A special form of republic - a theocratic republic ruled by Muslim clergy - exists in Iran. In this country, in accordance with the 1979 constitution, there is an elected president and parliament, but the main role is played by the head of state (Rahbar). This post was created taking into account the traditions of Muslim fundamentalism and in many ways resembles the organization of power in an ideal Muslim state - the caliphate. The post of the Head of State belongs to the highest clergyman who is selected by the Muslim Council of Experts. In the event of a vacancy, the Council of Experts selects another person for this post, guided, first of all, by the religious qualities of the candidate, or constitutes a collegial body performing the duties of the head of state.

There is another type of republican form of government - the Soviet republic. Although this form is used only in "socialist" countries, where the political regime, as a rule, is totalitarian, i.e. the most distant from the democratic. Regardless of how specifically the representative bodies in the socialist countries are called - the People's Councils and the National Assembly (Parliament) in Vietnam, the people's congresses in China, the people's assemblies in the DPRK, the assemblies (i.e., assemblies) of the people's power in Cuba - in the doctrine it is more or less generally accepted that these are all Soviet-type organs.

The initial features were such as the production-territorial principle of the formation of representative bodies, which ensured the "purity of the class composition", the election of higher levels to lower levels. In most "socialist" countries, these signs either disappeared later, as in the USSR, or did not appear at all, as in Romania. Elections to these bodies, as a rule, were considered and today are considered universal, equal, direct and by secret ballot.

From the point of view of the legal model, the features of the Soviet republic are as follows:

"The supremacy and sovereignty of councils or representative bodies under other names, all other state bodies (except for the strictly centralized prosecutor's office) are formed by councils of the corresponding level, are responsible to them and / or accountable to them (including sometimes even the courts)";

“Councils of all levels form a single system, within which there are relations of leadership and subordination”;

"Since council deputies perform their functions without leaving their main work, council sessions are rare and short, and their current powers are exercised by their local executive bodies and special relatively narrow collegial bodies in the center, whose decisions are usually subject to subsequent approval by the councils." 1

This form of government resembles a parliamentary republic, the government is formed by the "parliament" and is legally responsible to it. But there is no balance of power here: the dissolution of the "parliament" in the event of a government crisis, if any, is not envisaged. The separation of powers is not even theoretically recognized; opposed to it is the principle of the unity of power of the working people, embodied in the soviets. The councils must combine in their hands both legislative and executive functions. The independence of the court is recognized in most cases, but purely declaratively: the election of judges by councils, the accountability and recall of judges, even under the constitution, nullify this independence. 1

It would seem that it is quite obvious that the councils, which consist in their mass of ordinary workers (in practice, however, the share of bureaucracy in them gradually became predominant: the deputy mandate became a necessary supplement to a managerial position, even often an economic one), due to this, it is not able to carry out the tasks of the executive branch, which, as a rule, require special training. But in reality this does not mean anything, because the state regime has nothing in common with this model. Real power at every level belongs not to the top of the Communist Party apparatus and often alone to the first secretary of the respective party committee. All decisions of councils and other state bodies, including courts (sometimes even scripts of their meetings), are initiated or preliminarily approved by the communist party committees or their bureaus and first secretaries. This state regime was called partocratic.

3. FEATURES OF FUNCTIONING OF THE REPUBLICAN FORM OF GOVERNMENT IN THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION

3.1. Republican system

The first form of republican structure in the history of Russia was veche (from "broadcast") - popular assemblies in the cities of Kievan Rus, which became a form of limiting the power of princes in the interests of the city leaders. They were most widespread in the era of feudal fragmentation. The weakening of cities after the Mongol-Tatar invasion and the subsequent strengthening of the grand ducal power led to the elimination of veche institutions by the end of the XIV century; the exception was Veliky Novgorod and the neighboring Pskov and Vyatka, where the veche system reached its greatest development and was eliminated as a result of the forcible annexation of these "northern Russian peoples' rights" (NI Kostomarov) to Moscow in 1478-1510. The adoption of the republican form of government in its modern sense falls on the period of transition from the agrarian system to the industrial one. In Russia, the republic was approved by the Provisional Government on September 1, 1917. The Constitution of the Russian Federation (Article 1), fixing the republican form of government, does not indicate a specific type (model) of such a form of government. As you know, among the republican forms of government (republics) are distinguished: 1) a parliamentary republic; 2) the presidential republic; 3) a mixed, parliamentary-presidential republic. Socialist republics are a special variety; this form was most fully embodied in the state structure of the USSR. Specialists in constitutional law classify the Russian Federation as either a presidential or a mixed (presidential-parliamentary) republican form of government. In reality, the Russian Federation is most likely characterized by a quasi-presidential or quasi-mixed form of government.

Determining the structure and legal status of the highest bodies of state power, the Constitution establishes the order of relations between them, as well as between them and the people, who exercise their power through these bodies in accordance with their sovereign will and fundamental interests. Thus, the form of government and the nature of the political regime are determined. The Russian Federation (in theory, but not always in practice) can be defined as a state with a republican form of government.

The republic is one of the mechanisms for the implementation of the principle of popular sovereignty. The republican form of government presupposes that all the highest bodies of state power are either popularly elected or formed by nationwide representative institutions. Sovereign rights to power are recognized for all capable citizens, or by the majority of them, and government is carried out on the basis of popular representation by elected government bodies. Our Fatherland mastered these principles not just

As a sovereign state, the Russian Federation independently establishes a form of government that determines the organization of public authorities and the procedure for their activities.

The Constitution of the Russian Federation (Article 1) establishes a republican form of government. Its main feature is the electivity and turnover of the head of state. This republican form of government differs from the monarchy, which inherits the status of the head of state.

If we consider the form of government from a purely formal standpoint, then

Establishing a republican form of government in the Russian Federation, the Constitution enshrines the following features: renunciation of any independent and long-term possession of state power based on individual law; orientation of the state system of the Russian Federation towards reason and experience, and not towards achieving ideal goals, which usually lead to totalitarianism of the right or left; the creation of state bodies based on the coordination of the interests of government with the inviolability of civil liberties; the formation of state bodies through free elections and for a limited period.

In some modern countries, there are forms of government that combine the features of parliamentary and presidential republics. The Russian Federation is also among these countries.

The combination of signs of a presidential and parliamentary republic in the Russian Federation is expressed in the presence of a strong presidential power while retaining some typical features of a parliamentary form (the presence of a chairman of the Government, the possibility, albeit limited, of removing the Government from power by parliament and dissolution of parliament by the President).

Since its inception as a constitutional state, the Russian Federation has constantly moved towards strengthening the features of a presidential republic in it. However, having ultimately become a presidential republic by its nature, it still retains some of the external features of a parliamentary state.

At present, the Russian Federation has a presidential-parliamentary, or, as it is sometimes called in legal literature, a "semi-presidential" republican form of government: firstly, the President is elected by universal suffrage (this is its difference from the parliamentary form), and secondly , he has his own prerogatives that allow him to act independently of the Government, thirdly, along with the President, the Chairman of the Government and the ministers act, forming the Government, to a certain extent responsible to the Parliament (this is its difference from the presidential form); It is the named signs that characterize the Russian Federation as a "semi-presidential" republic.

3.2. Institute of the presidency in the Russian Federation

The presidency is a relatively young, new and not yet fully established legal institution in Russian constitutional and political practice. In the USSR, the post of president was established in 1990 (the presidential post was held by M.S.Gorbachev), in the RSFSR - in 1991 (BN Yeltsin was elected the first president of the RSFSR).

The 1993 Constitution established a new system of government bodies. The American model of a presidential republic, where the president combines the posts of head of state and head of government, was rejected. The choice was made in favor of the French model of a mixed, semi-presidential republic, in which there is a division of functions between two officials - the head of state and the head of government 1. According to the current Constitution of the Russian Federation, the President of the Russian Federation is the head of state (part 1 of article 80). He can be called a symbol of the state and the official representative of the entire people.

Securing the status of the President of the Russian Federation, the Constitution of the Russian Federation in Article 80 provides for related functions related to the foundations of the life of the state and society.

The President of the Russian Federation is the guarantor of the Constitution of the Russian Federation. It ensures the observance of constitutional norms by all state bodies, vetoes laws that do not comply with the Constitution of the Russian Federation, suspends acts of executive authorities of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, and is also empowered to cancel orders and decisions of the Government of the Russian Federation. In addition, he can fulfill the function of the guarantor of the Constitution of the Russian Federation not only personally, but also by appealing to the competent authorities, first of all, to the courts. The President of the Russian Federation has the right to send inquiries to the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation about the constitutionality of various normative legal acts and to apply to the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation on issues of interpretation of the Constitution.

The President of the Russian Federation is entrusted with the function of the guarantor of human and civil rights and freedoms. He realizes this function in his personal activities, by issuing decrees and submitting bills to the State Duma by way of legislative initiative. Decrees and laws can be aimed at protecting the legal status of an individual as a whole or regulate the status of certain groups of the population: pensioners, military personnel and other groups of the population in need of protection from the state.

Under the President of the Russian Federation, there is a Commission on Human Rights, which is an advisory and consultative body. Its tasks include: creating conditions for the President of the Russian Federation to exercise his constitutional powers as a guarantor of human and civil rights and freedoms in the Russian Federation; assistance in improving the mechanism for ensuring and protecting human and civil rights and freedoms; assistance to the activities of federal bodies of state power, bodies of state power of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation in the implementation of the foundations of state policy in the field of ensuring and protecting human and civil rights and freedoms; strengthening international cooperation in the field of ensuring and protecting human rights and freedoms.

In addition, the President of the Russian Federation is called upon to take the necessary measures to protect the sovereignty of the Russian Federation, its independence and state integrity.

For example, the President of the Russian Federation decided to exclude duplication of functions and powers of federal executive bodies, executive bodies of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation and local self-government bodies; improve the legal regulation of the delineation of powers between federal government bodies, government bodies of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation and local government bodies in order to abolish the functions of government bodies of the subjects of the Russian Federation and local government bodies, etc. 1

The state indivisibility of the Russian Federation is ensured by the integrity and inviolability of its territory; the unity of the economic space, which does not allow the establishment of customs borders, duties, fees and any obstacles to the free movement of goods, services and financial resources; the supremacy of the Constitution of the Russian Federation and federal laws throughout the territory of the Russian Federation; uniform citizenship of the Russian Federation; the lack of the subjects of the Russian Federation of the right to secede from the Federation or otherwise change their status without the consent of the Russian Federation, since a unilateral solution of such issues poses a threat to the state integrity of the Federation, the unity of the system of state power.

Sovereignty implies supremacy, independence and autonomy, i.e. the completeness of the state's power throughout its territory. This property of state power is manifested in its independence and independence in dealing with domestic and foreign policy issues.

The protection of sovereignty, independence, security and integrity is the direct responsibility of the President of the Russian Federation, named in the oath that he takes upon taking office.

The most important task of the President of the Russian Federation is to ensure the coordinated functioning and interaction of government bodies. The President of the Russian Federation has concrete means to resolve conflicts and disagreements between state bodies. One of the most effective and often used in practice means are conciliation procedures (the most frequently used type of conciliation procedures is negotiations), which provide an opportunity to regulate relations between various public authorities. The essence of such procedures is the search for compromise solutions that satisfy all disputing parties, and, ultimately, in achieving mutual agreement. In all such cases, the President of the Russian Federation plays the role of an arbiter; he acts not as one of the parties to the conflict, but as a national authority. At the same time, negotiations are often conducted either by him personally or with the participation of his representatives.

The provision of interaction between the authorities is facilitated by the sending by the President of the Russian Federation of his comments to the parliament. Subsequently, this avoids the need for a presidential veto. There are also procedures for the joint formation of a number of central government bodies. For example, the composition of the CEC of Russia is appointed on an equal footing by the President of the Russian Federation, the State Duma and the Federation Council.

The President of the Russian Federation determines the main directions of the domestic and foreign policy of the state. The main directions of domestic and foreign policy are determined in the annual message of the President of the Russian Federation to the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation. The implementation of these main directions of policy, their implementation is the right and duty of the authorized bodies of legislative and executive power.

Finally, the President of the Russian Federation, as the head of state, represents Russia within the country and in international relations. He has the right to recognize on behalf of his state the text of an international treaty or to give the state's consent to be bound by the treaty. The President of the Russian Federation is given the opportunity to actively influence foreign policy and implement certain political guidelines by himself.

In addition, the President of the Russian Federation can act in different capacities. When concluding an agreement between the federal government body and the government body of the subject of the Federation, as well as in a number of other intra-federal relations, he acts on behalf of the federal bodies. When defining the tasks of a unified system of executive power in the Russian Federation, he represents the state as a whole, including all its subjects.

In the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation of July 27, 1999 No. 906 "On the approval of the description of the symbol of presidential power - the Sign of the President of the Russian Federation" 1, the symbol of presidential power is defined - the Sign of the President of the Russian Federation, which is an equal-pointed cross with widening ends. The President of the Russian Federation also has the right to a standard (flag), the original of which is in his office in the residence in Moscow, and the duplicate is raised over the residences of the President of the Russian Federation during his stay in them and on the vehicles of the President of the Russian Federation 1.

The President of the Russian Federation has immunity (Article 91 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation). During the exercise of his powers, no one has the right to use physical or mental violence against him, detain him, search, arrest, interrogate him, bring him to any kind of responsibility, forcibly bring him to court as a witness.

Finally, he cannot be overthrown or removed from his duties in accordance with Article 278 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (“Forcible seizure of power or forcible retention of power”).

The role of the President of the Russian Federation in the state is determined by his place in the system of division of state power into legislative, executive and judicial. There are different opinions in science on this issue.

The Constitution of the Russian Federation and the practice of recent years allow us to speak about the special position of the President of the Russian Federation in the system of separation of powers, i.e. on the formation of an independent presidential branch of government. The stable operation of the entire state mechanism depends on the effective use of the powers of the President of the Russian Federation. The separation of the fourth branch of government does not give any reason to interpret the presidential power as standing above other powers that depend on it. Each of them exercises its constitutionally assigned powers, functions in cooperation with other authorities, and is provided with certain levers of influence on other authorities and on the President of the Russian Federation. The Constitution of the Russian Federation contains the necessary system of checks and balances, which contributes to the balanced interaction of the authorities.
Belov. G. A. Political science. -M .: Science 2007. The concept of forms of government. Variety of forms of government within the same type of state External storage devices. Main characteristics Causes, patterns and forms of the emergence of state and law