The majoritarian (French majorité - majority) system is one of the varieties used in many countries, including Russian Federation. According to the majoritarian electoral system, the candidate who scores larger number votes.
Types of majoritarian system
There are three types of majoritarian systems.
- Absolute majority – a candidate must get 50% + 1 vote.
- Relative majority - the candidate must receive the largest number of votes. However, this number of votes may be less than 50% of all votes received.
- Supermajority – a candidate must obtain a predetermined majority of votes. Such an established majority is always more than 50% of all votes - 2/3 or 3/4.
In many countries, including Russia, the majority of votes is calculated from the total number of voters who came and voted.
Advantages of the majoritarian electoral system
- Majoritarian system universal. It is used both in the elections of senior officials (president, governor, mayor) and in the elections of collegial government bodies (parliament, Duma).
- The majoritarian system is a system of personal representation - specific candidates are elected. The voter has the opportunity to take into account either party affiliation, but also the personal qualities of the candidate - reputation, professionalism, life beliefs.
- This personal approach to each candidate makes it possible for any independent candidate who does not belong to any party to participate and win.
- In addition, during elections to a collegial body of power (parliament, Duma) in single-mandate majoritarian districts, the principle of democracy is observed. By electing a specific candidate from their district, they are essentially choosing their representative in a collegial government body. Such specificity gives the candidate independence from parties and their leaders - unlike a candidate who has passed on the party list.
From 2016, half of the deputies (225) of the State Duma of the Russian Federation will be elected in single-mandate majoritarian constituencies, and the second half - in .
Disadvantages of the majoritarian electoral system
- Representatives of a government body formed on the basis of a majoritarian system may have radically opposing points of view, which will complicate decision-making.
- The priority of each deputy elected in a single-mandate majoritarian district will be the decisions of his own district, which can also complicate the adoption of general decisions.
- In the absence of real choice, voters, when voting for a particular candidate, are voting not for him, but against his competitor.
- The majoritarian system is characterized by such violations as bribery of voters and/or manipulations with the formation of electoral districts, which deprives a territory with a clearly defined position of an advantage in terms of votes. For example, in the United States, they often manipulated the “cutting” of districts in areas with large concentrations of black citizens. White areas were added to the electoral district, and the black population lost the majority of votes for their candidate.
- Under a majoritarian system of elections, the real choice voters. For example, 5 candidates are participating in the elections, 4 of them received 19% of the votes (76% in total), and the fifth received 20%, 4% voted against all of them. The fifth candidate will be considered democratically elected, even though 80% of those voting voted against him or not for him.
To level out this drawback, a system of ordinary voting (transferable vote) was invented. The voter not only casts his vote for a specific candidate, but also gives a preference rating from several candidates (not all). If the candidate a voter voted for does not receive a majority of votes, the voter's vote goes to the second-highest-ranked candidate—and so on until the candidate with the actual majority vote is identified.
Such a modified system of relative majority with transferable vote exists in Australia, Ireland, and Malta.
- Another disadvantage of the majoritarian system was formulated by the French sociologist and political scientist Maurice Duverger in the middle of the 20th century. Having studied the results of many elections under the majoritarian system, he concluded that sooner or later such a system leads to a two-party system in the state, since the chances of new and/or small parties getting into parliament or the Duma are very small. A striking example two-party system - the US Parliament. This effect is called Duverger's law.
Majoritarian electoral system in Russia
The majoritarian system is used in Russia in the elections of senior officials (president, governor, mayor), as well as in elections to a representative body of government (Duma, parliament).
You can also divide the majoritarian system according to the type of districts.
- Majoritarian system in a single electoral district.
This is how senior officials are elected. An absolute majority of votes is used – 50% + 1 vote. If none of the candidates receives an absolute majority of votes, a second round is scheduled, where the two candidates who receive a relative majority of votes advance.
- Majoritarian system in a single-member electoral district.
This is how deputies to representative bodies of government are elected. Categorical voting for specific candidates is used. A voter has one vote, and the candidate who receives a relative majority of votes is considered elected.
- Majoritarian system in multi-member districts.
This is how deputies to representative bodies of government are elected. Approval voting for specific candidates is used. A voter has as many votes as the number of mandates distributed in the district. This type of system is also called an unlimited vote system. The number of candidates equal to the number of mandates in the district and those who receive a relative majority of votes are considered elected.
Introduction
The electoral system is a way of organizing elections and distributing deputy mandates between candidates depending on the voting results.
The types of electoral systems are determined by the principles of forming a representative body of power and the corresponding procedure for distributing mandates based on voting results, provided for in the election legislation.
The centuries-old history of the development of representative democracy has produced two basic type electoral systems - majoritarian and proportional, elements of which are one way or another manifested in diverse models of electoral systems in different countries. Attempts to make maximum use of the advantages of basic electoral systems and neutralize their shortcomings lead to the emergence of mixed electoral systems.
Historically, the first electoral system was the majoritarian system, which is based on the principle of the majority (French majorite - majority): those candidates who received the established majority of votes are considered elected. Depending on what kind of majority it is (relative, absolute or qualified), the system has variations.
The majoritarian system has single-member constituencies where a simple majority wins. This happens in the USA, Great Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, India and Japan.
Majoritarian electoral system
The majoritarian electoral system is based on a system of personal representation in power. A specific person is always nominated as a candidate for a particular elective position in a majoritarian system.
The mechanism for nominating candidates may be different: in some countries self-nomination is allowed along with the nomination of candidates from political parties or public associations, in other countries candidates can only be nominated by political parties. But in any case, in a majoritarian constituency, candidates run on a personal basis. Accordingly, the voter in this case votes for an individually determined candidate, who is an independent subject of the electoral process - a citizen exercising his passive electoral right.
As a rule, in most cases, elections under a majoritarian system are carried out in single-mandate electoral districts. The number of electoral districts in this case corresponds to the number of mandates. The winner in each district is the candidate who receives the legally required majority of votes from the district's voters. The majority in different countries can be different: absolute, in which a candidate must receive more than 50% of the votes to receive a mandate; relative, in which the winner is the candidate who received more votes than all other candidates (provided that fewer votes were cast against all candidates than for the winning candidate); qualified, in which a candidate, in order to win the election, must receive more than 2/3 or 3/4 of the votes. The majority of votes can also be calculated in different ways - either from the total number of voters in the district, or, most often, from the number of voters who came to the elections and voted.
The winning candidates are determined similarly in multi-member majoritarian districts with categorical voting. Fundamental difference lies only in the fact that the voter has as many votes as the number of mandates “played out” in the district. He can only cast each vote for one of the candidates.
Thus, the majoritarian electoral system is a system for the formation of elected authorities on the basis of personal (individual) representation, in which the candidate who receives the majority of votes required by law is considered elected.
The majoritarian electoral system is the only one possible when electing heads of state or state entities(for example, federal subjects). It is also used in elections to collegial bodies of power (legislative assemblies). True, the effectiveness of using this electoral system to form parliament from the point of view of the adequacy of political representation in it is rightly questioned. With all the advantages (and these include the presence of direct connections between the candidate/deputy and voters, the possibility of priority representation in parliament of the largest political parties/forces that create stable one-party governments, and, as a consequence, the absence of political fragmentation in the bodies of representative power, etc. .d.) the majority system has an obvious and very significant drawback. In this type of system, it is a “winner takes all” system. Citizens who voted for other candidates are not represented in the legislative bodies at all. This is unfair, especially since under a relative majority system, as a rule, it is the majority that is not represented in parliament. For example, if there were eight candidates in a majoritarian electoral district, the votes were distributed as follows: seven candidates received approximately equal votes (each of them received 12% of the votes - a total of 84%), the eighth candidate received 13%, and 3% of voters voted against all of them. The eighth candidate will receive a mandate and will actually represent only 13% of voters. 87% of voters voted against this candidate (or at least not for him), and he will be considered democratically elected.
Thus, the argument in favor of the majoritarian system about the possibility of representing the most influential political forces (parties) is refuted not only at the theoretical level, but also in practice: a party that received fewer votes in the elections than its rivals in total can receive a majority of parliamentary seats in parliament places Thus, a majoritarian system can lead to significant distortion of voter preferences. This creates the greatest opportunities for manipulating these preferences.
Attempts to overcome the main drawback of the majoritarian electoral system have led to its modification in some countries of the world.
Thus, in order to ensure that votes are not wasted and that the candidate for whom the real majority of voters voted gets a mandate, the ordinal voting system (transferable vote system) is used. Under this voting system in a single-member majoritarian district, the voter ranks candidates by degree of preference. If the candidate the voter puts first ends up getting least amount votes in the district, his vote is not lost, but is transferred to the next most preferred candidate, and so on until the real winner is identified, who, as a rule, receives significantly more than 50% of the votes. A similar system exists in Australia and Malta.
A similar transferable vote system is used in multi-member constituencies (Ireland). And in Japan they use a system with one non-transferable vote in multi-member constituencies, i.e. if there are several mandates, the voter has only one vote, which cannot be transferred to other candidates, and the mandates are distributed in accordance with the ranking of candidates. An interesting system of elections is based on cumulative voting, used in the formation of the House of Representatives of the American state of Oregon, in which a voter in a multi-member majoritarian district receives the appropriate number of votes, but disposes of them freely: he can distribute his votes among several candidates he likes, or he can give all his votes. votes to one of them, the most preferable.
The main types of majoritarian representation system:
Majority system of absolute majority
The candidate with 50% of the votes +1 vote wins. Such a system requires setting a lower threshold for voter turnout. Its main advantage is that it more realistically reflects the balance of power than the system of relative majority. However, it has many disadvantages. The main ones:
Such a system is beneficial only to large parties,
The system is often ineffective either due to insufficient turnout or lack of votes collected.
Majoritarian electoral system- This is an election system where those who receive a majority in their constituency are considered elected. Such elections are held in collegial bodies, for example, in parliament.
Varieties of determining winners
There are currently three types of majoritarian systems:
- Absolute;
- Relative;
- Qualified majority.
If there is an absolute majority, the candidate who receives 50% + 1 voter vote wins. It happens that during elections, none of the candidates has such a majority. In this case, a second round is arranged. It usually involves the two candidates who received more votes in the first round than the other candidates. This system is actively used in the elections of deputies in France. This system is also used in presidential elections, where the future president is chosen by the people, for example, Russia, Finland, the Czech Republic, Poland, Lithuania, etc.
In elections under the majoritarian system of relative majority, the candidate does not need to receive more than 50% of the votes. He just needs to get more votes than others and he will be considered the winner. Now this system operates in Japan, Great Britain, etc.
In elections where the winner is determined by a qualified majority, he will need to achieve a predetermined majority. Usually it is more than half of the votes, for example, 3/4 or 2/3. This is mainly used to resolve constitutional issues.
Advantages
- This system is quite universal and allows you to elect not only individual representatives, but also collective ones, for example, parties;
- It is important to note that candidates are mainly nominated among themselves and the voter, when making his choice, is based on the personal qualities of each, and not on party affiliation;
- With such a system, small parties can not only participate, but actually win.
Flaws
- Sometimes candidates may break the rules to win, such as bribing voters;
- It happens that voters who do not want their vote to “go in vain” cast their vote not for the one they like and like, but for the one they like best of the two leaders;
- Minorities that are scattered throughout the country cannot achieve a majority in certain circles. Therefore, in order to somehow “push” their candidate into parliament, they need more compact accommodation.
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In conditions majoritarian system (from the French majorite - majority) the candidate who receives the majority of votes wins. A majority can be absolute (if a candidate received more than half the votes) or relative (if one candidate received more votes than the other). The disadvantage of a majoritarian system is that it can reduce the chances of small parties gaining representation in government.
The majoritarian system means that in order to be elected, a candidate or party must receive a majority of votes from voters in a district or the entire country, while those who collect a minority of votes do not receive mandates. Majoritarian electoral systems are divided into absolute majority systems, which are more often used in presidential elections and in which the winner must receive more than half the votes (minimum - 50% of the votes plus one vote), and relative majority systems (Great Britain, Canada, USA, France, Japan and etc.), when to win it is necessary to get ahead of other contenders. When applying the absolute majority principle, if no candidate receives more than half of the votes, a second round of elections is held, in which the two candidates who received greatest number votes (sometimes all candidates who received more than the established minimum votes in the first round are allowed into the second round).
Proportional electoral system
Proportional The electoral system involves voting by voters according to party lists. After the elections, each party receives a number of mandates proportional to the percentage of votes received (for example, a party that receives 25% of the votes receives 1/4 of the seats). In parliamentary elections it is usually established interest barrier(electoral threshold) that a party must overcome in order to get its candidates into parliament; As a result, small parties that do not have broad social support do not receive mandates. Votes for parties that do not overcome the threshold are distributed among the winning parties in the elections. A proportional system is only possible in multi-mandate electoral districts, i.e. those where several deputies are elected and the voter votes for each of them personally.
The essence of the proportional system is the distribution of mandates in proportion to the number of votes received by parties or electoral coalitions. The main advantage of this system is the representation of parties in elected bodies in accordance with their real popularity among voters, which makes it possible to more fully express the interests of all groups of society and to intensify the participation of citizens in elections and politics in general. In order to overcome excessive party fragmentation of the parliament and limit the possibility of representatives of radical or even extremist forces entering it, many countries use barriers or thresholds that establish the minimum number of votes required to obtain parliamentary mandates. It usually ranges from 2 (Denmark) to 5% (Germany) of all votes cast. Parties that do not collect the required minimum votes do not receive a single mandate.
Comparative analysis proportional and electoral systems
Majoritarian an electoral system in which the candidate with the most votes wins favors the formation of bipartisanship or a “bloc” party system, while proportional, in which parties with the support of only 2-3% of voters can get their candidates into parliament, perpetuates the fragmentation of political forces and the preservation of many small parties, including extremist ones.
Bipartisanism assumes the presence of two large political parties, approximately equal in influence, which alternately replace each other in power by winning a majority of seats in parliament, elected by direct universal suffrage.
Mixed electoral system
Currently, many countries use mixed systems that combine elements of majoritarian and proportional electoral systems. Thus, in Germany, one half of the Bundestag deputies are elected according to the majority system of relative majority, the second - according to the proportional system. A similar system was used in Russia in the elections to the State Duma in 1993 and 1995.
Mixed the system involves a combination of majority and proportional systems; for example, one part of the parliament is elected by a majoritarian system, and the second by a proportional system; in this case, the voter receives two ballots and casts one vote for the party list, and the second for a specific candidate elected on a majoritarian basis.
In recent decades, some organizations (UN, green parties, etc.) have used consensus election system. It has a positive orientation, that is, it is focused not on criticizing the enemy, but on finding the most acceptable candidate or electoral platform for everyone. In practice, this is expressed in the fact that the voter votes not for one, but for all (necessarily more than two) candidates and ranks their list in order of his own preferences. First place is awarded five points, second - four, third - three, fourth - two, fifth - one point. After voting, the points received are summed up and the winner is determined based on their number.
Electoral process
The electoral process is a set of forms of activity of bodies and groups of voters in preparing and conducting elections to state bodies and local governments.
Stages of the electoral process: 1) calling elections; 2) compiling voter lists; 3) formation of electoral districts and polling stations; 4) creation of election commissions; 5) nomination of candidates and their registration; 6) election campaigning; 7)voting; 8) counting of votes and determination of election results.
Elections are called by authorities at the appropriate level: elections of the President of the Russian Federation - the Federal Assembly, the State Duma - the President of the Russian Federation, the representative body of a subject of the Russian Federation - the head of the subject, the highest official - the representative body of this subject of the Russian Federation.
All citizens of the Russian Federation who have reached the age of 18 can take part in the elections.
Next comes voter registration. All citizens of the Russian Federation who have active voting rights are subject to registration. Registration is carried out at the place of residence of voters by the registration authorities, which compile voter lists.
During elections, the territory of the Russian Federation is divided into single-mandate electoral districts, and in its entirety constitutes a single federal electoral district. Districts are divided into voting districts.
To organize elections, election commissions are formed, the highest of which is the Central Election Commission.
Election commissions are collegial bodies formed in the manner and within the time limits established by law, organizing and ensuring the preparation and conduct of elections.
The activities of all election commissions (both in preparation for elections and in counting votes) are carried out publicly in the presence of observers, and their decisions are subject to mandatory publication in state or municipal media.
Candidates and political parties To participate in the elections must go through the registration procedure. Candidates in a single-mandate constituency are registered by the district election commission for the corresponding electoral district. Political parties and blocs are registered by the Central Election Commission.
After registration, candidates and political parties have the right to conduct election campaign activities that encourage voters to vote for a candidate or political party. For example, there may be calls to vote for or against a candidate, to express preference for one candidate or another, etc.
Election campaigning must cease completely at 0:00 local time one day before voting day. Citizens vote at the place of registration in the voter lists from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. local time. If a voter is unable to vote at his place of residence, he can obtain an absentee certificate from the precinct election commission where he is on the list.
Election results are summed up by summing up the votes cast for a particular candidate and must be officially published by the Central Election Commission within 3 weeks from election day.
In the Russian Federation, the existing electoral system regulates the procedure for holding elections of the head of state, deputies of the State Duma and regional authorities.
Candidate for the post President of the Russian Federation may be a Russian citizen of at least 35 years of age who has lived in Russia for at least 10 years. A candidate cannot be a person who has foreign citizenship or a residence permit, an unexpunged and unexpunged criminal record. The same person cannot hold the position of President of the Russian Federation for more than two consecutive terms. The President is elected for a six-year term on the basis of universal, equal and direct suffrage by secret ballot. Presidential elections are held on a majoritarian basis. The President is considered elected if in the first round of voting a majority of voters who took part in the voting voted for one of the candidates. If this does not happen, a second round is scheduled in which the two candidates who received the most votes in the first round participate, and the one who received more votes than the other registered candidate wins.
A State Duma deputy can A citizen of the Russian Federation who has reached the age of 21 and has the right to participate in elections was elected. 450 deputies are elected to the State Duma from party lists on a proportional basis. In order to overcome the electoral threshold and receive mandates, a party must gain a certain percentage of the votes. The term of office of the State Duma is five years.
Citizens of Russia also participate in elections to government bodies and elective positions in subjects of the Russian Federation. According to the Constitution of the Russian Federation. the system of regional government bodies is established by the subjects of the Federation independently in accordance with the fundamentals of the constitutional system and current legislation. The law establishes special days for voting in elections to government bodies of the constituent entities of the Federation and local governments - the second Sunday in March and the second Sunday in October.
President of the Russian Federation
In a rule-of-law state, the status of the head of state is determined as accurately as possible by the constitution and laws adopted on its basis. This is necessary so that a person occupying the highest position in the state has clear rights and responsibilities and cannot, by going beyond the established limits, by his actions create a threat to the constitutional rights and freedoms of citizens. The stability of the constitutional order, civil peace and the reality of freedom of the people in decisive degree depend on the balance and harmony between the behavior of the head of state and other authorities.
Constitutional status is enshrined in the norms of the constitution that define the functions and powers of the head of state. These two concepts are very close to each other, but not identical.
Functions are understood as the most important general duties head of state arising from his position in the system of government bodies.
The powers arise from the functions and consist of the specific rights and responsibilities of the head of state on issues within his competence.
To the extent that functions and powers are exclusive to the head of state (i.e. not shared with parliament, the government or the judiciary), they are called the prerogatives of the head of state (for example, to propose to parliament a candidate for the post of head of government or to confer the highest military ranks and etc.).
The functions of the head of state cannot be specified by full powers. Therefore, the head of state always has powers not disclosed in the constitution, which are revealed in extraordinary unforeseen conditions, receiving de facto recognition by parliament or relying on judicial interpretation of the constitution.
According to the Constitution of the Russian Federation of 1993, the President is the head of state. The term “head of state” does not indicate the emergence of a fourth, main branch of government. When, nevertheless, the term “presidential power” is used, this can only mean the special status of the President in the system of three powers, the presence of some of his own powers and the complex nature of his various rights and responsibilities in interaction with the other two powers, but mainly with executive power.
When characterizing the constitutional status of the President, it is necessary to remember important feature his position as head of a federal state. The President of the Russian Federation, receiving his mandate in direct general elections, represents the aggregate, that is, common, interests of the entire people and all of Russia. That is why any of his actions in the interests of some regions with indifference to others are unlawful. The President of the Russian Federation, as the head of a federal state, has the right to control the presidents of republics and heads of administrations of other constituent entities of the Russian Federation. He is also outside the interests of individual political parties or any public associations; he is a kind of human rights defender and “lobby” of the entire people. Interaction between the President and Parliament should ensure the unity of national and regional interests.
As in other states, the President of the Russian Federation enjoys immunity. This means that until the President resigns, a criminal case cannot be initiated against him, he cannot be forcibly brought to court as a witness, etc. Over time, the issue of his immunity in relation to civil suits may be resolved. The status of the President of the Russian Federation also includes the right to a standard (flag), the original of which is in his office, and a duplicate is raised above the President’s residence both in the capital and over other residences of the President during his stay in them.
Main functions of the President of the Russian Federation
The main functions of the President of the Russian Federation as head of state are defined in Art. 80 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, according to which he:
- is the guarantor of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, the rights and freedoms of man and citizen;
- in the manner established by the Constitution of the Russian Federation, takes measures to protect the sovereignty of the Russian Federation, its independence and state integrity, ensures the coordinated functioning and interaction of government bodies;
- in accordance with the Constitution of the Russian Federation and federal laws, determines the main directions of internal and foreign policy states;
- represents the Russian Federation domestically and in international relations.
Function of the guarantor of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, human and civil rights and freedoms
It consists in ensuring a situation in which all state bodies fulfill their constitutional duties without going beyond the limits of their competence. The function of the President of the Russian Federation should be understood as a guarantee of the entire system of constitutional legality in the country. The function of the guarantor requires the President to constantly care about the effectiveness of the judicial system and carry out many other actions not directly formulated in his powers - naturally, without invading the prerogatives of parliament. The function of the guarantor of the Constitution presupposes the broad right of the President to act at his own discretion, based not only on the letter, but also on the spirit of the Constitution and laws, filling gaps in the legal system and responding to those unforeseen by the Constitution life situations. Discretionary power, inevitable in any state, is not in itself a violation of democracy and is not alien to the rule of law, unless, of course, the actions of the head of state lead to repression and widespread violations of human rights, do not explode the mechanism of public consent and do not lead to mass disobedience to authorities . Discretion does not negate the constitutional right of citizens to judicially appeal the actions of the President. As the guarantor of the rights and freedoms of citizens, the President is obliged to develop and propose laws, and in the absence of them, and until the adoption of federal laws, to adopt decrees in defense of rights individual categories citizens (pensioners, military personnel, etc.), to combat organized crime, against terrorism.
Function to protect the sovereignty of the Russian Federation, its independence and state integrity
It is clear that here, too, the President must act within the limits of his powers established by the Constitution, but even in this case, discretionary powers are not excluded, without which the goals of the general function cannot be achieved. The President must determine a violation or threat of violation of sovereignty, independence and state integrity and take appropriate actions, which can be gradual, unless, of course, we are talking about a surprise nuclear attack or other gross forms of external aggression, when decisive action is required, including the use of force . The Constitution provides for a complex procedure for declaring war, but in our age, full of unpredictable events, an extraordinary situation may arise that requires the President to respond quickly and adequately. Everyone who cares about the interests of Russia must admit that all constitutional legality is worthless if the President does not implement his constitutional function, although formulated in very general terms, and allows the territorial disintegration of the state, external interference in internal affairs, the development of separatism, organized terrorism .
The Constitution of the Russian Federation indicates that the implementation of this function must take place in the “order established by the Constitution of the Russian Federation” (for example, by introducing military or state of emergency, which is provided for in Part 2 of Art. 87 and art. 88 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation). But life can present cases in respect of which the procedure for the President’s actions is not directly provided for by the Constitution. Here, too, the President is obliged to act decisively, based on his own understanding of his duties as a guarantor of the Constitution or by resorting to interpretation of the Constitution with the help of the Constitutional Court (it should be remembered that in Russia other government bodies do not have the right to interpret the Constitution of the Russian Federation).
Function to ensure coordinated functioning and interaction of government bodies
Essentially, the President of the Russian Federation is an arbiter between the three authorities if they do not find agreed upon solutions or give rise to conflicts in relationships. Based on this role, the President of the Russian Federation has the right to resort to conciliation procedures and other measures to overcome crises and resolve disputes. This function is important for the interaction of government bodies both at the federal level and at the level of relations between government bodies of the Federation and the constituent entities of the Russian Federation and between various constituent entities of the Russian Federation.
The function of determining the main directions of the state’s domestic and foreign policy
The Constitution of the Russian Federation entrusts the President with the function of determining the main directions of the state's domestic and foreign policy, stipulating, however, that this function must be carried out in accordance with the Constitution and federal laws. The mention of a federal law in this regard indicates that the Federal Assembly also participates in determining the main directions of domestic and foreign policy. Relations between the President and Parliament in this process- very painful nerve formation public policy. However, the parliament, given the complexity of the legislative process, still has fewer opportunities than the President. And practically organize on a theoretical and expert basis the development of problems of domestic and foreign policy, collect for this purpose necessary information etc. are largely within the power of the President. In general, the process of determining the main directions of state policy develops in cooperation between the President and the Federal Assembly, but the latter always retains the opportunity to adjust the presidential course on a particular issue by adopting the appropriate federal law.
The constitutional functions of the President of the Russian Federation are specified and supplemented by the Law of the Russian Federation “On Security”.
This Law establishes certain functions and powers of the President of the Russian Federation. Thus, the President of the Russian Federation exercises general management of state security bodies, heads the Security Council, controls and coordinates the activities of government agencies ensuring security, within the competence defined by law, makes operational decisions to ensure security. Consequently, it is the President of the Russian Federation who directly (i.e., bypassing the Chairman of the Government) manages the security forces (law enforcement agencies) listed in the Law.
The President of the Russian Federation is entrusted with a number of important powers to combat terrorism. It determines the main directions of the state policy of countering terrorism, establishes the competence to combat terrorism of the authorities over which it leads, and decides on the use of the Armed Forces and special forces units abroad to combat terrorist activities (Federal Law “On Countering Terrorism”).
Representative functions
The President carries out representative functions solely. He has the right to send his representatives to the federal districts (this is the right of representation “within the country”), and these representatives are officials representing the President.
Speaking in the field international relations, The President of the Russian Federation negotiates with the heads of other states, has the right to sign international treaties on behalf of Russia, enter into international organizations, appoint ambassadors and representatives to other states. In accordance with international law, he enjoys the protocol right to the highest honors when making official visits to other states. Any international obligations undertaken by officials on behalf of Russian state without instructions from the President of the Russian Federation, they can be disavowed by him (declared invalid).
The multifaceted activities of the President are carried out through legal acts, which, according to the Constitution of the Russian Federation, are:
- decrees;
- orders.
A decree is a legal act that applies to an indefinite number of individuals and legal entities, state bodies, organizations and, moreover, is valid in the long term. This is therefore normative act. A decree may also be of a law enforcement nature, which means it may not have normative value. Decrees of non-normative significance are issued, for example, on the appointment of a person to a certain position.
An order is an act of an individual organizational nature.
Acts of the President are issued by him independently, without notification or consent of the Federal Assembly or the Government. They are mandatory for execution throughout the Russian Federation and have direct effect.
Decrees and orders of the President of the Russian Federation are not called by-laws in the Constitution. But they are such, because they should not contradict both the Constitution of the Russian Federation and federal laws (Part 3 of Article 90 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation).
Decrees and orders of the President of the Russian Federation are subject to mandatory official publication, except for acts or individual provisions thereof containing information constituting a state secret or information of a confidential nature. Acts of the President of the Russian Federation are published in " Rossiyskaya newspaper" and "Collections of Legislation of the Russian Federation" within 10 days after their signing. If these acts are normative in nature, then they come into force simultaneously throughout the entire territory of the Russian Federation seven days after the day of their first official publication. Other acts come into force from the date of their signing.
Decrees, orders and laws are signed by the President himself; The facsimile seal is used only in exceptional cases and only with the personal permission of the head of state (it is kept by the head of the Office of the President).
Federal Assembly
The highest legislative power in the state is exercised by the parliament. Parliament is a representative body of the country, vested with the authority to exercise legislative power in the state and personifies it. The Parliament of the Russian Federation is the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, it is the highest representative and legislative body of the Russian Federation (Article 94 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation). The Federal Assembly exercises legislative power in the Russian Federation independently of other government bodies of the Russian Federation.
The Federal Assembly consists of two chambers: 1) the Federation Council (it includes 2 representatives from each constituent entity of the Russian Federation: one is a representative of the legislative branch of the constituent entity of the Russian Federation, and the other is a representative of the executive branch); 2) the State Duma (deputies are elected to its composition by universal open voting).
Members of the Federation Council and deputies of the State Duma have a special status as representatives of the people. The principles of their activities: 1) the principle of “imperative mandate” (i.e., the obligation to carry out the orders of voters and reporting to them); 2) the principle of “free mandate” (i.e., free expression of one’s will without influence from any authority or official).
Features of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation: 1) The Federal Assembly is a collegial body consisting of representatives of the population; 2) this is the highest legislative body in the Russian Federation, i.e. acts of the Federal Assembly and the laws adopted by it must comply only with the Constitution of the Russian Federation, but in relation to all other normative acts these acts have the highest legal force.
Principles of activity of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation: 1) the procedure for the formation and competence of the chambers of the Federal Assembly are established by the Constitution of the Russian Federation; 2) The Federal Assembly is a representative of the people of Russia and defends their interests; 3) The Federal Assembly is the only body with the right to adopt the state budget and control its implementation; 4) elections of the President of the Russian Federation are appointed by the Federal Assembly.
The main function of the Federal Assembly is the adoption (by the lower house) and approval (by the upper house) of federal constitutional and federal laws.
The Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation carries out: 1) disposal of federal funds from the state treasury (adopts the federal budget and exercises control over its implementation); 2) control over the executive branch.
The powers of the Federal Assembly include carrying out the procedure for removing the President of the Russian Federation from office on the basis of the conclusion of the Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation on the presence of corpus delicti in the actions of the President of the Russian Federation and the procedure for declaring a “vote of no confidence” in the Government of the Russian Federation, as well as control over the judiciary by giving consent to the appointment of judges of the highest state Russian courts.
The Federal Assembly is independent in the exercise of its powers, but its lower house ( State Duma RF) may be dissolved by the President of the Russian Federation in the following cases: 1) three times disapproval by the Federal Assembly of the candidacy of the Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation proposed by the President of the Russian Federation; 2) announcing a “vote of no confidence” in the Government of the Russian Federation, with which the President of the Russian Federation twice disagreed.
Government of the Russian Federation
The Government of the Russian Federation is the state authority of the Russian Federation. It exercises the executive power of the Russian Federation and is a collegial body that heads the unified system of executive power in the Russian Federation. The Government of the Russian Federation in its activities is guided by the principles of the supremacy of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, federal constitutional laws and federal laws, the principles of democracy, federalism, separation of powers, responsibility, transparency and ensuring the rights and freedoms of man and citizen. The Government of the Russian Federation consists of:
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Federal executive authority
According to paragraph "g" of Art. 71 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, the establishment of a system of federal executive bodies, the procedure for their organization and activities and their formation falls under the jurisdiction of the Russian Federation.
The system of federal executive authorities includes:
- The Government of the Russian Federation, consisting of the Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation, Deputy Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation and federal ministers;
- ministries and other federal executive bodies, which are determined on the basis of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, the Federal Constitutional Law "On the Government of the Russian Federation", other federal laws and decrees of the President of the Russian Federation.
According to the Federal Constitutional Law "On the Government of the Russian Federation" and Decree of the President of the Russian Federation of March 9, 2004 N 314 "On the system and structure of federal executive bodies", the leadership of federal executive bodies, depending on the section of the structure in which they are located, is carried out by the President of the Russian Federation or the Government of the Russian Federation.
According to the said Decree, the system of federal executive authorities includes the following types of federal executive authorities:
- federal ministries;
- federal services;
- federal agencies.
In accordance with this Decree, federal executive authorities may have following functions:
1) federal ministries:
- on the development and implementation of state policy in the established field of activity;
- on the adoption of regulatory legal acts;
2) federal services:
- on control and supervision;
3) federal agencies:
- on state property management;
- for the provision of public services.
The functions of a specific federal executive body are determined by its regulations. Regulations on federal executive bodies, the management of which is carried out by the President of the Russian Federation, are approved by the President of the Russian Federation, the management of which is carried out by the Government of the Russian Federation - according to a resolution of the Government of the Russian Federation.
The functions of adopting normative legal acts are understood as issuing on the basis and in pursuance of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, federal constitutional laws, federal laws mandatory for execution by state authorities, local governments, their officials, legal entities and citizens of rules of conduct that apply to an indefinite number of persons .
The functions of control and supervision are understood as the implementation of actions to control and supervise the execution by state authorities, local self-government bodies, their officials, legal entities and citizens of the generally binding rules of conduct established by the Constitution of the Russian Federation, federal constitutional laws, federal laws and other regulatory legal acts; issuance by government bodies, local government bodies, and their officials of permits (licenses) to carry out a certain type of activity and (or) specific actions legal entities and citizens, as well as registration of acts, documents, rights, objects, as well as the publication of individual legal acts.
The functions of managing state property mean the exercise of the powers of the owner in relation to federal property, including those transferred to federal state unitary enterprises, federal government enterprises and government agencies, subordinate to the federal agency, as well as management of federally owned shares of open joint-stock companies.
Used today in countries such as the USA, Canada, Australia, India, France, the majoritarian system is historically the first electoral system in which the one for whom the majority of votes were cast is considered elected, and votes cast for other candidates are lost. It was with this that parliamentary elections began.
Based on the majority principle, the majoritarian system operates primarily in single-mandate (uninominal) electoral districts, but it can also be used in multi-mandate (polynomial) electoral districts, then voting takes place according to party lists as a whole.
In countries with long democratic traditions, political life has long been monopolized by political parties, whose representatives basically only stand for elections and then form corresponding party factions in parliament or other representative bodies that act in an organized manner. In those countries where the party system is still in its infancy, and the emerging political parties do not have much authority in society, elections under the majoritarian system create a weakly organized chamber. People who can speak well and ignite the masses with attractive slogans have a better chance of being elected, but are not always capable of thorough, albeit routine, legislative work, in which demonstration of their own personality is not required at all. Previously in our country this was observed in the examples of congresses of people's deputies, which sometimes made decisions dictated by emotions from the hysterical speeches of individual deputies.
The legislation of a particular state determines, depending on the type of elections (presidential, parliamentary or local), what kind of majority of votes is required - relative or absolute. In accordance with this, a distinction is made between the majoritarian system of the relative majority and the majoritarian system of the absolute majority.
The simplest version is the relative majority system, in which the candidate who receives more votes than any of the other candidates is elected. This system is used, for example, in parliamentary elections in the USA, Great Britain, India, partly in Germany and partly, as you know, in Russia. Very often it is used in local elections.
In practice, the more candidates running for one seat, the fewer votes required to be elected. If there are more than two dozen candidates, the candidate with 10 percent or less of the vote may be elected. In addition, the legislation of a number of countries where this system is used does not provide for the mandatory participation of voters in voting, nor the minimum share of their participation required to recognize the elections as valid.1 In the UK, for example, if one candidate is nominated in an electoral district, he is considered elected without voting, because it is enough for him to vote for himself. And since under this system a significant part of the votes, namely votes cast for unelected candidates, is lost, it sometimes turns out that the party whose candidates in the country were supported by the majority of voters receives a minority of seats in the House of Parliament. In France, majority parties that received less than 50% of the total vote had almost 75% of the seats in parliament.
It should, however, be noted that the electoral laws of some countries establish a minimum number of votes that must be collected in order to win: a candidate is considered elected if he received more votes in his constituency than his competitors, but provided that more votes were cast for him. 20% of all valid votes.
Perhaps the only advantage of the majority system of relative majority is that voting is carried out in one round, since the winner is determined immediately. This makes elections much cheaper.
The majoritarian system of the absolute majority looks somewhat fairer. Under this system, elections usually take place in several rounds. To be elected, a candidate must receive an absolute majority of the votes of voters who took part in the voting, i.e. 50% + 1 vote. If none of the candidates achieves this majority (and most often this is what happens), a second round is held (usually two weeks after the first), where the same requirement of an absolute majority of votes is again applied. But the legislation may also establish a requirement for a relative majority for the second round. Not all registered candidates can participate in the second round. The so-called re-balloting is carried out: only two candidates who received the largest number of votes in the first round compared to other candidates are allowed to the second round.
Under this system, a lower threshold for voter participation is usually set; if it is not achieved, the election is considered invalid or not taken place. It may constitute half of registered voters, but it is not uncommon for it to be less. In the case where it is equal to half of the registered voters, the absolute majority of the total votes cast could theoretically amount to 25% + 1 of the legal voting body. If an absolute majority of valid votes is required for election, the proportion of total registered voters may be even smaller. The French Electoral Code, in relation to elections of deputies of the National Assembly, establishes the mentioned lower threshold not directly as such, not as a condition for the validity of elections, but somewhat differently:
No one can be elected in the first round unless they have received
- 1) absolute majority of votes cast;
- 2) the number of votes equal to one fourth of the number of all those included in the voter list. In case of equality of votes, the oldest candidate is considered elected.”
The advantage of this system compared to the system of relative majority is that candidates supported by a real majority of voters who voted are considered elected, even if this majority constitutes one vote. But the same defect remains, which is the main one in the system of relative majority: votes cast against the winning candidates are lost. When, for example, a president is elected whose constituency is the entire country, this does not matter. But when a country, as is the case in parliamentary elections, is divided into many constituencies, in each of which a separate member is elected and the results of the elections are determined separately, it may again turn out that the party that receives the majority of votes throughout the country receives a minority of seats. A striking example in this regard was provided by the French elections of 1958, when the French Communist Party, having collected the largest number of votes in the first round (18.9%), ultimately received only 10 seats in the National Assembly, while the Union for the New Republic, having collected in the first round there were fewer votes - 17.6%, received 1888 seats, that is, 19 times more!
