The state as an institution of the political system of society. Signs of the state. The central institution of the political system is the state

Concept and signs political institution. A political institution as an ideal model of a system of political relations and as organizational structures reproduced in collective political practice in accordance with the stereotypes and matrices of the model structure. Features of the state as a political organization. The state as the central institution of the political system. Concepts of the origin, nature and social purpose of the state. Main features and types of state. Stages of development of a modern constitutional state. Internal and external functions of the state.

Forms of government and government. Forms of government: confederation, unitary state, federation. Forms of government: republic and monarchy. Presidential republic (using the example of the USA): political status, rights and responsibilities of the president, main powers of parliament. Semi-presidential republic (using the example of France). Parliamentary republic: the position of the president in the system higher authorities authorities, the order of formation, party composition and powers of the government, features of the relationship between parliament and government (using the example of Germany). Absolute and constitutional monarchy.

Legal and social state: values ​​and principles. Origins of the concept of the rule of law. Social environment, mechanism of functioning and development of the rule of law. The essence and main features of the social state. The relationship between the rule of law and civil society.

State authorities of the Russian Federation. Features of the formation of state power in Russia. Legislative power system. State Duma and Federation Council: election procedure, party composition, main powers. The Institute of Presidential Power in Russia: Traditions, Experience, Innovations. Legal status, powers and role of the president in the exercise of state power. The President and the Federal Assembly. Features of the relationship between the government and parliament. Judicial system in Russia. Federalism in Russia: problems and trends.

Topic 11. Political parties, party systems, socio-political movements

Political party: definition, types of role in the mechanism of political power. The concept of a political party. The main differences between a political party and other political institutions. Signs and types of political parties. Genesis and process of formation of modern political parties. Main trends in the evolution of parties. Functions of the party in the mechanism of political power. Methods and forms of party influence on political life.

The essence and types of party systems. The concept of “type of party system”. One-party, two-party and multi-party systems. Alternative and non-alternative party systems. Party associations, movements and blocs. The opposition and its role in political life. Party systems in Western Europe, the USA and China.

Socio-political movements. Signs of socio-political movements. Typology of socio-political movements. Relationships between socio-political movements and parties.

The formation of a multi-party system in Russia. Social base and typology of Russian political parties. General characteristics of the party system in Russia. Trends in the development of a multi-party system in modern Russia.

Throughout the history of existence human society the political knowledge and culture of each individual and the mass political literacy and education of individual human groups and communities are significant factors protecting society as a whole from despotism and tyranny, negative and economically ineffective forms of existence and social organization. Therefore, conscious formation political culture as the art of living together in a civilized manner is the concern of the entire modern society. As the head of the Academy of Political Education of the Federal Republic of Germany T. Mayer notes, “where political education is distinguished by constancy, continuity and covers all social strata, it does not always attract great social influence. It will never be unnecessary.” (1).
The ability of citizens to make rational decisions and participate in politics is not formed spontaneously, but is acquired through the systematic acquisition of relevant knowledge and experience, in particular, through the study of political science, which systematizes all previous experience of human society in the field of political and social activities.
One of the most important practical categories, defined and analyzed by the methods and tools of political science, is the state, which is the central institution of the political system of society. The main content of the policy B is fully and demonstrably concentrated in his activities
In a broad sense, a “state” is understood as a territorially stable community of people, represented and organized by a supreme authority. It is almost always identical to the concept of “country” and a politically organized people. And in this sense they say, for example, the Russian, American, German state. It should be noted that the existence of a developed state structure is known even 3...5 thousand years BC. (state of the Incas, Aztecs, Mesopotamia, Egypt, Urartu, Greece, etc.). Until about the middle of the 17th century. The state was usually interpreted broadly and was not separated from society. To designate the state, a wide range of specific terms were used: “polity”, “principality”, kingdom, “empire”, “republic”, “despotism”), etc. One of the first to depart from this tradition was Machiavelli, who introduced the designation of any supreme power over a person, be it a monarchy or a republic. At the same time, he introduced the special term “stati". Subsequently, on the basis of specific studies of faktic material, a clear distinction between state and society was justified in specific theories of the state by Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau. The concepts are not shared by them only meaningfully, but also historically, since it is argued that individuals who initially existed in a free and unorganized state, as a result of economic and other interactions, first organized society, and then, to protect their security and natural rights, created by contract special body, which has become an organ and instrument of public power and the most important institution of the political system of society.
In modern political science, the state in the narrow sense is understood as an organization, a system of institutions that have supreme power in a certain territory. It exists along with other political organizations: parties, trade unions, etc.
States of various historical eras and peoples are very similar to each other. However, a careful analysis allows us to identify a number of common and significant features.
1. Difference from a tribal organization based on self-government. The separation of public authority from society, the discrepancy with the organization of the entire population, the emergence of a layer of professional managers.
2. Construction is not based on consanguinity or religion, but on the basis of territorial and ethnic community of people. Availability of laws and powers that apply to the population of enterprises.
3. Sovereignty, i.e. supreme power in a certain territory, which distinguishes it from production, party, and family power.
4. Monopoly on the legal use of force, physical coercion, the ability to deprive citizens of the highest values: life and freedom. This feature (as well as the one given below) makes the state itself an instrument of public power. At the same time, to directly perform the function of coercion, there are usually public bodies - the army, police, security service, court, prosecutor's office.
5. The right to collect taxes and fees from the population to provide employees and services public policy: defense, economic and social, etc.
6. Mandatory membership in the state, which distinguishes this form of organization from others (for example, parties where membership is voluntary).
7. Claims to full representation of society as a whole and protection of common interests and the common good.
The characteristics noted above distinguish the state from any other organizations and associations, but do not fully reveal its connection with society, as well as the factors underlying its formation and development.
At the same time, the above general features in one form or another show the functional tasks implemented by the state. The nature and set of functions of the state changed during the historical development of the institution of statehood. from the point of view of the peculiarities of the relationship between the state and the individual, two global stages are distinguished: traditional and state.
The traditional stage is associated with institutionally unlimited power over subjects, lack of equality, and non-recognition of the individual as a source of state power. A typical embodiment of such a state was a monarchy. Based on the typical form of government of this period, the following functions should be highlighted as the main functions: protection of the political system and the sovereign personally; levying taxes, protecting external borders, etc.
The later constitutional stage seems more interesting from the point of view of the tasks and functions of the state. This stage is associated with the subordination of statehood to society and citizens, with the legal delineation of powers and areas of government intervention, with the legal regulation of state activities and is ultimately associated with the emergence of a constitution. The term “constitution” in science is used in two meanings. The first of them, introduced by Aristotle, is designated as the “real constitution”. It represents a sustainable model government activities, determined by one or another value-normative code. This code does not necessarily take the form of a code of laws, but may have the character, for example, of religious-political commandments or unwritten centuries-old traditions.
In the second meaning, the constitution is a set of laws, which are stable rules legally recorded in special documents that define the foundations, goals, structure, principles of organization and functioning of the state. That is, the constitution regulates the activities of the state. The completeness of the process of formation of a constitutional state is characterized by the concept of a “rule of law state.”
In a rule-of-law state, the basis is to protect a person from state terror, violence against conscience, from petty tutelage on the part of authorities, a guarantee of individual freedom, and fundamental individual rights. This state is limited in its actions by the law that protects the freedom, security and dignity of the individual and subordinates power to the will of the sovereign people. An independent court is called upon to protect the primacy of law, which is universal and applies equally to all citizens, state and public institutions.
The establishment of the rule of law was an important stage in expanding the freedom of the individual and society and contributed to the emergence of a social state, the main task of which is to provide every citizen with decent living conditions. social security, participation in production management. The activities of such a state are aimed at the common good and the establishment of social justice in society. The activities of a modern state are multifaceted. This is the redistribution of national income in favor of less affluent segments of the population, ensuring employment and labor protection in production, social insurance, support for motherhood and family, caring for the unemployed, the elderly, disabled, youth, development of education, medicine, culture, etc. The current state of society confronts democratic (social) states with the task of ensuring environmental safety and preventing the nuclear threat.
The quality and completeness of the state's performance of its functions is sufficiently determined by the structure and form of government of the state.
Forms of government are divided according to the method of organizing power and its formal source into monarchies and republics.
In a monarchy, the source of power is one person who receives his post by inheritance, regardless of the voters. A type of monarchy is: absolute monarchy(Qatar, Oman) - full power of the monarch, constitutional monarchy - a monarchy limited by the constitution. In turn, a constitutional monarchy is divided into a dualist one. in which the monarch has predominantly executive power and only partially legislative (Jordan, Kuwait) and parliamentary, in which the monarch actually has representative power. The vast majority of modern democratic monarchies are parliamentary monarchies.
There are three types of republics in the modern world:
- presidential;
- parliamentary;
- mixed (semi-presidential).
Home distinctive feature A parliamentary republic is the formation of a government on a parliamentary basis. At the same time, the parliament performs a number of functions in relation to the government:
- forms and supports it;
- issues laws adopted by the government for execution;
- adopts the budget and establishes the financial framework for government activities;
- exercises control over the government and, if something happens, can give it a vote of no confidence (resign or hold early parliamentary elections);
The government has executive power and partly legislative initiative. He also has the right to petition the president to dissolve parliament, which the president usually grants.
The President actually has only representative functions.
In a parliamentary form of government, the head of government (prime minister, chancellor), although not officially the head of state, is actually the first person. This form of government power exists in a number of European countries (Italy, Germany, Czech Republic, etc.).
In a presidential republic, the president is both head of state and head of government. He directs the foreign and domestic policy of the state and is the commander-in-chief armed forces. The president is most often elected by direct popular elections.
Under a presidential republic, the government is stable and has two strictly separated branches - the executive and the legislative.
The relationship between the president and parliament is based on a system of checks, balances and interdependencies. Parliament cannot pass a vote of no confidence in the government, and the president cannot dissolve parliament. And only in the case of very serious unconstitutional actions or crimes on the part of the president can he be impeached - he is removed from power ahead of schedule. But the impeachment process is very cumbersome and convoluted. An example of a presidential form of government is the government system in the USA and Russia, and is also common in countries with long authoritarian traditions ( Latin America, Afika, Asia.
In the mixed republic found in most European countries, strong presidential power is combined with effective parliamentary control of the government. At the same time, it does not have stable traditional features and, as a rule, tends to favor one of the branches of government. The classic example of the semi-presidential form is France. In it, the president and parliament are elected independently. Parliament cannot remove the president, and the president can dissolve parliament only when a date for early presidential elections is set.
The variety of republican and monarchical forms of state do not exhaust all possible mechanisms of government. One of them is the institution of referendums, which have their origins in the Greek Areopagus and Novgorod veche. It provides for the solution of the most pressing and key problems through a popular vote, the results of which have the highest legal status and are mandatory for execution by all government bodies.
According to the territorial structure, there are two main forms: unitary and federal.
A unitary state is a single, politically homogeneous organization consisting of administrative-territorial units (regions, lands, etc.) that do not have their own statehood. All government bodies will form a single system and operate on the basis of uniform regulations.
Unitary states can be centralized (Great Britain, Denmark, Sweden), in which middle and lower government bodies do not have sufficient autonomy and are aimed at implementing the decisions of the central authorities, and decentralized (France, Spain, Italy), granting individual regions the rights of broad autonomy.
The federal form of structure represents a stable union of states, independent to the extent of the competencies distributed between them and the center. The Federation ensures free association and equal coexistence of communities with significant ethnic, historical, cultural, religious, linguistic and other characteristics. Members of the federation are partners in state-wide sovereignty and have the right to unilaterally secede from the federation.
Another form of stable union of independent states is a confederation, which is created to achieve a specific goal. Its members retain their own state sovereignty and delegate to the competence of the union only some powers to resolve a limited range of issues. most often in the field of defense, foreign policy. transport and communications. Confederations existed for a limited time in Germany, Switzerland, and the USA and later either transformed into a federation or disintegrated.
IN last years in the territory former USSR An attempt was made to create the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), a union of sovereign states. coordinating their actions in various areas.
Knowledge by every member of modern society of the above information from political science guarantees him the acquisition of orientation skills in modern hectic life. Such political knowledge is especially necessary for the modern younger generation, which is distinguished by increased radicalism of judgments and actions, increased susceptibility to various kinds of utopian ideologies and demagogic appeals.

Literature:

1. Meyer T. Wie entbehrlich ist politisce Bildung?//Friedrich-Eben-Info, 1994. No. 1;
2.Aristotle.Politics.M., 1865. P.8;
3. Pugachev V.P., Solovyov A.I.. Introduction to political science. "Aspect-Press". M., 2002

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The state as the central institution of the political system. State and civil society.

POLITICAL SYSTEM OF THE STATE. THE CONCEPT AND ESSENCE OF THE STATE 1 PLACE AND ROLE OF THE STATE IN THE POLITICAL SYSTEM OF SOCIETY 3 CLASSIFICATION OF THE STATE 5 CHARACTERISTICS OF THE STATE IN THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION 9 The state in Russia: from the Soviet type of state to the legal one 11 Test questions 13 Literature 13

POLITICAL SYSTEM OF THE STATE. THE CONCEPT AND ESSENCE OF THE STATE

The very concept of “state” in the sense of “politically organized society” is relatively new, dating back to the times of N. Machiavelli. In the modern understanding, the state is a complex, multifunctional, internally differentiated integrity. It largely ensures the integrity of society and acts as a certain force that concentratedly expresses and symbolizes society as a whole. The state is an important political force that ensures the organization of society and the presence of a certain order in it. The question of the origin of the state has been the subject of much debate for many centuries. Various hypotheses and theories have been put forward. One of the oldest theories of the origin of the state is theocratic, i.e. the theory of divine origin, according to which the state is prescribed to man by God. According to another, patriarchal theory, the state arises directly from the expanded family. The power of the father (the head of the family) gradually develops into the power of the soul. Another explanation of the state from the point of view of its theory of contractual origin. The transition from the natural (pre-state) state of society to the state state occurs through an agreement, the conclusion of a contract, by which people unite into one state and submit to the immediately established state power. Among the theories explaining the emergence of the state are the following: psychological(based on factors of the human psyche), organic(biological factors), materialistic(socio-economic factors), theory of violence, based on military-political factors, etc. The state is a product of the internal evolution of society, which objectively needs organizational design. IN different eras in various conditions it acts as an organization for managing society, as a mechanism of power. The state does not have eternal nature, it did not exist in primitive society. Thus, the state is a historically established organization of political power and management of social processes in society, the main institution of the political system. The state is characterized by the following signs, allowing to distinguish it from other political institutions and organizations. 1. The presence of special public power, which, embodied in state bodies, acts as state power. It is carried out by a special layer of people who perform the functions of management and coercion, constituting the state apparatus, which is endowed with state powers, i.e. the ability to issue binding acts and resort to government influence when necessary. 2. Territorial organization of the population. State power is exercised within a certain territory and extends to all people living on it. 3. State sovereignty, i.e. independence of state power from any other power within the country and outside. Sovereignty gives the state the right to independently and freely decide its affairs and distinguishes it, along with other characteristics, from other organizations of society (for example, political parties). 4. The state is the only organization that is engaged in lawmaking, i.e. issues laws and other legal acts binding on the entire population. The state cannot exist without law, since the latter legally formalizes state power and thereby makes it legitimate. 5. State organization necessarily involves the collection of taxes from the population, collected by force. State can be defined as a special organization of political power in society, which has a special coercive apparatus that expresses the will and interests of the ruling class or the entire people.

The state represents the entire society as a whole; it and on its behalf make all decisions without exception that affect all members of society and are binding on everyone. It is the bearer of power, the jurisdiction of which extends to all members of society and the entire territory of the country. The coercive nature of the state's power and its monopoly on the use of violence fundamentally distinguish it from other political institutions and make it the basis of the political system.

It is impossible to imagine a state without power, domination and subordination. It differs from all other forms of human organization in that it has military force and the judicial repressive apparatus. Although violence is not the only means of the state, it is a specific means for it. However, the forms, means, and conditions for his use of violence or threats of violence are strictly defined and regulated by law. That is why they talk about legitimate, or legalized, violence on the part of the state. IN modern society concentrated in the hands of the state enormous strength. Firstly, it has a monopoly on the adoption of generally binding rules of behavior and the ability to ensure their application through the use of the repressive apparatus (army and police). Secondly, its strength is due to increased intervention in the economic life of society. Thirdly, in a certain way it is also the guardian of society, since it performs the functions social protection. Fourthly, senior government officials and leaders of political parties independently make decisions on more or less everything important issues development of society.

PLACE AND ROLE OF THE STATE IN THE POLITICAL SYSTEM OF SOCIETY

The concepts of “state” and “political system of society” are correlated as part and whole. The state concentrates in itself all the diversity of political interests, regulating the phenomena of political life through the prism of “generally binding”. It is in this capacity that the state plays special role in the political system, giving it a kind of integrity and stability. It carries out the bulk of management activities, exerting an ordering, regulatory influence on almost all major spheres of society. Therefore, an important principle of the state is universalism, or universality. The state occupies a special place in the political system as a core element around which all other components are united. It is essentially designed to ensure the integrity and unity of institutions and organizations performing various management functions. If parties and other institutions represent the interests and positions of certain categories and groupings of citizens in the political system, then the state expresses the general interest, or the general will. The state occupies central, leading place in the political system of society, since: 1) acts as the only official representative of the entire people, united within its territorial borders on the basis of citizenship; 2) is the sole bearer of sovereignty; 3) contains a special apparatus (public power) intended to govern society; 4) has “power” structures (armed forces, police, security services, etc.); 5) owns, as a rule, a monopoly on lawmaking; 6) has a specific set material assets(state property, budget, currency, etc.). The mechanism of a modern state is distinguished by a high degree of complexity and the diversity of its constituent parts, blocks, and subsystems. The structure of the state mechanism includes state bodies, state institutions and enterprises, civil servants, organizational and financial means, as well as coercive force necessary to ensure the activities of the state apparatus. The social purpose of the state, the nature and content of its activities are expressed in functions that are associated with the main areas of activity. The classification of functions is based on the spheres of activity of the state, i.e. those areas public relations, which it affects. Depending on this, the functions of the state can be divided into internal and external. Internal functions- these are the main directions of state activity within a given country, characterizing domestic policy states. These include protective and regulatory functions. The implementation of protective functions presupposes the activities of the state to ensure and protect all social relations established and regulated by law. Regulatory functions characterize the role of the state in organizing social production, developing the country’s economy, and creating necessary conditions for personality formation. Regulatory functions include economic, social functions, as well as taxation and collection of taxes, environmental, cultural, etc. External functions manifest themselves in the foreign policy activities of the state, in its relations with other countries. External and internal functions states are closely interconnected and interdependent. Depending on the duration of action, the functions of the state are classified into permanent (carried out at all stages of the state’s development) and temporary (they cease to operate with the solution of a certain task, usually of an emergency nature); depending on the meaning - into basic and non-basic.

CLASSIFICATION OF THE STATE

If the essence of the state as a political institution is uniform, then the forms of the state are diverse. State form- this is a way of organizing political power, the totality of it external signs. The form of a state is its structure, which is influenced by both socio-economic factors and natural, climatic conditions, national-historical and religious characteristics, cultural level of development of society, etc. If the category “essence of the state” answers the question: what is the main, natural, defining thing in the state, then the category “form of the state” predetermines who rules in society and how, how state power structures are structured and operate in it, how the population is united in a given territory, how it is connected through various territorial and political entities with the state as a whole, how political power is exercised, using what methods and techniques. The elements of the form of the state are: 1) form of government, which is usually understood as the organization of the highest authorities in a particular state; 2) form of government, which reflects the territorial structure of the state, i.e. how the territory of a given state is structured, what parts it consists of and what their legal status is; 3) political (state) regime, representing a system of methods, means and means of exercising state power and characterized by the degree of political freedom in society, the state of the legal status of the individual. Depending on the characteristics of the form of government, states are divided into monarchical and republican. IN monarchy supreme power is fully or partially concentrated in the hands of the sole head of state - the monarch (king, czar, shah, etc.). This supreme power is usually hereditary. At the same time, a distinction is made between an absolute monarchy (in which there are no representative institutions of the people and the power of the monarch is not limited in any way, for example, Saudi Arabia, Brunei) and a limited monarchy, when, along with the head of state (monarch), there is another supreme body (for example, parliament). Modern form limited monarchy - parliamentary monarchy. The role of the monarch in it is nominal; The leading role in government is played by the government, formed by parliament. The most typical example of a parliamentary monarchy is modern Britain. These also include Japan, Spain, Sweden, Norway, etc. republic all supreme authorities are elected or formed for a certain period. Depending on who forms the government, to whom it is accountable and controlled, the republics are divided into presidential, parliamentary and mixed. IN parliamentary republic the head of state is an elected official (president). His role in forming the government, as well as in running the country, is purely nominal. The government, headed by the Prime Minister, is formed by parliament, to which it bears political responsibility. Currently, a parliamentary republic exists in countries such as Italy, Germany, Austria, India, etc. A presidential republic is characterized by the fact that it is headed by a president who has the powers of head of state and head of government. The government in such a republic is appointed by the president himself and is not responsible to parliament. Such republics are the USA, the Russian Federation, etc. In some countries there is a republican form of government, called mixed character, those. combining the features of a presidential republic (the head of state is elected by the population, he appoints the government, etc.) and a parliamentary republic (the government is responsible to parliament, early dissolution of parliament by the president is possible, etc.). To such countries mixed form Republican rule includes, for example, France and Finland. States according to the forms of their structure are divided into unitary and federal. The form of connection of states, an alliance between them is called confederation. Unitary state- this is a simple, unified state that does not include other state entities with the rights of its members. In such states there is a unified system of supreme bodies and a unified system of legislation. Most states in the world are unitary. (for example Hungary, Poland, Italy, etc.) Federal State- is a complex, union state, the parts of which are state entities and have a certain political independence and other signs of statehood. Unlike a unitary state, a federation has two systems of supreme authorities - federal authorities and the relevant authorities of the members of the federation, along with federal legislation, there is also legislation of the subjects of the federation. Federal states include the Russian Federation, USA, Germany, India, Mexico, Nigeria, etc. Confederation- is a temporary union of states formed to achieve political, military, economic and other goals. This is a less durable association of states compared to a federation and has existed for a relatively short time. Confederations either disintegrate or transform into federal states. The Confederation does not have sovereignty, because there is no common territory for the united subjects, a unified system of legislation, and no common citizenship. Within the framework of the confederation, union bodies can be created, but only on those problems for the sake of which they united, and only of a coordinating nature. Subjects of the confederation have the right to freely secede from the union. Thus, the union of several states into a confederation (as opposed to a federation) does not lead to the formation of a new state. The form of the state can be characterized depending on the set of methods and means of state power, i.e. political (state) regime. In this regard, two polar modes are distinguished - democratic and anti-democratic. Democratic regime assumes the recognition of broad rights and freedoms for citizens, legally operating opposition parties, and the formation of a government by those parties that won the relevant elections; election and turnover of government bodies, their accountability to voters, transparency; in all areas public life law prevails; there is a separation of powers, etc. Anti-democratic regime, which in turn can be divided into subtypes - fascist, totalitarian, authoritarian, etc., personifies the exercise of state power in contradiction with democratic mechanisms, norms and institutions; the ruler exercises power at his own discretion, arbitrarily, without taking into account the opinion of the majority on the basis of dictatorial, violent methods. The rights and freedoms of man and citizen are practically not protected here; lawlessness reigns in society. There is also a state classification by type. Typology of the state- this is its specific classification, carried out mainly from the perspective of two approaches: formational and civilizational. Within the first, the main criterion is socio-economic characteristics (socio-economic formation). In accordance with this, the following types of state are distinguished: slave, feudal, bourgeois, socialist. Within the framework of the civilizational approach, the main criteria are spiritual characteristics - cultural, religious, national, psychological, etc. Depending on them, the following civilizations are distinguished: Egyptian, Chinese, Western, Byzantine, Islamic, etc. States of each type take on many forms - within one historical type There are various forms of state. In particular, the slave-owning type was characterized by monarchies (ancient eastern despotisms - Egypt, Babylon, Assyria, China) and republics (aristocratic, for example Roman in the period from the 6th to 1st centuries BC, and democratic, for example the Athenian state); for the bourgeois type - democratic republics(parliamentary, presidential, mixed) and constitutional (limited) monarchies. On the other hand, states of a certain historical type have some forms that are unique to them. So, for example, an estate-representative monarchy belongs only to a feudal state during a certain period of its development, and a parliamentary monarchy is characteristic of the bourgeois type of state. The current constitutions of modern states also contain such characteristics of the state as social, democratic, legal, secular, Islamic, theocratic, clerical.

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE STATE IN THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION

In accordance with the Constitution, the Russian Federation is Democratic state. Its democracy finds expression primarily in ensuring democracy in it; separation of powers into legislative, executive and judicial; ideological and political diversity; in providing citizens with political rights and freedoms. According to the Constitution, the Russian Federation is legal state. The rule of law is characterized primarily by the fact that it limits itself to the legal norms in force in it. Its most important principle is the rule of law. The rule of law means, first of all, the rule of law. By proclaiming and ensuring the supremacy of law, the rule of law state thereby affirms in society the fundamental principles and values ​​of the constitutional system, expressed in laws. In a rule-of-law state, the principle of priority of the norms of international law over the norms of national law applies. In a rule-of-law state there must be guarantees of the rights and freedoms of citizens. In accordance with the Constitution, the Russian Federation is proclaimed a social state. The implementation of the social function of the state involves the creation of conditions that ensure a decent life and free development of people. Russia is a federal state. Currently, the Russian Federation has 89 constituent entities. In Russia, federalism acts primarily as a form of state organization of national relations. This is also a form of democratization of government. The system of government bodies in the Russian Federation has two levels - federal and regional. The Constitution states that the Russian Federation is secular state. This means that in it religious associations are separated from the state and, according to the Constitution, no religion can be established as state or compulsory. The state is neutral in matters of freedom of religion and belief, i.e. does not take sides with any religion or worldview. The Constitution of the Russian Federation establishes republican form of government. The extensive powers of the President of Russia, enshrined in the Constitution, characterize the Russian Federation as presidential republic. The President of Russia is the head of state; he represents the Russian Federation both within the country and at the international level. The President acts as the guarantor of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, the rights and freedoms of man and citizen. Without being formally the head of the executive branch, he has the opportunity to directly influence the organization of the activities of the executive branch of government. The President of Russia, with the consent of the State Duma, appoints the Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation and decides on the resignation of the Government of the Russian Federation. Regarding others government agencies The President of Russia is also authorized to nominate candidates for appointment to the positions of Chairman of the Central Bank, judges of the Constitutional Court, Supreme Court, Supreme Arbitration Court, Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation and other high and responsible government positions. The Constitution of the Russian Federation enshrines fairly broad powers of the President of Russia in the sphere of ensuring the activities of the country's parliament and the adoption of federal laws, in the sphere of implementing foreign policy functions and the defense of the country. According to the Constitution of the Russian Federation Federal Assembly is parliament Russian Federation. The Federal Assembly is the representative and legislative body of the Russian Federation. According to the Constitution of the Russian Federation executive branch in the Russian Federation is carried out by the Government of the Russian Federation. The Government of the Russian Federation is the highest body of federal executive power. Acts of the Russian Government are binding in the Russian Federation. The Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation is appointed by the President of the Russian Federation with the consent of the State Duma. The government is responsible before parliament - the State Duma, which is one of the most important signs parliamentary republic. However, the issue of resignation and the responsibility of the government and ministers is ultimately decided by the President, not the parliament. Principles general structure Governments are also regulated by presidential decrees. The President of the Russian Federation is the head of state, and in practice heads the entire system of executive power. All this is grounds to assert that the form of government in the Russian Federation is closer to a presidential republic than to a parliamentary one.

Soviet state developed as the complete opposite of the bourgeois, legal state. This largely determined its features.

Such principles of the rule of law as the separation of powers into legislative, executive, judicial, the supremacy of law over government, control of civil society over government bodies, etc. were denied; according to the form of government, the Soviet state was a republic, but all branches of power were united in the Soviets, where deputies simultaneously adopted laws, executed them and controlled their implementation; leadership role Communist Party, which turned the state into a party one. The party carried out the selection of personnel for all leading government positions using the nomenklatura mechanism. The leadership of the party made all the most important decisions and, in the form of directives, transmitted them to the Soviets, which; formalized these directives into their decisions or joint resolutions with the party; Understanding the proletarian state as a means of suppressing the exploiting classes, its creators formed an extensive system of punitive bodies, established the strictest labor discipline, and established ideological control over the means mass media; being illegal and police, the Soviet state was able to implement a social function, although it was carried out at the expense of unprecedented exploitation of workers. The successes of the healthcare system, education and upbringing, culture, policies to support family and motherhood, employment, etc., created in the Soviet state, were recognized throughout the world. The abolition of the leading role of the CPSU led to the collapse of the Soviet state. Modern Russian state by its type it is transitional, which is characterized by: some features of Soviet statehood(the desire to control various aspects of life, to act as the main distributor of funds, the nomenklatura principle of selecting management personnel, etc.); emergence and strengthening of democratic principles in his activities: water elections as a way of forming the supreme state power, political pluralism, separation of powers, adherence to the Constitution, etc.; formation of new relations with civil society. By transferring a large share of former state property into the hands of citizens, the state contributes to the formation of civil society and the formation of social interests of various groups of the population; hopes for help from the state are still strong, and the values ​​of freedom and individualism did not become dominant in public knowledge; The search for the best option continues federal structure state, the optimal balance of powers between the center: the subjects of the federation. As for the last noted feature, in Russia there are both national-state entities (republics, autonomous regions, autonomous okrugs) and administrative-territorial entities (territories, regions). Although they all have the status of subjects of the federation, they differ in their capabilities, and therefore the scope of powers of the center and the subjects in each specific case will be different. The center's relations with many national-state entities are built on the basis of bilateral agreements that establish the division of competencies. This is how the center’s relations with Bashkiria, Tatarstan, Yakutia and a number of regions are built. Consequently, a federation is being created in Russia with asymmetrical relations between federal bodies and bodies of constituent entities of the federation. Such formations can be effective if they are based on the economic interest of both parties in cooperation.

Control questions

What is the state as an institution of political power? Name the main features of a state. What concepts of the emergence of a state do you know? Name the main stages of development of the state and describe them. What are the main structural elements of the state? Name the main functions of the state. On what grounds can states be typologized?

Literature

Gadzhiev K.S. Introduction to Political Science. - M., 1997.

Zinoviev A.P., Shevchenko V.N. Political science and sociology: Proc. allowance. -M., 2001 Irkhin Yu.V., Zotov V.D., Zotova L.V. Political science and sociology: Textbook. –M., 1999 Pugachev V.P., Soloviev A.I. Introduction to political science: Textbook. –M., 2002 Pugachev V.P. Political Science and Sociology: A Student's Handbook. –M., 1999 Tavadov G.T. Political science and sociology: Proc. allowance. –M., 2000 Aristotle. Op. in 4 volumes. Political science and sociology. –M., 1983 Weber M. Selected Works. –M., 1990

The central institution of political power is the state. State power is exercised through the establishment of laws, administration, and courts. Even in Politics, Aristotle distinguished between legislative, executive and judicial activities of institutions. Today, the democratic political system is based on the mechanism of separation of powers, the mechanism of balancing interests and political counterbalances. The combination of powers is not permissible. Thus, the combination of legislative and executive powers undermines the rule of law. If judges not only judge, but also legislate, then people’s very lives will become victims of arbitrariness. The combination of three powers means despotism.

In our country, until recently, it was difficult to distinguish the components of the legislative, executive and judicial powers. All of them were pulled together into one node, where the greatest concentration was on the executive component. The legislative branch had no power. The essence of the laws was distorted by by-laws. The courts were dependent on telephone law and did not enjoy authority. In addition, all the threads of state power were tied to the party apparatus, and the role of laws was played by joint resolutions of the CPSU Central Committee and the Council of Ministers of the USSR. Today's political reform is designed to ensure the separation of powers and the creation of a system of “checks and balances” that guarantee against abuse of power. But today there is no firm rule of law or stable law and order in the country. In many ways, the political and legal situation remains the same according to Gilyarovsky: “There are two misfortunes in Russia: Below is the power of darkness, and above is the darkness of power!” .

Another major problem is the problem of delegation of power. Since everyone cannot rule, only a part of people, a social stratum of society, a group has this right, so the question of delegation of power arises.

First, let's consider the process of delegation of power "upward", when one subject of power transfers part of the control to another subject who has greater opportunity to action than himself. This issue is relevant today in our country in connection with solving the problem of the powers of local administrations of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation. A problem arises: is there a risk that delegated power can be turned against the lower echelon of the structure? There is such a danger. The emergence of cults, dictatorships, and totalitarian regimes is an example of this. At one time, M. Bakunin, P. Kropotkin, R. Michels, M. Weber thoroughly developed this problem. Historical example The structure of power that developed in our country after 1917 is similar, when the Bolshevik Party from a political organization actually degenerated into a body of state power that does not tolerate opposition. For decades, the same people stood at the helm of government, pursuing policies that reflected the interests of those to whom power was delegated, and not those who delegated it.

How does the process of delegating power “down” happen? A subject of power at the upper echelon delegates some of his abilities to act “downwards”, while still remaining the holder of greater power. This is beneficial for the central government, but there is also a risk, since the subject of the lower level of power often seeks to get out of the tutelage of the center and dictate its own rules of behavior. The holder of central power in this situation becomes dependent on the decisions and judgments of the lower echelons of power and gradually loses the ability to govern. What is the way out? Delegation of the volume of powers “downwards” must always have a certain limit, beyond which there may be a danger of not only the loss of power by the subject, but also the disruption of all government affairs, the loss of independence and unity of the country. State power is not something frozen and unchangeable. With the development of society, it acquires more developed forms.

How is power exercised? There are usually two aspects to the exercise of political power:

the process of making political decisions and b) the process of implementing the adopted political decisions. These two aspects of the process of realizing political power are interconnected, since when implementing decisions taken there is a need for adjustments, clarification of the political course, and adoption of additional decisions. It should be borne in mind that the implementation of the decisions made is subject to the fulfillment of a number of conditions:

The political leadership must consistently ensure that decisions are implemented. If a law, decree, or resolution is adopted, then they must be implemented so that there is no doubt about the firmness of political power;

the ability of the political leadership to mobilize the necessary material and human resources to implement the decisions made;

provide support for those groups of society that can contribute to the implementation of decisions made;

the ability of the political leadership to neutralize the actions of political forces that oppose the decisions made.

One of the most important means of influencing the process of making and implementing political decisions are pressure groups - these are organized groups whose task is to achieve a goal, for the implementation of which they must put pressure on political institutions (various economic associations, associations, groups representing the interests of the military-industrial complex , national, religious, mafia groups, etc.). A significant part of them actively cooperates and is in contact with political parties, various departments of foreign countries. The goal of pressure groups is to use all available means to induce political subjects to take action that is beneficial to them, to impose the implementation of the political decision they need. At the same time, they use all kinds of means, including criminal ones. A special place in the political process is occupied by such a pressure group as the lobby - a powerful mechanism for influencing government bodies, an informal institution of the political system. The main goal of the lobby is to put pressure on the legislative process by putting pressure on deputies, forcing them to make the bills and political decisions they need.

Discretion is important in the technology of political power - giving a specific performer the authority to interpret, interpret laws and apply them in this interpretation, passing off the living creativity of the masses.

The main criteria for a person’s belonging to a particular social group are his place in the system of ownership-disposal relations and, accordingly, the level of income and quality of life in general. These criteria are relative, since, for example, “new middle class“in Russia can only be correlated with certain “upper” and “lower” social strata for a given society and under given conditions.

In Soviet society, as an administrative society, the key criterion for stratification was the level of administrative and administrative functions performed by representatives of various social groups. In modern Russia, the indicator “size of property” has also been added to this criterion. The income system based on distribution has been replaced by a system of “absolute income”, which involves receiving, in exchange for monetary resources, any goods and products at real market value, and not from state bins - through “pull”, position or at reduced privileged prices . The level of income and standard of living of people thus become the key criteria for their social well-being and membership in a particular social group.

In the totality of old and new social groups, one can distinguish two main "macrogroups" associated with the disposal or ownership of two main types of resources - administrative-political and actually material, economic.

The dynamics of the development of these two groups in Russia over the past 10 years is such that the administrative-political groups are gradually weakening, as administrative functions are becoming less and less significant, the “old political class” (administrators) 2 partly it is eroded and comes to naught, partly it is transformed and flows into the “new political class”, and administrative methods of managing the economy and society as a whole are gradually giving way to market ones, primarily financial and fiscal methods of management.

Accordingly, the role of economic groups and, especially, groups of the new economy is currently, on the contrary, increasing. Moreover: the development of new economic structures is ahead of the formation of new political corporations. The thesis is based on a well-known pattern: people first become aware of their material, economic interests, and only as society develops do they grow to translate these interests into political language.

The main factor in the development of the political process in modern Russia (from 1991 to approximately 2010-2015) is the emerging MARKET in the country: privatization, development of the credit and stock markets, the struggle for influence and the establishment of certain rules in the securities markets , real estate, land and natural resources. Taking this into account, as well as the pattern we formulated above of “the accelerated development of new economic structures in comparison with the development of new political corporations,” we can assert that in the time period indicated above, “interest groups” are dominant in the aggregate, and

This means that in the political system as a whole there will be groups that have the greatest material resources. Of course, these are not yet purely economic, but rather administrative and economic groups. So, integral part"interest groups" of the country's fuel and energy complex are the relevant departments of the federal government and departments of local administrations;

new financial groups are integrated into the Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, into committees and departments for managing state property and finance at all levels; and the leading Moscow “interest groups” could not develop the financial, construction and other sectors of the capital’s economy if they did not form a single whole with the Moscow government.

So, speaking about groups that own or control material resources, we can distinguish two main subgroups:
A) "new economic groups" - primarily financial, financial-trading and financial-industrial groups;

b) "old economic groups" - first of all, industry groupings, groups of leaders of post-Soviet monopolies (including “natural”) and the largest not only state-owned, but also privatized or already privatized industrial concerns and companies.

The central institution of the political system is the state. It concentrates the highest powers of power and has the ability to manage and purposefully regulate social relations. The term “state” itself is usually used in two meanings. In a broad sense, a state is understood as a community of people living in a certain territory, represented and organized by a supreme authority. It is identical to the country and the politically organized people. In this meaning they speak, for example, about the Russian, French, Italian state, meaning the entire society it represents.

Around the 11th century. the state was usually interpreted broadly and was not separated from society. A clear distinction between state and society was justified in the theories of the state by B. Spinoza, Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau and other thinkers. In them, these concepts are separated not only substantively and historically, since it is argued that individuals who initially existed in a free and unorganized state, as a result of economic and other interactions, first formed a society, and then, to protect their security and natural rights, by contract they created a special body - state. In modern science, the state in the narrow sense is understood as an organization, a system of institutions that have supreme power in a certain territory.

The state arose when the reproduction of man himself and the material foundations of his life outgrew the framework of a self-contained community. The origin of the state is not a one-time act, but a long process of disintegration of primitive self-government.

There are various theories of the origin, development and essence of the state. These are: a) theocratic, which interprets the state as a creation of God; b) patriarchal, which removes the state from the family, clan, tribe and interprets its power as tutelary, paternal; c) contractual, which interprets the state as the result of a social contract between citizens and rulers; d) violence, conquest, which explains the emergence of the state by the conquest of some groups and tribes by others; d) idealistic,

For example, for Hegel, the state is a spiritual idea that manifests itself in the form of human will and freedom; f) socio-economic - the emergence during the development of production of private property, classes and exploitation (Marxism).

The state is a product of the internal evolution of society, which objectively needs organizational design. In different eras, in different conditions, it acts as an organization for managing society, as a mechanism of power. The state does not have an eternal nature; it did not exist in primitive society. Thus, the state is a historically established organization of political power and management of social processes in society, the main institution of the political system.

The state is a political institution that organizes the joint life of the population in a certain territory and ensures proper social order there, maintaining the appropriate norms and rules of human coexistence.

In general, the state was formed as an institution for organizing common life. It is for these purposes that it forms and supports the norms and rules of social life, controls their implementation by the authorities and subjects. In this sense, the state is a unique value, without whose power-organizing role it is impossible to preserve human coexistence in the modern world.

As a specific institution of political power, the state has a number of characteristics that allow it to be distinguished from other political institutions and organizations.

1. The presence of special public power, which, embodied in state bodies, acts as state power. It is carried out by a special layer of people performing the functions of management and coercion, constituting the state apparatus, which is endowed with state powers, i.e. the ability to issue binding acts and resort to government influence when necessary.

2. Territorial organization of the population. State power is exercised within a certain territory and extends to all people living on it.

3. State sovereignty, i.e. independence of state power from any other power within the country and outside. Sovereignty gives the state the right to independently and freely decide its affairs, distinguishes it, along with other characteristics, from other organizations of society (for example, from parties, movements, etc.).

4. The state is the only organization that is engaged in lawmaking, i.e. issues laws and other legal acts binding on the entire population. The state cannot exist without law, since the latter legally formalizes state power and thereby makes it legitimate.

5. A state organization necessarily involves collecting taxes from the population.

The state represents the entire society as a whole; it and on its behalf make all government decisions without exception that concern all members of society and are binding on everyone. It is the bearer of power, the jurisdiction of which extends to all members of society and the entire territory of the country. The coercive nature of the state's power, its monopoly on the use of violence, fundamentally distinguishes it from other political institutions and makes it the basis of the political system.

It is impossible to imagine a state without power, domination and subordination. It differs from other forms of human organization in that it has military force and a judicial apparatus. Although violence is not the only means of the state, it is a specific means for it. However, the forms, means, and conditions for his use of violence or threats of violence are strictly defined and regulated by law. That is why they talk about legitimacy or legalized violence on the part of the state.

In modern society, enormous power is concentrated in the hands of the state. Firstly, it has a monopoly on the adoption of generally binding rules of behavior and the ability to ensure their application through the use of the repressive apparatus (army and police). Secondly, its strength is due to its intervention in the economic life of society. Thirdly, in a certain way it is also the guardian of society, since it performs the functions of social protection. Fourthly, senior government officials independently make decisions on all more or less important issues of social development.

The mechanism of a modern state is distinguished by a high degree of complexity and the diversity of its constituent parts, blocks, and subsystems. The structure of the state mechanism includes government bodies, government agencies and enterprises, government employees, organizational and financial means, as well as coercive force. All this is necessary to ensure the functioning of the state apparatus.

The social purpose of the state, the nature and content of its activities are expressed in functions that are associated with the main areas of activity.

The classification of functions is based on the spheres of activity of the state, i.e. those areas of social relations that it affects. Depending on this, the functions of the state can be divided into internal and external.

Internal functions are the main directions of state activity within a given country, characterizing the internal policy of the state. These include protective and regulatory functions.

The implementation of protective functions presupposes the activities of the state to ensure and protect all social relations established and regulated by law.

Regulatory functions characterize the role of the state in organizing social production, developing the country's economy, and creating the necessary conditions for the formation of personality. Regulatory functions include economic, social functions, as well as taxation and tax collection, environmental, cultural, etc.

External functions are manifested in the foreign policy activities of the state, in its relations with other countries.

The external and internal functions of the state are closely interconnected and interdependent.

Depending on the duration of action, the functions of the state are classified into permanent (carried out at all stages of the development of the state) and temporary (they cease to operate with the solution of a certain task, usually of an emergency nature); depending on the meaning - into basic and non-basic.

The most important and initial characteristic of a democratic state

This is democracy. This means that the real source of state power and its original social subject is the people and only the people.

A democratic state is a state in which strict observance and guaranteed implementation of personal, political and other rights and freedoms of man and citizen are ensured, broad participation of every member and all social strata of society in the management of state and public affairs in order to achieve public harmony, socio-political stability and the common good. The political regime of a democratic state will be discussed specifically in one of the chapters of the textbook.

A rule-of-law state is a state that, in all its organization, functioning and activities, is based on subordination to the law, on strict compliance with its norms that enshrine universal human rights and freedoms. It is based on the desire to protect a person from state terror, violence against conscience, petty tutelage on the part of authorities, to guarantee individual freedom and fundamental individual rights. It is a state limited in its actions by the law that protects the freedom, security and dignity of the individual and subordinates power to the will of the sovereign people. The relationship between the individual and the government will be determined by the constitution, which asserts the priority of human rights, which cannot be violated by the laws of the state and its actions. In order for the people to control the state, there is a separation of powers: legislative, executive and judicial. An independent court is called upon to protect the primacy of law, which is universal and applies equally to all citizens, state and public institutions. The concept of the rule of law in its fundamental terms developed in the 11th - 19th centuries. in the works of Locke, Montesquieu, Kant, Jefferson and other theorists. Various theories of the rule of law are based on the concept of civil society.

The adequate social basis of the rule of law is civil society, which is a society of developed social relations, high general and political-legal culture, socio-political activity of its members, separated and independent from the state and building its relations with it on the basis of recognition of the priority of society and the need to serve him state. Recognition of priority by civil society is a source of legitimacy of state power and the legal system, which, in turn, serves as the most important guarantee of respect for law and order in society. The doctrine of the rule of law, at the same time, proceeds from the inadmissibility of opposing them to each other, from the recognition of the need to achieve their harmonious

Interactions on a legal basis.

Civil society has a complex structure, including economic, family, ethnic, religious and legal relations, morality, as well as political relations not mediated by the state between individuals as the primary subjects of power, parties, interest groups, etc.

In civil society, in contrast to state structures, it is not vertical, but horizontal connections that predominate - relations of competition and solidarity between legally free and equal partners.

Summarizing the experience of the emergence and development of various legal states, we can highlight their following common features:

Presence of civil society;

Limiting the scope of state activity to the protection of individual rights and freedoms, public order, and the creation of favorable legal conditions for economic activity;

Worldview individualism, everyone’s responsibility for their own well-being;

Legal equality of all citizens, priority of human rights over state laws;

Universality of law, its extension to all citizens, all organizations and institutions, including government bodies;

Sovereignty of the people, constitutional and legal regulation of state sovereignty. This means that it is the people who are the ultimate source of power, while state sovereignty is representative in nature;

Separation of the legislative, executive and judicial powers of the state, which does not exclude the unity of their actions based on the procedures provided for by the constitution, as well as a certain supremacy of the legislative power;

Priority in state regulation of the method of prohibition over the method of permission. This means that in a rule-of-law state the following principle applies to citizens: “Everything that is not prohibited by law is permitted.” The method of permission is applied here only in relation to the state itself, which is obliged to act within the limits of what is permitted - formally recorded powers;

The rights of other people as the only limiter on individual freedom. The rule of law does not create absolute personal freedom. The freedom of everyone ends where the freedom of others is violated.

The establishment of the rule of law was an important stage in expanding the freedom of the individual and society. Its creators believed that providing everyone with negative liberty (freedom from restrictions) and encouraging competition would benefit everyone, make private property available to everyone, maximize individual responsibility and initiative, and lead ultimately to the welfare of all. However, this did not happen. Individual freedom, equality and non-interference of the state in the affairs of civil society proclaimed in legal states did not prevent the monopolization of the economy and its periodic crises, harsh exploitation, worsening inequality and class struggle. Deep actual inequality devalued the equality of citizens and turned the use of constitutional rights into a privilege of the propertied classes.

A social state is a state that strives to provide each citizen with decent living conditions, social security, participation in production management, and ideally approximately equal life chances, opportunities for personal self-realization in society.

The activities of such a state are aimed at the common good and the establishment of social justice in society. It smoothes out property and other social inequality, helps the weak and disadvantaged, takes care of providing everyone with work or another source of livelihood, maintaining peace in society, and creating a living environment favorable to humans.

The activities of a modern welfare state are multifaceted. This is the redistribution of national income in favor of less affluent segments of the population, employment and security policy, employee rights in the enterprise, social insurance, support for family and motherhood, care for the unemployed, the elderly, youth, development of accessible to all

Education, healthcare, culture, etc.

If the essence of the state as a political institution is uniform, then the forms of the state are diverse. This diversity is fully manifested in historical development and takes place in modern era, when the number of states on our planet exceeded 200.

States are traditionally characterized through forms of government and forms of territorial (state) structure. They embody the organization of supreme power, the structure and order of relationships between the highest state bodies, officials and citizens. The elements of the form of the state are:

Form of government, which usually refers to the organization of the highest authorities in a particular state;

A form of government that reflects the territorial structure of the state, i.e. how the territory of a given state is structured, what parts it consists of and what their legal status is;

A political regime, which is a system of methods, means and means of exercising state power and characterized by the degree of political freedom in society, the state of the legal status of the individual.

Forms of government are divided according to the method of organizing power and its formal source into monarchies and republics.

In a monarchy, supreme power is fully or partially concentrated in the hands of the sole head of state - the monarch (king, czar, shah, etc.). This supreme power is usually hereditary. At the same time, a distinction is made between an absolute monarchy, in which there are no representative institutions of the people and the power of the monarch is not limited in any way (for example, Saudi Arabia, Brunei, etc.). A limited monarchy is when, along with the head of state (monarch), there is another supreme authority (for example, Parliament). The modern form of limited monarchy is a parliamentary monarchy. The role of the monarch in it is nominal; the leading role in governing the state is played by the government formed by parliament. The most typical example of a parliamentary monarchy is modern Great Britain, Japan, Spain, Sweden, Norway, etc.

A republic where all the highest authorities are elected or formed for a certain period of time. Depending on who forms the government, to whom it is accountable and controlled, republics are divided into presidential, parliamentary and mixed.

In a parliamentary republic, the head of state is an elected official. The role of the president in forming the government, as well as in running the country, is purely nominal. The government, headed by the Prime Minister, is formed by parliament, to which it is politically responsible. Currently, parliamentary republics exist in countries such as Italy, Germany, Austria, India and others.

A presidential republic is characterized by the fact that the head of state is the president, who has the powers of head of state and head of government. The government in such a republic is appointed by the president himself and is not responsible to parliament. Such republics are the USA, the Russian Federation and others.

In some countries there is a mixed form of government, i.e. combining the features of a presidential republic, where the head of state is elected by the population and appoints the government; and a parliamentary republic, where the government is responsible to parliament, early dissolution of parliament by the president is possible. Such countries with a mixed form of republican government include, for example, France, Finland and others.

The form of the state is the external manifestation of the organization of territorial and class-political power, which includes three elements: territorial structure, form of government and political regime. The territorial structure of the state reflects the connection between central and local government bodies, the relationship of individual parts of the state among themselves and with the state as a whole. On this basis, two main forms are distinguished - a unitary and federal state, as well as a transitional form - a confederation.

A unitary state is a simple, unified state that does not include other state entities with the rights of its members. In such states there is a unified system of supreme bodies and a unified system of legislation. Most states in the world (more than 85%) are unitary. These include states such as Spain, China, Italy and others.

A federal state is a complex, union state, parts of which are state entities and have a certain political independence and other signs of statehood. Unlike a unitary state, a federation has two systems of supreme authorities - federal bodies and the corresponding authorities of members (subjects) of the federation. Along with federal legislation, there is also legislation of the constituent entities of the federation. 24 states are federal in nature. Among them are the largest countries by territory - the USA, Russia, Canada, India, Brazil, Argentina, Australia, as well as Mexico, Pakistan, Nigeria, Switzerland, UAE, Belgium, etc. Constituting only 3% of the total number of countries on our planet, federal states cover a total of approximately a third of the population and half of the globe's territory.

A confederation is a temporary union of states formed to achieve political, military, economic and other goals. This is a less durable association of states compared to a federation and has existed for a relatively short time. Confederations either disintegrate or transform into federal states. The Confederation does not have sovereignty, because there is no common territory for the united subjects, a unified system of legislation, and no common citizenship. Confederations existed in the USA (1776 - 1787), Switzerland (until 1848), Germany (1815 -1867) and some other countries. Within the framework of the confederation, union bodies can be created, but only on those problems for the sake of which they united and only of a coordinating nature. Subjects of the confederation have the right to freely secede from the union.

Thus, the union of several states into a confederation (as opposed to a federation) does not lead to the formation of a new state.

There is also a classification of states by type, carried out mainly from the perspective of two approaches: formational and civilizational. Within the first, the main criterion is socio-economic characteristics (socio-economic formation). In accordance with this, the following types of state are distinguished: slave, feudal, bourgeois, socialist. Within the second approach, the main criteria are cultural, religious, national, psychological and other characteristics. Depending on them, the following civilizations are distinguished: Egyptian, Chinese, Western, Byzantine