Problems of the implementation of social state and the constitutional reform 2020

Research Article
DOI: https://doi.org/10.19181/population.2020.23.4.7
  • Oleg Yu. Boldyrev Lomonosov Moscow State University; Peoples'Friendship University of Russia (RUDN University), Moscow, Russian Federation oleg211291@bk.ru ORCID ID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7030-1501
    Elibrary Author_id 896366
    ResearchID AAD-5639-2019
  • Yulia S. Nenakhova Institute of Socio-Economic Studies of Population, Federal Center of Theoretical and Applied Sociology RAS, Moscow, Russian Federation yulia-nenakhova@yandex.ru ORCID ID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5865-1012
    Elibrary Author_id 652094
Acknowledgments
The study was carried out within the framework of research under the State assignment
How to Cite
Boldyrev O.Y., Nenakhova Y.S. Problems of the implementation of social state and the constitutional reform 2020. Population. 2020. Vol. 23. No. 4. P. 71-82. DOI: https://doi.org/10.19181/population.2020.23.4.7

Abstract

The 1993 Constitution of the Russian Federation enshrined the principle of social state, a number of social rights of citizens and other provisions of a social nature. However, according to many researchers, the actual situation, including mass poverty and extreme property differentiation of the population, and the dominant vector of social policy, which is reflected in commercialization and "optimization" of the social sphere, raising the retirement age, strengthening the selective character of social assistance, etc. speak of the dismantling of the welfare state. At the same time, the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation does not adequately fulfill its function of protecting the Constitution and, in particular, ensuring the constitutional principle of social state and social rights of citizens, does not recognize the legislative norms that normatively formalize such reforms as unconstitutional, sometimes — as in the case of considering the constitutionality of increasing retirement age in 2018 — actually avoiding consideration of the case on the merits. The draft Law on Amendment to the Constitution of the Russian Federation "On Improving Regulation of Certain Issues of Organizing Public Authority", proposed by the President of Russia in the winter of2020, was substantiated, inter alia, by considerations of the development of social state, ensuring the social rights of citizens and the corresponding social obligations of the State. The article shows which of the key social problems could be solved within the framework of the previous version of the Constitution; the question is examined whether their solution requires its changing. It is shown that the Law on Amendment to the Constitution of the Russian Federation adopted in the spring of 2020 does not solve a number of the key social problems in modern Russia, and does not make enough use of foreign experience in constitutional regulation of the social sphere. Based on the experience of other countries, the article proposes a number of norms, the constitutional enshrining of which could to a greater extent ensure implementation of the principle of social state.
Keywords:
welfare state, social rights, constitutional reform, amendments to the RF Constitution, inequality, pension reform, progressive taxation

Author Biographies

Oleg Yu. Boldyrev, Lomonosov Moscow State University; Peoples'Friendship University of Russia (RUDN University), Moscow, Russian Federation
Cand. Sc. (Law), Chair Assistant, Faculty of Law, Lomonosov Moscow State University; Associate Professor, Law Institute of RUDN University
Yulia S. Nenakhova, Institute of Socio-Economic Studies of Population, Federal Center of Theoretical and Applied Sociology RAS, Moscow, Russian Federation
Researcher

References

1. Chirkin V. E. O terminah «ekonomicheskaya konstitutsiya» i «konstitutsionnaya ekonomika», a takzhe o rossijskoj i zapadnoj nauke (otklik na stat'yu G. N. Andreevoj). [On the terms "economic constitution" and "constitutional economy", as well as on the Russian and Western science (response to G. N. Andreeva's article)]. Konstitutsionnoye i munitsipal'noye pravo. [Constitutional and Municipal Law]. 2016. No. 3. P. 11-13. (in Russ.)

2. Strashun B. A. Konstitutsionnoe regulirovaniye ekonomicheskih otnoshenij i tendentsii yego razvitiya v sovremennom mire. [Constitutional regulation of economic relations and its development trends in modern world]. Sravnitel'noe konstitutsionnoye obozreniye. [Comparative Constitutional Review]. 2013. No. 2. P. 86-103 (in Russ.)

3. Avak'yan S. A. Konstitutsiya Rossii: priroda, evolyutsiya, sovremennost'. 2-e izd. [Constitution of Russia: Nature, Evolution, Modernity]. 2nd ed. Moscow. 2000. 528 p. ISBN 5855970159. (in Russ.).

4. Aleksandrova O. A. Institutsional'nyye problemy stanovleniya sotsial'nogo gosudarstva v sovremennoj Rossii. [Institutional Issues of the Formation of Social State in Modern Russia]. Moscow. M-Studio. 2009. 288 p. ISBN 978-5-903198-17-7. (in Russ.)

5. Bogomolov O. T. Rossijskoj normoj dolzhna stat' sotsial'no-orientirovannaya rynochnaya ekonomika. [Socially-oriented market economy should become a Russian norm]. Ekonomicheskaya nauka sovremennoj Rossii. [Economics of Contemporary Russia]. Ekspress-vypusk [Express issue]. 2000. No. 1(5). P. 37-40. (in Russ.)

6. Zhdanovskaya A. GATS VTO — soglashenie o privatizatsii obshchestvennyh blag i razrushenii modeli sotsial'nogo gosudarstva. [WTO GATS is an agreement on privatization of public goods and destruction of the social state model]. Available at: http://wto-inform.ru/experts/gats_vto_soglashenie_o_privatizatsii_obshchestvennykh_blag_i_razrushenii_modeli_sotsialnogo_gosudars/ (Accessed: 14 February 2018). (in Russ.)

7. Rossiya kak sotsial'noe gosudarstvo: konstitutsionnaya model' i real'nost': sbornik materialov. [Russia as a Social State: Constitutional Model and Reality]. Eds. E. I. Kolyushin and A. A. Nelyubin. Moscow. Izd. Soveta Federatsii. [Federation Council Publishers] 2007. 190 p. (in Russ.)

8. Aleksandrova O. A. Sotsial'noe gosudarstvo v sovremennoj Rossii: razvitiye ili demontazh. [Social state in modern Russia: development or dismantling?]. Vestnik RGGU. Seriya: Ekonomika, Upravlenie, Pravo. [RSUH/RGGU Bulletin. Series Economics. Management. Law] 2013. No. 15(116). P. 55-64. (in Russ.)

9. Evolyutsiya normativnoj bazy sotsial'nyh reform [Evolution of the Normative Basis of the Social Reforms]. Ed. E. M. Avraamova. Moscow. ISESP RAS. 2011. 244 p. ISBN 978-5-903198-24-5. (in Russ.)

10. Gadzhiev G. A. Ekonomicheskaya politika gosudarstva: okazyvaet li Konstitutsionnyj sud vozdejstviye na yeyo ochertaniya? [Economic policy of the State: does the Constitutional Court have an effect on its shape?]. Sravnitel'noye konstitutsionnoye obozreniye. [Comparative Constitutional Review]. 2010. No. 1(74). P. 89-96. (in Russ.)

11. Domrin A. N., Rumyantsev O. G. Dva neobhodimyh konstitutsionnyh usloviya postroeniya sotsial'nogo gosudarstva v Rossii. [Two necessary conditions for construction of a social state in Russia]. Konstitutsionnyj vestnik. [Constitutional Bulletin]. 2013. No. 3. P. 21-28. (in Russ.)

12. Efimov V. M. Ekonomisty i sotsial'noye gosudarstvo. [Economists and social state] Ekonomicheskaya nauka i sotial'noe gosudarstvo: Sbornik materialov Kruglogo stola v ramkah programmy III Moskovskogo ekonomicheskogo foruma (Moskva, 26 marta 2015 g.). [Economics and Social State. Proceedings of the Round Table at the III Moscow Economic Forum. 26 March 2015]. Ed. O. A. Aleksandrova. Moscow. Ekon-Inform. 2016. P. 52-66. (in Russ.)

13. Esping-Andersen G. Social Class, Social Democracy and State Policy. Copenhagen. 1980. 28 p. ISBN 9788770341790.

14. Boldyrev O. Yu. Sotsial'noye gosudarstvo: kak priblizit' real'nost' k konstitutsionnomu printsipu. [Social state: how to bring reality closer to the constitutional principle]. Konstitutsionnoye i munitsipal'noye pravo. [Constitutional and Municipal Law]. 2020. No. 2. P. 11-16. DOI: 10.18572/1812-3767-2020-2-11-16 (in Russ.)

15. Luebbe-Wolff G. Printsip sotsial'nogo gosudarstva v praktike konstitutsionnogo suda Germanii. [Principle of social state in the practice of the Constitutional Court of Germany]. Sravnitel'noye konstitutsionnoye obozreniye. [Comparative Constitutional Review]. 2008. No. 1, P. 67-76. (in Russ.)

16. Chubarova T. V. Perspektivy reformy zdravoohraneniya Rossii: neobhodimost' novyh podhodov. [Prospects for healthcare reform in Russia: necessity of new approaches]. Problemy prognozirovaniya. [Studies on Russian Economic Development]. 2004. No. 5. P. 75-86. (in Russ.)

17. Aleksandrova O. A., Yarasheva A. V. Usileniye selektivnosti sotsial'noj politiki i perspektivy snizheniya bednosti. [Strengthening the selectivity of social policy and poverty reduction prospects]. Narodonaselenie. [Population]. 2018. No. 1. P. 4-22. DOI: 10.26653/1561-7785-2018-21-1-01 (in Russ.)

18. Rothstein B. Just Institutions Matter: The Moral and Political Logic of the Universal Welfare State. Cambridge. 1998. ISBN 13-978-0521598934.

19. Chirkin V. E. Konstitutsiya i sotsial'noye gosudarstvo. [Constitution and social state]. Konstitutsionnyj vestnik. [Constitutional Bulletin]. 2008. No. 1(19), P. 231-248. (in Russ.)

20. Kolyushin E. I. Konstitutsionnaya problema sotsial'nogo gosudarstva. [Constitutional problem of social state]. Sovremennoye konstitutsionnoye pravo: otechestvennyye i zarubezhnyye issledovaniya. [Modern Constitutional Law: Russian and Foreign Studies]. Sbornik nauchnyh trudov. Ser. «Pravovedenie». [Research papers. Series: Legal Studies]. Eds. E. V. Alfferova, I. A. Umnova (Konyukhova). Moscow. INION RAN. 2019. 237 p. (in Russ.)

21. Chirkin V. E. Sotsioekonomicheskaya paradigma rossijskoj Konstitutsii 1993 g.: plyusy i minusy. [Socio-economic paradigm of the Russian Constitution of 1993]. Zhurnal rossijskogo prava. [Journal of Russian Law]. 2018. No. 7(259). P. 5-15. (in Russ.)

22. Friot S. P. Sotsial'nyye i ekonomicheskiye prava v SShA: gde iskat'? [Social and economic rights in the USA: where to look for?]. Sravnitel'noye konstitutsionnoe obozreniye. [Comparative Constitutional Review]. 2008. No. 1(62). P. 100-106. (in Russ.)

23. Andreeva G. N. Byudzhetno-finansovyye voprosy kak predmet referenduma (zametki na polyah resheniya Konstitutsionnogo suda RF). [Budget financial issues as the subject of referendum (notes in the margins of the RF Constitutional Court's decision]. Konstitutsionnoye i municipal'noye pravo. [Constitutional and Municipal Law]. 2007. No. 20. P. 16-22. (in Russ.)

24. Boldyrev O. Yu. Ekonomicheskij suverenitet gosudarstva i konstitutsionno-pravovyye mekhanizmy yego zashchity. [Economic Sovereignty of State and Constitutional Legal Mechanisms for Its Protection]. Ed. S. A. Avak'yan. Moscow. Prospekt. 2018. 408 p. ISBN 978-5-392-28786-4. (in Russ.)

25. Strashun B. A. Konstitutsionnoye regulirovaniye ekonomicheskih otnoshenij i tendentsii yego razvitiya v sovremennom mire. [Constitutional regulation of economic relations and its development trends in modern world]. Sravnitel'noye konstitutsionnoye obozreniye. [Comparative Constitutional Review]. 2013. No. 2(93). P. 86-103. (in Russ.)

26. Rumyantsev O. G. Osnovy konstitutsionnogo stroya Rossii (ponyatiye, soderzhaniye, voprosy stanovleniya). [Fundamentals of the Constitutional System in Russia (Concept. Contents, Issues of Formation)]. Moscow. Jurist. 1994. — 288p. (in Russ.)

27. Boldyrev O. Yu. Popravki k Konstitutsii Rossii: reshenie staryh problem ili sozdaniye novyh? [Amendments to the Constitution of Russia: solution of the old problems or creation of new ones?]. Konstitutsionnyj vestnik. [ConstitutionalBulletin]. 2020. No. 5(23). P. 121-127. (in Russ.)
Article

Received: 06.06.2020

Accepted: 14.12.2020

Citation Formats
Other cite formats:

APA
Boldyrev, O. Y., & Nenakhova, Y. S. (2020). Problems of the implementation of social state and the constitutional reform 2020. Population, 23(4), 71-82. https://doi.org/10.19181/population.2020.23.4.7
Issue
Vol 23 No 4 (2020): Population
Section
QUALITY, STANDARDS AND CONDITIONS OF LIFE