The form of the modern state: a new look at the organization of public authority

Abstract

Introduction. Currently, Russian legal scholarship remains dominated by a conservative and, to some extent, stagnant approach to understanding the form of government and its structural elements, which reflect the specific organization of public authority, primarily the highest organs of state power in the respective country. The identified elements of the form of government – the form of government, the form of state-territorial structure, and the political regime, along with their various types – represent stable legal constants ingrained in the minds of researchers. However, the dynamic development of statehood entails evolutionary variability in the form of government, and, consequently, the transformation of its constituent elements. Identifying new qualitative characteristics of the form of government allows us to view it differently, replacing the conventional view with a conceptually new one, more in line with the current level of development of legal understanding.Purpose. To explore the essence of the form of government, the elements of which (form of government, form of state-territorial structure, and political regime) in their dialectical unity reflect the processes of centralization and decentralization of state governance, which are manifested in the specific features of the organization of public authority, including the distribution of powers among the highest organs of state power. It is precisely the processes of centralization (decentralization) that underlie the functioning of public authority in any modern state, which predetermines the characteristics of its form.Methods. The theoretical and methodological basis of the work was formed by doctrinal approaches to the organization of the highest bodies of state power, as well as theoretical constructs of interaction between the highest bodies of power and administration, on the basis of which an idea of the form of the state is formed. Results and conclusions. Analyzing certain issues related to the functioning of public authorities in the Russian Federation and several other countries, both positive and negative aspects of centralization and decentralization in public administration are revealed. Examining public power relations in public administration, the conclusion is reached regarding the need to maintain a balance between centralization and decentralization processes, both vertically and horizontally. Combining and harmonizing centralization and decentralization processes will contribute to the creation of an optimal national model for a given country's form of government.The study: – argues that elements of the form of government are currently losing their former significance, as they are not independent elements, but rather serve as characteristics of the organization of public authority in a given state, demonstrating the degree of centralization or decentralization of public administration;– develops a new conceptual approach to understanding the essence of the form of government, which is essentially equated with the form of government, on the basis of which the author proposes a definition of the latter;– it is substantiated that the form of government reflects the processes of centralization or decentralization of public administration both vertically and horizontally, which determines the characteristics of the form of government and territorial structure. The article demonstrates that the form of government, expressed through the form of government, reflects the distribution of state powers both among central government bodies and between them and regional (local) ones, which, in turn, reflects the degree of centralization of public administration as a whole. An important conclusion reached in the study is that the correspondence between the form of government and its content is of considerable importance. This largely determines their harmonious interaction and facilitates the effective functioning of public authorities. In this regard, it is important to find an optimal relationship between the form and content of government that would reflect the balance of centralization and decentralization in public administration, taking into account national specifics.