The federal structure of Russia as a whole and its basic norms are established by the provisions of the First Chapter of the Constitution. The Basic Law cannot be amended as usual. To change it requires the actual adoption of a new project. This situation is focused on the principles of the Federation in Russia, which do not allow a fundamental change in the existing system. The foundations of constitutionality extend the sovereignty of the country throughout the territory with all subjects, without exception. The state system of Russia provides for the supremacy of the Constitution throughout the country.
Only the Russian Federation has the right to ensure the inviolability and integrity of its territory and all units that make up it.
The federal structure of Russia is based on constitutional principles. Among them, it is necessary to highlight:
- State integrity.
- The unity of the entire structure of state power.
- The distinction between the state authorities of the country and the authorities of the subjects of their competence.
- Self-determination and equal rights of the peoples of the Russian Federation.
All subjects of the country are endowed with equal rights among themselves in the process of establishing relations with federal bodies. When securing equality for all subjects, the Constitution establishes equal and uniform citizenship of the Russian Federation, regardless of the grounds on which it was acquired. The federal structure of Russia provides for the existence of rights and freedoms, as well as equal obligations established by the Constitution, throughout the country.
The main regulatory issues are reflected in chapter 3. In particular, the text of article 65 provides a complete list of subjects. In addition, the provision consolidates the national and territorial principle of their formation. This indicates the existence of federalism together with autonomy and unitarity. Thus, an integrated federal structure of Russia as an independent, united country is ensured. An important fact is that in the text of the law the subjects are indicated by name. This indicates that any changes to the general composition of the subjects will require at least a change in the content of the Constitution itself.
The state integrity of a country means the absence of a right to secede from the Federation. Thus, the right of secession is realized. Due to the fact that all subjects belong to a single country, the territory of which includes all the territories of the subjects, the separation of any subject will indicate a violation of the integrity of the state. As a rule, in modern countries with the form of government in question, the law does not provide for the right to voluntarily withdraw from the country. However, such a right was provided for by the Constitutions of Yugoslavia, the USSR and Czechoslovakia. This situation was due to the Marxist-Leninist idea of the right of nations to self-determination, up to secession. Other Federations did not recognize this principle, however, even in socialist federations, a clear mechanism was not enshrined for translating the subject's right to secede from a virtually centralized country unilaterally.
It should be noted that the lack of the right to voluntarily withdraw from a holistic country does not contradict democratic principles and is in line with generally accepted trends in the world. However, along with this, the Constitution of the Russian Federation provides for the adoption of a country and the formation of a new entity in accordance with the law.
The Basic Law establishes the status of entities. In accordance with it, the position of the republic as a subject is determined by the Constitution of the country and the republic itself. In other cases, for example, for a city, territory or region, in addition to the provisions of the Basic Law, the charters of territorial entities are taken into account.