Interparliamentary Associations of the Subjects of the Russian Federation in the 1990s: the formation of the institutional foundations of "horizontal federalism"

Abstract

The article is devoted to the analysis of the formation of the organizational foundations of interparliamentary associations established by the parliaments of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation in the 1990s. The object of the study is interparliamentary cooperation developing between the legislative authorities of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, and the subject is the interparliamentary associations formed by them. The purpose of the study is to identify the features of the organization of interregional associations of legislative authorities of the subjects of the Russian Federation, which are the basis for the formation of horizontal federal relations in the 1990s. Historical-genetic, problem-analytical and historical-comparative methods, as well as the method of structural-functional analysis are used as the methodological basis of the work. Attention is drawn to the fact that at the first stage of the formation of inter–parliamentary associations in 1994, the association became the most popular form of organizational cooperation, and at the second stage, since 1997, the council. The associations were created as consultative and advisory bodies implementing the function of coordinating legislative activities within their own jurisdiction and authority in order to create a single legislative space of the subjects of the Federation of one macro-region. The formation of councils was carried out with the aim of developing legislative initiatives within the joint jurisdiction of the center and the regions concerning the implementation of economic reform. It was concluded that the organizational structure of associations, in general, correlates with the generally accepted standard of activity of the corresponding form of interparliamentary association, defining and streamlining the content and dynamics of the processes of its legislative activity and ensuring the implementation of the goals. Whereas the constituent entities of the Federation – members of the soviets, defining the status of associations as organizations, thereby formally positioned their significance and weight, but in fact focused on building individual relations with the federal center "vertically". Thus, only the association model in the 1990s ensured the formation of the institutional foundations of "horizontal federalism" in Russia.