Decree on the system
of government of Russia
Tauride Palace
Created18 January 1918
LocationRussia Petrograd, Russia[a]
PurposeConstitution for Russia

The Decree on the system of government of Russia[b][1] was a basis of the new constitution declared in 1918 in Russia during the Russian Revolution of 1917, during the five-month interregnum between the downfall of the Alexander Kerensky government and the official declaration of the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic.[2] It was formally declared on 18 January 1918[3] when the democratically elected Russian Constituent Assembly drafted and adopted the "Resolution on the form of government of Russia", declaring Russia to be a democratic federal republic called the "Russian Democratic Federative Republic". However, the Assembly was dissolved on the same day by the Bolshevik-controlled All-Russian Central Executive Committee, meaning the declaration was not carried out as it was considered to be without legal force.[4]

Governmental structure

According to the constitution, Russia was to be declared a democratic federal republic. The fundamental basis of the state was representative democracy and federation of both[2] national and territorial autonomous oblasts.[5] This was in contrast to the Decembrist constitution project, which proposed a federal constitutional monarchy on an economic basis. For the first time, the unitary structure of Russia would have been officially abolished and the country declared a federation, marking the start of the federalist period in Russian history.[3]

Civil rights and duties

The Constitution granted universal suffrage for all citizens of the Republic aged 20 or older.[6] This would have been five years lower than in the former Russian Empire.

Most civil duties, such as conscription and taxes, were inherited from the legislation of the Russian Empire.

Head of state

The head of state would have been the President of the Russian Democratic Federative Republic, elected for a one-year term[6] by a majority vote in parliament involving the deputies of both chambers.[5] Presidential powers were nearly identical to those of the Emperor:[6]

The President would have been responsible for his work before the parliament. A similar approach to presidential power, there termed Ersatzkaiser, was later used in the German constitution of 1919.

Due to the cancellation of the Constitution, no person was ever elected to this office.

Legislation

According to the final draft of the Constitution, adopted in Paris on 20 January 1920, legislative power was to be held by a bicameral parliament. The State Council of the Russian Democratic Federative Republic would form the upper house, elected by regional legislatures (sejms),[5] while the State Duma of the Russian Democratic Federative Republic would form the lower house, directly elected by citizens of the Republic.[5][7]

Constituent powers to create a new constitution and change the type of government were allocated to the Russian Constituent Assembly.[5]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Place where document signed, not location of copies.
  2. ^ Russian: Постановление о государственном устройстве в России, romanized: Postanovleniye o gosudarstvennom ustroystve v Rossii.

References

  1. ^ Decree on system of government of Russia
  2. ^ a b (in Russian) Гаранжа, Анатолий Петрович Всероссийское Учредительное собрание о государственном устройстве страны
  3. ^ a b "КРУГЛЫЙ СТОЛ". prof.msu.ru.
  4. ^ Ikov, Marat Sal. "ROUND TABLE THE INFLUENCE OF NATIONAL RELATIONS ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE FEDERATIVE STATE STRUCTURE AND ON THE SOCIAL AND POLITICAL REALITIES OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION". Prof.Msu.RU. Retrieved 9 February 2021. However, historically, the first proclamation of the federation was made somewhat earlier - by the Constituent Assembly of Russia. In his short resolution of January 6 (18), 1918, the following was enshrined: "In the name of the peoples, the state of the Russian constituent, the All-Russian Constituent Assembly decides: the Russian state is proclaimed by the Russian Democratic Federal Republic, uniting peoples and regions in an indissoluble union, within the limits established by the federal constitution, Of course, the above resolution, which did not thoroughly regulate the entire system of federal relations, was not considered by the authorities as having legal force, especially after the dissolution of the Constituent Assembly.
  5. ^ a b c d e (in Russian) THE POLITICAL SYSTEM OF RUSSIA IN PROGRAMS OF WHITE MOVEMENT AND WHITE EMIGRATION Bukhvostovoj D.V.
  6. ^ a b c (in Russian) Details on 1917 project of the constitution of the Russian Democratic Federative Republic Archived 23 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine //LAW.EDU.RU
  7. ^ Bukhvostovoj, D.V. "POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT OF RUSSIA IN THE PROGRAMS OF WHITE MOVEMENT AND WHITE EMIGRATION" (PDF). umc.gu-unpk.ru/. Oryol State Technical University, Oryol, Russia. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 November 2017. Retrieved 27 November 2017.
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