Authoritarian constitutionalism in Putin’s Russia
A pragmatic constitutional court in a dual state
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6180982 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Alexei Trochev (0000-0001-9665-0494, Nazarbayev University), Peter H Solomon (University of Toronto) |
| Year | 2018 |
| Volume | 51 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 201-214 |
| Publication date | 2018-09-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Communist and Post-Communist Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0967-067X • E-ISSN: 1873-6920 |
| Publisher | University of California Press (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1016/j.postcomstud.2018.06.002 |
| OpenAlex | W2888288850 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 16 |
| References cited | 22 |
This article analyzes the successful adaptation of the Russian Constitutional Court (RCC) to an increasingly authoritarian regime under President Vladimir Putin. It argues that the key to its success lay in its pragmatic approach, whereby the Court decides cases that matter to the regime in a politically expedient way, while giving priority to legal and constitutional considerations in other cases, thereby recognizing the reality of a dual state. Over the years the RCC has taken a pragmatic approach in its reaction to changes in the rules of its operations, in its personnel, and in the policies of the popular political leader, including reducing the country’s subordination of European legal norms. In so doing, the Court and its skillful chairman Valerii Zorkin achieved considerable autonomy in pursuing its own legal vision on many issues and even improved the implementation of its decisions by other judges and political bodies alike (previously a big problem). In short, the RCC developed its own version of “authoritarian constitutionalism”, which may serve as a model for constitutional judicial bodies in other authoritarian states
Authoritarianism · Autonomy · Constitution · Constitutional court · Constitutional law · Constitutionalism · Democracy · Law and economics · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Computer Science · European and International Law Studies · Judicial and Constitutional Studies · Law · Legal and Constitutional Studies · Philosophy
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| Unique citing works | 16 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 2,67 |
| Citation span | 2020 - 2026 (7) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 12 |