The Right of Association and the Problem of Constitutionalizing the Multiparty System in Russia: Historical and Contemporary Aspects

Abstract

The subject of this research is the complex of constitutional and legal norms enshrined in the Constitution of the Russian Federation of 1993, which form the legal foundations of multipartyism and regulate citizens' rights to unite in political parties. A detailed analysis focuses on the systemic interrelationships between Article 13 of the Constitution, which proclaims ideological and political diversity, and other fundamental provisions of the Basic Law – the right to associate (Article 30), freedom of thought and speech (Article 29), as well as electoral rights (Article 32). Special attention is paid to the legal nature and content of key constitutional categories such as “ideological diversity,” “political diversity,” and “multipartyism,” and their role in the establishment of democratic institutions in post-Soviet Russia. The purpose of this work is to consider the text of the 1993 Constitution as a cohesive “legal code,” revealing the original constitutional intent and methodology for regulating political associations, which often remain in the background when studying subsequent sectoral legislation. The research is based on a systemic analysis of the text of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, as well as historical-legal and comparative-legal methods. This allows for the norms on multipartyism to be examined not in isolation but in their interconnection with other principles of the constitutional order (ideological diversity, popular sovereignty, equality) and fundamental rights (freedom of thought, right to associate, electoral rights). The novelty of the study lies in the consideration of the Constitution of the Russian Federation of 1993 as a coherent “legal code” of multipartyism. Unlike approaches that examine subsequent legislation on parties, this work reconstructs the original constitutional intent. For the first time, the interrelationship of constitutional norms on multipartyism – from the right to associate to ideological and political diversity – is systematically analyzed. A special contribution is the identification and theoretical justification of the implicit model of constitutionalization in Russia and its systemic risks. The 1993 Constitution created a progressive basis for political pluralism. However, the merits of the implicit model (flexibility) have turned into shortcomings. The lack of detailed constitutional guarantees for the electoral process and the transfer of regulation to current legislation have made the party system dependent on law enforcement practices. This has limited the potential of the Basic Law and created prerequisites for reducing real political competition.