Interaction between the Center and the Regions during the Development of the Treaty of Federation in 1992

Abstract

The article features the reforms of the federal structure in the 1990s and the development of the Treaty of Federation in 1992. It focuses on the practices of federal relations that appeared in the post-Soviet period both in terms of the interaction between the Federal Center and the regional elites and in the context of the classical federalism. The authors described the factors that hindered the signing of the Federal Treaty, as well as the resources the regional elite used to affect the Center. They revealed the opposite views on the concept of federal structure expressed by national and territorial subjects of the Russian Federation and described their attempts to reach a compromise in the redistribution of powers. The research objective was to determine to what degree the Center was responsible for the content of the Treaty of Federation as the regional self-identification was gaining strength and the system of center-regional interaction was changing. The authors also highlighted the role of certain social groups on the development of federal relations, showed how the actions of the Center improved its positions, and identified historical facts that predetermined the asymmetry of the Treaty of Federation. The authors believed that the new model of federal relations was a compromise between the interests of the regional elites and the central government. However, it also strengthened the positions of the Federal Center and legalized the asymmetric nature of its relations with the regions. The research was based on general scientific methods and such historical research tools as comparative and systematic methods. It also involved such interdisciplinary methods as the historical-legal and the comparative analysis of legal documents.