Russian Constitution: Salient Features

Russian constitution features are best understood against the backdrop of the Soviet Union's collapse and the socialist constitutional tradition that preceded it. The document that governs the Russian Federation today was adopted only after the USSR ceased to exist, and it deliberately broke from the single-party, socialist model of its Soviet predecessors by declaring Russia a sovereign, multi-ethnic, federal republic. For students of Indian polity, the topic matters for a second reason: the Russian (Soviet) Constitution was explicitly discussed — and consciously not copied — by members of India's own Constituent Assembly while they debated the shape of the Indian Constitution.

From the USSR to the Russian Federation

Russia was the largest constituent republic of the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. It accounted for roughly 75 per cent of the USSR's total area and about 50 per cent of its population, while contributing close to 70 per cent of the Union's total agricultural and industrial output. When the USSR dissolved in December 1991, Russia had to build a new politico-administrative system from the remnants of the Soviet state. This process culminated in a new Constitution, adopted on 20 December 1993.

The Soviet Constitutional Tradition That Came Before

Russia's post-1991 Constitution did not emerge in a vacuum; it followed decades of Soviet constitutional practice. The Soviet Constitution of 1977 — drafted by a committee headed by Leonid Brezhnev — was a written document of 20 chapters and 174 Articles arranged in nine parts. It was a rigid constitution: amendment required a two-thirds majority in each house of the Supreme Soviet, the USSR's legislature. Crucially, it was an explicitly socialist constitution, laying down the foundational structure of a socialist state under single-party Communist rule.

That single-party tradition went back further still. According to discussions recorded in India's Constituent Assembly, the Communist Party came to power in Russia through the October Revolution of 1917, but the Soviet Union did not adopt a constitution for roughly eighteen years afterward — a period during which single-party rule was firmly consolidated before a constitutional document was framed at all.

Salient Features of the 1993 Russian Federation Constitution

The Constitution adopted after the Soviet collapse marks a clear departure from this socialist, single-party framework. Its salient features, as recorded in comparative constitutional study, include:

The Russian Constitution in India's Constituent Assembly Debates

The Russian (Soviet) Constitution came up repeatedly while the Constituent Assembly of India debated the Draft Constitution, chiefly in response to criticism that the Drafting Committee had borrowed heavily from Western constitutions while ignoring the Soviet model. Members defending the Draft pointed to a basic historical difference: the Soviet Constitution had emerged only after eighteen years of unbroken, rigid single-party rule by the Communist Party of the USSR, whereas India's constitutional development grew out of a different, more broadly democratic political tradition.

Speakers also noted that although the Soviet Constitution formally gave constituent republics such as Georgia and Ukraine the right to secede from the Union, the tight organisational grip of the Communist Party over these republics made that right effectively unusable in practice. This was cited as a reason for caution in treating Soviet constitutional guarantees as models to be transplanted directly.

One member, arguing for stronger press and welfare provisions in the Indian Constitution, specifically invoked Chapter II of the Russian Constitution, pointing to two of its articles: one compelling every able-bodied citizen to work, and another aimed at ensuring that the press would not be allowed to prejudice the growth of independent public opinion. The point was raised while discussing India's own Directive Principles, illustrating how the Assembly used the Soviet document as a reference point for debate even while declining to adopt its underlying socialist framework.

UPSC Relevance

Prelims

• The adoption date of the present Russian Federation Constitution (20 December 1993) and its context — the dissolution of the USSR in December 1991.
• Structural features of the Soviet Constitution of 1977 (chapters, Articles, amendment procedure) as part of the "World Constitutions" comparative segment.
• Russia's share of the former USSR's area, population, and output.

Mains

• GS2: Comparative analysis of world constitutions, and how the Constituent Assembly of India engaged with foreign constitutional models — accepting some features, consciously rejecting others.
• The historical link between single-party political consolidation and constitution-making, as illustrated by the Soviet experience.

FAQ

Q1. When was the present Constitution of Russia adopted? It was adopted on 20 December 1993, following the dissolution of the USSR in December 1991.

Q2. What are the salient features of the Russian Constitution mentioned in comparative constitutional study? It declares Russia a sovereign and multi-ethnic republican state and establishes a federal structure.

Q3. Did India's Constituent Assembly borrow provisions from the Russian (Soviet) Constitution? Members explicitly noted that India did not borrow significantly from it, citing India's different historical and political conditions compared to the eighteen years of single-party Communist rule that preceded the Soviet Constitution.

Q4. What distinguished the 1977 Soviet Constitution? It was a written, rigid, and explicitly socialist constitution of 20 chapters and 174 Articles, drafted under a committee headed by Brezhnev, amendable only by a two-thirds majority in each house of the Supreme Soviet.

Q5. Why was Russia significant within the former USSR? It was the largest constituent republic, covering about 75 per cent of the USSR's area, roughly 50 per cent of its population, and close to 70 per cent of its agricultural and industrial output.

Quick Revision

• Present Russian Federation Constitution adopted: 20 December 1993.
• USSR dissolved: December 1991.
• Soviet Constitution of 1977: 20 chapters, 174 Articles, 9 parts; drafted under Brezhnev; amendable by two-thirds majority in each house of the Supreme Soviet.
• First Soviet constitution came about eighteen years after the October Revolution of 1917.
• Russia held ~75% of USSR area, ~50% of population, ~70% of agricultural/industrial output.
• India's Constituent Assembly consciously did not model the Draft Constitution on the Russian/Soviet Constitution.

Sources

• Constituent Assembly Debates (Official Report), Constituent Assembly of India — official archive at eparlib.nic.in
• Constitution of the Russian Federation — official text, constitution.ru

Further Reference

For deeper reading on this topic and the wider polity syllabus, these standard works are recommended:

• M. Laxmikanth, Indian Polity (McGraw Hill) — the standard UPSC handbook.
• D.D. Basu, Introduction to the Constitution of India (LexisNexis) — authoritative constitutional-law treatment.
• The Constitution of India — Bare Act — the official text.

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