The electoral system of the USSR in the period of «developed socialism» and the beginning of «perestroika» (1977-1988): historical and legal experience and its significance for modern Russia

The article is devoted to the study of a number of historical and legal problems associated with the functioning of the electoral system in the USSR during the period of «developed socialism» and the beginning of «perestroika» (1977 - 1988). The historical period under consideration is characterized by the legal effect of two laws very close to each other in terms of methodology and content, the Laws of July 6, 1978 and December 1, 1988, which were based on the provisions of the same Constitution of the USSR, but determined by their normative impact completely different elections: in the first case, these were «Brezhnev» elections (traditional, uncontested and only «approving the policy of the party and government»), in the second case, these were «Gorbachev’s» elections (political-innovative, alternative and« the first democratic in the USSR»: this was an unprecedented breakdown of public perceptions about what elections in the Soviet country should be like in general.