Informal and formal institutions in the context of the political regime (by a case study of the USSR)

The article proves that the political regime is an important issue from the viewpoint of political science along with the theory of state and law. It is proposed to apply the new institutional approach in order to reveal the features of the formal and informal institutions of the state and the characteristics of the interaction of political actors, determining the level of regime competitiveness. The description of the political regime is complemented by the categorical apparatus of law theory (methods of state and legal regulation) and state management (coercion and persuasion). It is argued that legal methods allow one to describe the political and legal reality of the societies in details. The author investigates the influence of the methods of state and legal regulation on the political regime. The institutional parameters of the political regime are examined by a case study of the Soviet Union.