Process of consolidating Russian regions as a political and legal problem

The adoption of the Constitution of Russia on December 12, 1993 became an important landmark in the history of our state. The fundamental provisions concerning the foundations of the constitutional system, state structure, human and civil rights and freedoms were consolidated in the Basic Law of the country. The RF Constitution also reflected the complex territorial structure of the Russian state. At the same time, the text emphasized the equality of all federal subjects of Russia in relationships with federal government bodies, but since the subjects were not only numerous in quantitative terms, not equal in their political and legal status, and strove for independence, there was a number of difficulties in practice. In the context of the unstable socio-economic and political situation in Russia, the weakness of the federal center and the strong regional political elites with authoritative leaders, this fact posed a threat to the integrity of the state. In this regard, among the first measures taken by the President of the Russian Federation V. V. Putin, who was elected in 2000, was the voluntary-compulsory consolidation of the country’s regions. The initiated process of uniting the subjects, the liquidation of a number of autonomous okrugs, and similar attempts against the republics caused an ambiguous reaction from the regional political elites. However, their opinions on this issue have not been deeply studied, although they are of considerable interest. This is especially sensitive for the republican political elites, since the experience shows that the process of consolidation involves, first of all, the national subjects of the Federation, including the republics. Therefore, carrying out our own comprehensive study of the political elites of the republics of Buryatia, Sakha (Yakutia) and Tyva, we turn our attention to the value system and opinions expressed by its representatives on the issue under consideration.