Theoretical approaches to definition of the constitutional system of the Russian Federation and its foundations

The article studies theoretical approaches to definition of the constitutional system of the Russian Federation and its foundations, which are relatively new for both Russian constitutional law and Russian legislation, since they were introduced into scientific use and legislation at the early 1990-s only. It is noted that in the legal literature there is no single, universally recognized concept of the constitutional system and its foundation, therefore, on the basis of the analysis of their definitions available in the literature, the authors formulate the concepts and their elements. It is the norm and principles enshrined in the Chapter 1 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation as components of the foundations of the constitutional system that allow to describe the content of the constitutional system as a whole and reveal its essential characteristics in the researches of the relationships of the categories of 'constitutional system' and 'foundation of constitutional system'.