The genesis of Russian multipartyism at the end of the USSR – the institutional-decisional-legal aspect

Abstract

The article presents the genesis of the process of formation of multi-partyism in Russia in relation to the changes at the institutional-decisional-legal level that were carried out in the last years of the USSR under Mikhail Gorbachev's perestroika policy. Firstly, proceedings of an institutional-normative nature initiated by the then authorities are discussed, namely the reorganisation of the organs of state power: first and foremost, the holding of elections of deputies to the Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR. This was to be a genuinely competitively elected body, which it was decided to resurrect in line with an appeal to the origins of communism - an overturning of the model of power based on the functioning of councils with its superstructure the Congress, which constituted the main decision-making body in the state. Secondly, the transformations at the decision-making level, concerning the sphere of elite alternation in the process of transformational change, were analysed. Thirdly, the legal changes that effectively changed the basis of the Soviet system and initiated the emergence of a new order are shown. The totality of these proceedings initiated by the authorities at the time were, according to the logic assumed by those in power, actually intended to strengthen the position of the Communist Party and its apparatus as a force supporting perestroika. In reality, these actions laid the groundwork for future systemic, social and worldview changes and paved the way for multipartyism in an already different (new) political, legal and state environment (Russian Federation).