INDEPENDENT RESEARCH AGENCY

Impact of Russian constitutional amendments on the development of the political system and society

In the summer of 2020, Amendments to the Constitution of the Russian Federation entered into force. “Bashkirova & Partners” decided to find out how, according to experts, the amendments will affect the development of the political system and society.

The study took place in January 2020. Surveys were conducted among two main expert groups (analysts and representatives of the executive branch) in the field of economic development and international relations. A total of 50 respondents were interviewed.

Just over half of the experts believe that the consequences of the amendments to the Constitution will be positive. They believe it important that the Constitutional Court will receive more powers, the country will become more socially oriented, the president will have more powers in terms of controlling the courts, and there will be more trust in Putin and in the apparatus governing the country.  Russian law will have priority over the international law.

However, a considerable part of the experts, a bit less than a half, believe that the amendments to the Constitution may also have negative consequences. They insist that the amendments simply contradict the articles already written in the Constitution. Many complaints were caused by the fact that the vote will not be held on every single amendment, but as a package, while the Constitution stipulates that in such cases a referendum must be held on each amendment separately. Technically, this is impossible, since the number of amendments exceeds 30. Some believe that this is an attempt to “secure Putin's place for several terms ahead”.

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