Non-Spiral Development of Domestic Federalism (to readers)

Abstract

The  establishment  of  the  Russian  Federation  as  a  sovereign,  democratic,  federal  state caused a surge of interest in searching ways of transition from a formal model of federal relations of the Soviet type to a real model of such relations. The journal Federalism was created 25 years ago to provide a platform for everyone willing express their opinion on this  issue.  Discussions  on  its  pages  continue  to  this  day,  despite  the  fact  that  the  model of  national  statehood  implemented  in  the  country  is  far  from  real-federal.  However,  the fact  that  the  discussion  continues  shows  that  the  problem  of  the  development  of  federal relations and regional policy in a country with such a highly complex socio-economic and ethnocultural space is relevant. In this introduction to the readers, the author do not set the task of a detailed presentation of the position on current problems and prospects of Russian federalism. The aim is to show that regional economies require operational management, which cannot always be carried out from the Center. And therefore, the limitation of the powers of the authorities and administrations of the constituent entities of the Federation in this area accompanied by the impossibility of effective control over what is happening from the Center, inevitably makes large business a key figure in this management. This, given the preservation of the “wild” nature of the domestic market, may become an obstacle to strengthening the unity of the country’s economic space.