Comparative Legal Analysis of the Constitutional Regulation of the Foundations of the Status of Political Parties in the Countries of Post-socialist Constitutionalism
Relevance. This article provides an overview of the practice of constitutional norms regulating the status of political parties in the Constitutions of post-socialist countries. The establishment of these constitutional norms is predetermined by the experience of the countries of the socialist community, in which the only, monopoly parties were actually merged with the state apparatus. The purpose of this study is to determine the norms of the Constitutions of the post-socialist countries of Eastern Europe, which secure the legal status of political parties in a comparative legal manner. Objectives: analyze the norms regulating the status of political parties in the constitutions of post-socialist countries, correlate them with the norms of the Constitution of the Russian Federation and determine the functions of political parties in the system of national representation. Methodology. In the process of working on the study, we used formal legal and comparative legal methods. The formal legal method was used to interpret the content of the norms of the Constitutions of post-socialist countries on the status of political parties. The use of the comparative legal method is due to the need to compare the specifics of securing the status of political parties in the Constitutions of a number of countries. Results. The constitutional norms governing the legal status of political parties in Bulgaria, Hungary, Germany were analyzed. Based on the analysis, differences in the approach to defining the functions of political parties in the Russian Federation were identified. Conclusion: Special attention to the constitutional regulation of the status of political parties in these countries is explained by the previous experience of the functioning of a monopoly party replacing the state apparatus of government. It should be noted as a positive factor for the constitutional regulation of party building the possibility of recognizing a party as unconstitutional only by a decision of the judicial body of constitutional control. Legal regulation of the organization and activities of political parties in countries with a democratic constitutional system is based on the principle of assisting parties in the election of candidates based on the formation and expression of the political will of society. Parties do not exist "on their own" outside the electoral system, their goals are organically associated with national representation.