REFORMING ELECTORAL SYSTEMS IN RUSSIA AND ABROAD: FROM MOTIVATION TO LEGAL INNOVATION

Abstract

The article is devoted to the practices of reforming electoral systems in the Russian Federation and abroad. Despite the fact that the influence of electoral systems on party systems has been revealed by M.Duverger at the beginning of the XX century, the influence of party systems on electoral systems remains a topical research field. The fact is that electoral systems do not represent a prescribed static construct, but are a reflection of political will motivated by various factors. The purpose of the article is to identify the motives of various political actors to change the electoral legislation. Within the framework of a small-scale comparative study, based on the study of empirical data on the reform of electoral systems in Russia and abroad, these motives were identified and classified. The main determinants of changes in electoral systems are highlighted, among which the basic one is the political will of actors to preserve the status quo. The hypothesis is confirmed that the fundamental motivation for the reform (or lack thereof) of electoral systems is the intention of political elites to preserve power. Other factors also include the sociological and institutional features of the state. It is also important that the motivation and factors of electoral reform are the same in both majoritarian and proportional and other electoral systems. What is distinctive here is only a set of specific parameters that can be reformed in the context of a particular electoral system. Based on empirical analysis, it has been established that under the threat of monopolization of the tools for reforming the electoral system, it is necessary to create such a system of reforming the electoral system, which would be based on the institutional consolidation of the system of checks and balances in order to prevent the influence of only one of the political actors on it.