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This study aims to determine the characteristics of party systems within the context of electoral systems, forms of government, and continents. There is no study in the literature that quantitatively reveals the relationship between the party system and forms of government. Furthermore, this study differs from other studies in that it deals with the relationship between the electoral system and the party system on a global scale. In the study, the effective number of parties (ENEP and ENPP) was calculated for the last three legislative elections of the countries governed by presidential, president–parliamentary, premier–presidential and parliamentary forms of government, using the Laakso–Taagepera Index. The dataset was then analyzed with ANOVA and post-hoc tests. The study revealed that party systems do not differ significantly from forms of government, that is, forms of government do not determine party systems. Similarly, party systems do not significantly differ in terms of the continents, that is, there are no continental party system characteristics of the forms of government. Also, the study confirmed that it is the electoral system that determines the party systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of land use regulations to enhance a city's sustainability portfolio is not well understood by public administration and policy scholars. Given the positive impact higher-density, environmentally conscious zoning instruments can have on a city's overall progress toward increased sustainability, we seek to determine why some cities use these sustainability-focused land use regulations and others do not. After developing an explanatory framework emphasizing a city's population growth and environmental stress, as well as its political institutions and economic conditions, we use an enhanced ICMA's (International City/County Management Association) Local Government Sustainability Practices survey to test our predictions. We find that cities experiencing greater population growth and environmental stress will be more likely to include land use regulations in their sustainability portfolios. We also find that cities operating under council-manager forms of government and those with greater fiscal resources are more likely to have sustainability-focused zoning regulations in place. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the evolution of the concept of protective democracy and ways of its implementation in political and legal practice. It is emphasized that in the course of historical development, the concept of democracy as one of the oldest means of organizing political power underwent significant changes caused by the evolution of society, legal and political systems, which affected its interpretation and implementation. The ideas that arose around this concept were studied, considering them from different perspectives - from historical to modern. It is shown that the primary and consolidated ideas about protective democracy arose at the turn of the XVII-XVIII centuries, when democracy began to be considered as a means by which citizens can protect themselves from excessive state control. It is noted that in the process of formation of the concept of protective democracy, political and legal ideas about the right to vote as a tool for the implementation of government accountability played a significant role, since democratic institutions and procedures need protection from abuse of power to ensure their stability and effectiveness. It is emphasized that the right to vote, as a key element of democracy, plays a significant role in this concept, as it is the main mechanism for expressing the will of the people and establishing the accountability of the government to the citizens. It is noted that ensuring wide access to voting ensures a higher level of government legitimacy and reduces the likelihood of its authoritarian tendencies. It is shown that political and legal ideas about the right to vote played a key role in the formation of the concept of protective democracy, emphasizing the need to protect and support this fundamental right to ensure the stability and effectiveness of democratic systems. Attention is paid to the contribution to the concept of defensive democracy by such outstanding thinkers and politicians as John Locke, Jeremy Bentham, James Mill and James Madison. The implementation of certain aspects of protective democracy in the US Constitution is considered, and attention is drawn to the role of the republican form of government in this context. Certain milestones in the development of the concept of protective democracy in the 20th century are shown, as well as some ideas regarding this issue in the 21st century, namely the types of protective democracy and its identification as an indirect form of democracy, are explored. Characteristic features of protective democracy and its definition are proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The majority of organization of Islamic cooperation (OIC) countries are developing countries that need an investment to improve the welfare of the countries. This study analyzes the factor of political stability, trade openness, government performance efficiency and forms of government to foreign direct investment in the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Countries. This study was quantitative using random effects model (REM). This research using the Data Panel to 57 member of organization of Islamic cooperation (OIC) countries with an annual distribution of data starting from 2000 - 2023. The result found that political stability, government efficiency, trade openness, and form of government are factors that have a relationship and influence on the investment climate. The results of this study contribute to enrich the discourse of political stability and government efficiency in Indonesia to attract foreign direct invesment (FDI). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Thearticledealswiththeneedtofurtherimprovement ofthefunctioningofthepoliticalsystemofmodernUkrainiansociety. The relevance of this task is determined by the severity of manifestations of opposition from higher authorities. Today, there is a rather complex and contradictory system of relations between the institution of the head of state and the supreme bodies of all branches of power in Ukraine. The most acute contradictions have developed in the executive branch, which are manifested primarily in the relations between the Office of the President of Ukraine and the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. The author substantiates the objectively existing need to develop new theoretical foundations and define practical tasks for modernizing the political system of modern Ukrainian society. At the same time, the author prioritizes measures to harmonize the foundations of a particular form of government with the most effective practices of organization. The author emphasizes that there are a number of contradictions inherent in the regulatory framework, which significantly complicate the organization of interaction between the supreme bodies of all branches of government. It is emphasized that the process of further development of the political system of Ukrainian society requires a thorough restructuring of the regulatory framework for the organization and functioning of the leading political institutions of modern Ukrainian society. First of all, improvement of the regulatory framework for interaction between the branches of power in Ukraine should be aimed at overcoming the manifestations of power dualism enshrined in the powers of all supreme bodies of state power.The author substantiates the tasks of regulatory support for the main directions of optimization of the political system of Ukrainian society through a more complete implementation of one of the classical forms of government.

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Introduction: With the promulgation of Law Number 3 of 2022 on State Capital, the government realized its plan to relocate the nation’s capital from the Specific Capital Region of Jakarta to the Capital of Nusantara on the Kalimantan Island. However, the law's passage has sparked a debate directed at the Indonesian new capital's form of government which is deemed to violate the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia, specifically Articles 18, 18A, and 18B. Purposes of the Research: The purpose of this study is to examine and analyze the compatibility of the Capital of Nusantara’s form of government against Article 18B section (1) of the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia. Methods of the Research: This is a normative juridical study using primary and secondary legal materials that are relevant to the topic of this study. Results of the Research: The results showed that the specific arrangements of the Capital of Nusantara’s form of government are normatively compatible with Article 18B section (1) of the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia for two reasons, namely: the position between Article 18B section (1) and Article 18 as equals and that both of them apply independently; and the specificity that can be regulated for the Capital of Nusantara is flexible which means that the extent of the specificities can be so broad, including in terms of the form of government.

Local governments consistently face challenges of economic depression and the unexpected events that precipitate them, such as COVID-19. The depressions leave governments taxed for resources, infrastructure, and time. These depressions are often helped by large infusions of federal grant dollars, otherwise known as stimulus-oriented granting. Key variables in determining success in spending these stimulus dollars include government structure and different forms of capacity. These are traditionally tested characteristics that governments already possess. What we know less about is how governments take advantage of these spending opportunities without regard to the resources that are under their control. This is referred to as entrepreneurial orientation. Using the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), this study tests the effect of entrepreneurial orientation, form of government, and capacity on local government spending of federal grant dollars, specifically in stimulus-oriented granting. This study has implications for other stimulus-oriented granting, such as the COVID-19-motivated, Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (CARES). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article argues that constitutional mixture should be regarded as an inherent, inevitable feature of constitutions, and to some degree all constitutions are mixed. Thus, "mixed constitutions" should not be regarded as a distinct category of constitutions. Instead of asking whether a constitution is mixed, it might therefore be more useful to ask in which characteristics and to what extent a constitution is mixed. To demonstrate this, the article provides a preliminary typology of constitutional mixture considering the form or system of government; the nature or character of government; the religious or secular identity; the flexibility or rigidity of the constitution; and its model of judicial enforcement—judicial or parliamentary supremacy. Examining these constitutional features, allows to shed light on the three different dimensions of "constitutional mixture": First, the various features of the constitutional order do not function in a binary yes-or-no manner but appear and move along a spectrum. Second, the various features of the constitution change with time. Third, the various features of the constitutional text may be in tension with the features of the society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The principle of separation of powers is one of the basic pillars of the rule of law, and its essence is to prevent abuse of power because the division of power does not exclude the possibility of intertwining competencies of different holders of state power. Precisely because of this, no matter in what form the division of power is realized, conflicts between different holders of power and encroachment on the competence of other holders of power are inevitable. Disputes about conflicts of jurisdiction arise under the influence of various factors, the most important of which is certainly the form of state organization, ie the degree of territorial decentralization and the way in which the division of power at the vertical level was achieved. Any form of decentralization, be it federal units, territorial autonomy or local self-government units, is necessarily a source of potential conflicts between central and non-central government. Therefore, the basic issue that arises in any form of decentralized state, and especially the federal one, is precisely the issue of the relationship between central and noncentral government. The paper pays special attention to Bosnia and Herzegovina, ie the issue of distribution of competencies as a factor of competition disputes and the role of the Constitutional Court in resolving these disputes and establishing clear boundaries between different holders of state power in the vertical.

Copyright of Brazilian Journal of Law & International Relations / Relações Internacionais no Mundo is the property of Relacoes Internacionais no Mundo and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The subject of the article is the application of the concept of the form of state in the Soviet historical and legal science.The purpose of the research is to confirm or disprove the hypothesis that the understanding of the form of the state in the Soviet history of law was not discrete, it changed under the influence of political transformations and had a significant impact on the modern theory of the state.The methodology. The method of periodization was used to highlight the Soviet period of historical and legal science, the chronological method was used to determine the upper and lower boundaries of the Soviet period. The narrative method made it possible to describe the historiographic process. The historical-comparative method was required to compare individual concepts.Results, scope of application. The concept of the form of the state that was used in the historical and legal science of the Soviet period has been determined. The form of the state in Soviet science included two elements initially: the form of government and the form of statehood. The third element has been added since the 1960s – the political regime. The institutionalization of the history of state and law as a science took place by the end of the 1940s. While historians of the old school were working, the main topics included the early stages of the development of the state. Then after the change of generations the priority place was taken by the problems of the Soviet state. By the end of the Soviet period a more harmonious allocation of topics had developed. In Soviet historical and legal science the form of the state of the pre-revolutionary and Soviet periods was considered separately. The form of government of the Russian state in the pre-revolutionary period was defined as a monarchy. Several types of monarchy were distinguished: early feudal, estate-representative, absolute. The republican form of government was recognized for the Soviet state. Its class and social essence changed with the development of socialism. Organizational forms changed accordingly. When studying the polity, the main attention was paid to the federation. Its complex origin was noted, because the Russian Federation (RSFSR) was part of the federation of the USSR. The Soviet federations were built according to the nationalterritorial principle. The issue of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation remained debatable. Most researchers considered the RSFSR a state with autonomous entities. The development of the territory of the state as a whole has hardly been studied. Major administrative-territorial reforms carried out in the 1920s-1930s were considered in isolation from national-territorial construction. Generalized works on the territorial development of the state appeared only at the end of the Soviet period. Issues of the political regime of the feudal and bourgeois state were addressed in the study of direct democracy in the ancient Russian state, estate representative bodies, state power during the period of absolutism. Political liberalization was noted during the bourgeois reforms of the second half of the 19th – early 20th centuries. The democratic nature of the Soviet political regime was not questioned, therefore, the problems indicating trouble, crisis phenomena in the Soviet state were not identified.Conclusions. The understanding of elements of form of the state in the Soviet history of law was expanding. It changed in accordance with the changes in the Soviet governance. The main approaches to understanding the form of the state are accepted by contemporary Russian science.

The form of religious government as one of the most challenging issues in the field of Islamic political thought has always been disputed. Scholars who accept the interference of religion in politics and even believe that religion has made some recommendations about the foundations and principles of the government, they do not hold similar ideas on the form of government. On the one hand, some believe that the form of the government is the same as other elements of politics and identified by God Almighty as fixed and not variable. On the other hand, others hold the belief that God has not commented on the form of government and has remained silent on this matter. Both groups have relied on some evidence to prove their claims more particularly the evidence provided by the holy Quran on the Prophet’ government, which indicates that whether God has presented the pyramidal structure of power for religious government or that God has not done so and does not consider any specific form for the government. This article, using ijtihadi interpretive method as well as historical narrations and quotations, have tried to judge between these two views and reached the conclusion that there is no evidence of the stability of the form of government and its fixed pyramid structure in the story of the prophets in the holy Quran, and it is not possible to prove this claim.

In this paper, we examine the impact of the charter form of government on the borrowing costs of local governments. A substantial amount of research has been undertaken to date in which scholars have investigated the determinants of borrowing costs for governments. However, little research has been conducted hitherto on the impact that the particular form of government - a key issuer characteristic - has on determining its specific borrowing costs. We hypothesized that a chartered government is more likely to be able to reduce its borrowing costs when it is benefiting from the municipal bond market; a government's flexibility and professionalism is desirable. We tested this hypothesis by using city and county government bond data from California that dates from 2003 to 2015. In our findings, we show that the financial flexibility that is afforded by a charter helps local governments to improve their credit ratings and to lower their borrowing costs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the actions and the factors driving those actions to reduce energy consumption and enhance energy efficiency taken by United States cities. While not much empirical evidence is available on why governments pursue practical sustainability actions, we attempt to shed more light on this important topic by empirically identifying factors that contribute to concrete actions toward sustainability policies. We adopt political market theory as a basic theoretical framework with policy-making applied to city energy consumption. Using the 2010 ICMA (local government sustainability policies and program) data, this study expands the focus of analyses to evaluate the effect of the form of government on energy consumption and energy efficiency by using multiple regression analysis. The findings show that at the city level, the mayor- council form of government are negatively associated with governments’ efforts to reduce energy consumption. However, cities with at-large elections and municipal ownership are more likely to adopt sustainability actions. We also find that a large-scale economy has significant effects on the effort to reduce city energy consumption and improve energy efficiency. This shows that environmental policies are directly connected to locally relevant affairs, including housing, energy use, green transportation, and water. Thus, local level administrators could take an executive role to protect the environment, encourage the development of alternative energy, and reduce the use of fossil fuel and coal energy. These efforts can lead to important environmental ramifications and relevant actions by municipal governments.

Aim. To assess the dynamics of the role and place of the parliament institution in the political system of modern Russia.Methodology. The main provisions of the amendments of the Constitution of the Russian Federation regarding the powers of the highest authorities are analyzed. The determination of the political significance of the post-Soviet parliament was assessed by index analysis of the dynamics of the full powers of the Federal Assembly chambers in the period from 1993 to the present day, taking into account the constitutional transformations of 2008, 2014 and 2020. The full powers of the parliament in these periods are compared to the indices of the functions of the head of state according to the method improved by the author to determine the form of government of O. I. Zaznayev.Results. It has been established that the total index of full powers of both chambers of parliament is significantly less than the presidential one, which clearly demonstrates the subordinate role of parliament in the system of public authority in post-Soviet Russia.Research implications. Measures are suggested to optimize the identified imbalance in the system of separation of powers in modern Russia, aimed at increasing the political significance of the chambers of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation.

In the United States, the question of which is a better form of governance and leadership – elected or appointed – is considered to be a relevant issue in public administration. Many studies have advocated the appointed form in terms of professional management and fiscal performance. However, there is limited knowledge about the application of this form of government to school districts that are the main issuers in the municipal bond market, but financially rely on state governments. We discuss whether the type of education board in the school district (i.e. appointed or elected boards) affect debt positions. We expect school districts with citizen-elected boards to be more likely to reduce debt positions due to the reelection concerns of board members. Using a panel dataset of New Jersey school districts from 1997 to 2016, we are able to estimate the impact of board type on the cumulative debt of a board. The findings offer evidence that, when compared to appointed school boards, elected school boards are more likely to reduce their long-term debt and interest payments, as well as long-term debt as a percentage of own-source revenue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Kyrgyzstan, constitutional changes in the form of government accompanied and legalized important events in the country's political life. The first Constitution of sovereign Kyrgyzstan of May 5, 1993 established a presidentialized form of government typical of the post-Soviet space. For most of its legal features, it gravitated toward a presidential republic and yet was not identical to it. Given the lack of dualism of the executive branch, it was impossible to consider it a mixed republic. This form of government has repeatedly been subject to various adjustments. The constitutional changes of October 21, 2007 provided a significant parliamentarization of the form of government, but generally did not overcome its authoritarian nature. The Constitution of Kyrgyzstan, as amended by the Venice Commission on October 21, 2007, 'preserved the semi-presidential system, but <...> in fact, political powers are again concentrated in the hands of the President'. A fundamental revision of the form of government took place in 2010, when a new Constitution of Kyrgyzstan was approved in a referendum. The Constitution of Kyrgyzstan of June 27, 2010 enshrined a mixed republican form of government. On April 11, 2021, a constitutional referendum was held in Kyrgyzstan, which amended the basic law of the state. On the same day, the presidential election in Kyrgyzstan was held, in which the acting president, politician Sadyr Zhaparov, won. This clearly demonstrated the role of a subjective factor in the constitutional process. The constitutional changes affected all sections of Kyrgyzstan's constitution, but their most important consequence was the introduction of a new eclectic form of government with a hypertrophied constitutional status of the president. The authoritarian potential of this form of government is as high as that of a classical presidential republic, which gives reason to expect the erosion of the weakened institutions of democracy and the development of the phenomenon of superpresidency in the country. The scientific article examines the legal features of the form of government introduced by the constitutional referendum on April 11, 2021, attempts to classify it correctly, and analyzes its shortcomings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spain was established in 1978 as a Social and Democratic State of Law under a monarchical Head of State. In that process he faced the historical doctrinal conflict over the terms and meanings of the monarchy and its linkage with democracy. Although the Republican parties were not legalized for the first elections, there were Republican amendments and the larger parties on the left, the Communist and the Socialist showed their position on the question of the monarchy and the republic. This article analyzes the constituent debate to discover the ideas of monarchy that were discussed in 1978, as well as its fit into democracy as an alternative to the republic.

Intrоduсtiоn. International connections of regions are a dynamic category that is influenced by a whole range of factors related to the geopolitical position of the country, its ethnic composition, and the current political situation in the world. Therefore, the study of this issue is of considerable relevance. The purpose of this paper is to analyze and classify the factors that determine the modern international connections of regions of states. Materials and Methods. Modern works by leading scientists and the current legal framework in the field of international connections of regions of states were used as materials of the study. The systematic analysis, structural and functional analysis, specific historical analysis as well as political and legal analysis formed the methodological basis. Results. The author has analyzed the factors determining the modern international connections of regions of states, compiled a classification of these factors. The main groups of factors determining the international connections of regions of states have been identified: the form of government and features of the implementation of regional powers in international cooperation, geopolitical factors, factors of socio-economic development, factors of special types of regions of states in international cooperation, confessional factors, and ethnic factors. Based on the modern scientific knowledge and the relevant legal framework, it has been identified that the form of government structure determines the powers of regions in international cooperation and is a major factor in the international connections of regions. Discussion and Conclusion. Analysis and classification of the factors determining the modern international connections of regions of states make it possible to contribute to the assessment of the current state of Russia’s international connections. The results of the study can be used by the relevant authorities when determining new areas of development of international connections of Russia’s regions.

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The article analyzes the crisis of the majority principle as the preferred formula for determining the representativeness of Parliament in Italy, after the 2020's constitutional referendum on the reduction in the number of parliamentarians, in comparison with what happens in some European constitutional experiences. The article's focus is on highlighting the links between the crisis of parliamentary democracy, the crisis of democratic participation, and the influence of new technologies in the formation of consensus, which induce a progressive detachment of liberal and traditional institutions from civil society. In this context and to compensate for the imbalances of the parliamentary form of government, the choice of the electoral system must go in the direction of strengthening the representative principle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The aim of this paper is to understand the role played by political parties in the electoral reforms that have characterised the Italian experience since 1993. In order to do so, the authors: 1) describe the scholarly debate on how parties relate to electoral rules and form of government; 2) shed light on the most significant aspects of the Italian electoral reforms at local, regional and State level; and 3) analyse these reforms from the perspective of the party context. The conclusion is that parties have played only a partial role: while strong pressure to implement change has derived from external factors (referendum and judicial interventions), a widespread tendency towards concentrating power and personalising the political forces has ignored the importance of party dynamics in the way that parliamentary forms of government function.

The subject. The article investigates historical legal, theoretical-methodological and constitutional-legal problems of the formation and functioning of the institute of the head of state.The purpose of the study is to show how the constitutional functions of the head of state concretize his powers.The study is based on the use of methods of analysis and synthesis, historical legal, formal legal, comparative legal methods, scientific abstraction.The main scientific results. The authors summarize that the historical and legal analysis shows the key role of the head of state in the mechanism of ensuring state unity and law and order. Reality testifies the fact that the role of the President of the Russian Federation creates sufficient constitutional and legal grounds and conditions for the consolidated work of all state authorities, including law enforcement agencies, in the direction of ensuring the unity of state power and constitutional law and order. The indicated directions are in many ways identical, organically interrelated and interdependent, systematically define the main lines of activity of the head of state, contributing to the improvement of the constitutional and legal mechanism for ensuring the rule of law in general. Firstly, the Constitution of the Russian Federation contains only the basic powers of the President of the Russian Federation, which are substantially expanded by the legislator and presidential decrees. Secondly, the President has so-called “hidden”, discretionary powers that are not directly enshrined in the Constitution of the Russian Federation, implicit in it and stem from the sense of presidential functions that manifest themselves in unforeseen extraordinary circumstances. Thus, the constitutional design of a strong presidential power allows the President of the Russian Federation to ensure the unity of the executive power and the exercise of the powers of the federal government throughout the territory of Russia (pt. 4 of Art. 78 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation). Such presidential power is carried out through the issuance of its decrees and orders, the adoption of operational and administrative decisions.Conclusions. The authors noted that the effectiveness of the work of the head of state is especially evident in the state unity and the constitutional and legal mechanism for ensuring the rule of law, which is developed in the constitutional doctrine.

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The paper addresses the narrative that qualifies micro and remote islands as lands of freedom, suggesting that they can also be lands of despotism. Philosophers from Plato to Aristotle, to Thomas More, to Montesquieu and Rousseau have claimed that micro polities, preferably insular, represent the ideal society, where everyone is actively engaged in public affairs and pursues common good. Literature has represented islands as lands of freedom, opportunity, challenge, success, adventure, redemption, away from the corruption of Europe. However, in the nineteenth century a new narrative has emerged in fiction, which abandons this idyllic approach: islands as lands of despotism. Islands are interpreted as lawless lands, characterised by rivalries between individuals. Moving from these contrasting suggestions from literature and philosophy, the paper discusses the constitutional arrangements of Commonwealth Caribbean and Pacific micro states, in order to investigate where they stand with respect to the dialectic freedom/despotism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the study is to compare the models of presidential power that have developed in the post-totalitarian countries of Central and Eastern Europe and have evolved in the process of political transformation. The research methodology is based on the principles of systematics, dialectics, reliability, logic. Methods of system analysis, dialectical, comparative, synthesis, structural-functional, generalization are used. The main conclusions: the position of president exists in the system of state power in most countries. In the transition countries of Central and Eastern Europe, it is especially important. In these countries, the model of presidential power corresponds to mixed forms of government. The scope of the presidential term is subject to frequent changes in accordance with the political conjuncture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article provides an analysis of the think tanks’ role in the political system of Finland. It defines their influence on the process of shaping the state’s policy, and its foreign policy in particular. The types of think tanks were characterized as well as their sources of funding were detected. The article also describes the special features of the political system of Finland. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship model between Head of the State and the executive branch largely determines the essence of the form of government. Each republican form of government establishes its own intrinsic way of the President – the executive branch relationship. In modern republics, considerable differences can be seen both in the way the President is connected to the executive branch, and in the extent of such connection. The arrangement of State power in republics with presidential and parliamentary forms of government embodies two alternative ways of the President - the executive branch relationship. While in the presidential republic the President is connected to the executive branch structurally and heads the system of its bodies, in the parliamentary republic the President is distanced from the executive branch to the fullest possible extent. In a mixed republic, the President is beyond the executive branch structurally but is significantly integrated into it functionally. Different ways in which the President and the executive branch are related rest upon different doctrinal approaches to the understanding of the functional nature of the President and the President’s role in the State mechanism. The search for an optimal structural and functional relationship between the President and the executive branch has always been the keynote in the entire history of development of the republican form of government. The results of this search are manifested in the diversity of modern republics. However, even today the President – the executive branch relationship remains the issue in the focus of scientific debates. The accumulated experience of the republican State-building demonstrates that both the structural merger of the President with the executive branch and the maximum distance between these institutions limit the functional potential of Head of the State and engender executive power concentration in the hands of a single person. The relationship of the President and the executive branch becomes a particularly critical issue in the post-Soviet republics, where the intention to enhance the executive branch’s efficiency by increasing the President’s influence on it was in many cases implemented very carelessly. In most post-Soviet republics, at least at the initial stage of their development, enhancement of the constitutional status of the President reached a critical limit making the system of executive authorities administratively subordinated to the President. This eventually distorted the nature of the mixed republican form of government used in these republics and became one of the most important causes triggering the development of the superpresidency phenomenon. The relationship of the President of Ukraine with the executive branch is a key issue for determining the prospects of the constitutional correction of the national form of government. Across the full range of contexts, any type of connection of the President of Ukraine and the executive branch should neither interfere with the constitutional functions of Head of the State, nor turn the latter into an actual head of the executive branch. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the article is reviewed the types of the political systems and the classifications of them, is defined major functions of the political system to the process of the identifications of the intelligence tasks, is described peculiarities of the Ukrainian political system, is determined the correlations between the type of the political system and it influence on the process of the defining intelligence tasks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article we aim to capture some resemblances and differences between European democratic monarchies and parliamentary republics, resorting to the comparative method of their Constitutions, in the case of Spain, a parliamentary monarchy, and of Italy, a parliamentary republic. As we know, in European states characterized by a parliamentary political regime, monarchies or republics, considerable importance is granted to the Parliament, and the head of state, the Monarch, is appointed by hereditary criteria and the President is, as a rule, elected by the Parliament. In most cases, the Parliament is bicameral in order to ensure a counterbalance aimed at ensuring the balance within the legislative power, and the Government is headed by a prime minister and is accountable to Parliament, which can withdraw the confidence it has vested in, if it assesses that he does not fulfill the mandate. Out of the constitutional elements under analysis, we will notice a series of characteristics common to states with a parliamentary regime, regardless of their form of government, monarchy or republic, but also some differences of substance or only hue, generated by historical, traditional or cultural considerations, which, of course, could be highlighted in more detail by extending the law-based analysis, without being limited to it. Moreover, like all European constitutional democracies, the analysed states have their constitutional text based on the values, principles and standards common to the European Administrative Space, recognized in the doctrine as "an evolutionary process of convergence." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the forms of municipal governments in Wisconsin and their relationship to variables in the areas of socioeconomic, partisanship, election process, decision-making in the governance process, and internal municipal operations. Wisconsin has more mayor-council and mayoral forms with an appointed administrator rather than council-manager forms common in other states. We find that reform in Wisconsin has occurred in all government forms and that most municipalities desiring the managerial results of a professional administration have chosen an adaptation of the mayor-council form. Furthermore, we find that there are few clearly identifiable differences between cities with differing governmental forms.

В статье рассматривается проблема ценностного кризиса и ценностной неопределенности в современной Украине. Наиболее важным выводом статьи является утверждение, что социальная ситуация в украинском обществе обладает рядом отличительных особенностей среди других постсоветских стран. Главной причиной этого является постоянное противостояние двух устойчивых групп, разделяющих противоположные ценности. Разрешению этой ситуации мешает влияние на Украину других государств и эрозия государства как социального института на Украине. Длительный ценностный конфликт приводит в результате к аннигиляции ценностей – постепенной утрате всеми участниками конфликта ценностных ориентиров. Это обстоятельство обуславливает развитие сильной аномии на Украине, которая велика как в количественном, так и в качественном отношении. Пролонгированная аннигиляция ценностей на Украине препятствует формированию тенденций к выходу из аномии, которые характерны для других постсоветских стран.

Objective: to study the basic laws of the constitutional law functioning of Kazakhstan Republic and the Russian Federation and its subjects in the system of law and legislation as an institutional phenomenon; to study the impact of government form on the constitutional law of the state. Methods: general scientific dialectic approach to cognition (comparative-legal, theoretical, predictive, etc.) and other methods (integral, institutional, situational, systemic-functional, etc.) have been used in combination with the requirements of objectivity, comprehensiveness, historicism, specificity and consistency, generally accepted in the analysis of the state-legal phenomena. Results: on the basis of comparative legal analysis of the Kazakhstan Constitution, the Constitutions and charters of subjects of the Russian Federation, normative legal acts regulating the constitutional-legal relations and research of the views of scientists on this topic, the impact of government form on the constitutional law of a state was examine; a conclusion was made about the significance of the Constitution in shaping the constitutional law. Scientific novelty: for the first time, with the use of the public methods, the role of the Constitution and constitutional legislation of the countries in the development of the modern Russian-Kazakhstan legal discourse was investigated. The impact of government form on constitutional law was analyzed, the concept of constitutional law was proposed. Practical value: the main provisions and conclusions of the article can be used in scientific and pedagogical activity when addressing issues of the role of the Constitution and constitutional law in the development of the legal system and the impact of government form on them.

This paper analyses the emergence of new political forces in the Autonomous Communities and their impact on the governmental system. The first thing we observe is that despite this new situation, power strategies have changed little and the new parties soon integrated into the dynamics of the system. It is true that we live in new parliamentary times in which the pluralism of groups is much more significant, but this has not generated great institutional instability. Stability is ensured probably not only due to the electoral system but also parliamentary rationalization which means that, after the investiture, the Government has an "overload" with which to control political and, in particular, parliamentary life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This study extends the literature on county government structure by examining the three basic forms of county governments and their long-term effects on regional service spending. An examination of 1,532 U.S. counties between 1977 and 2012 reveals that those with the commission government form produce on average less regional service spending than those with reformed government structures. Examining the two major distinctions in reformed government types reveals that elected executive governments spend on average more than those with the commission-administrator form. However, the amount of increase for elected executive spending was very minor. The findings also reveal that the ability to establish home rule charters alters the effects of government structure for commission and commission-administrator counties. Meanwhile, charter-enabling laws matter little regarding the effects for elected executive counties. The analytical results lead to four major points for consideration regarding the link between county service provision and county institutional arrangements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]