Decentralization of power as a way of constitutionalism forming in Ukraine - Статья

Decentralization of power as a way of constitutionalism forming in Ukraine Olena Boryslavska The article aims to determine direction of constitutionalism formation in Ukraine - the decentralization of power. Constitutionalism is considered as a doctrine and practice of limited government. Based on the European model, constitutionalism is seen in the light of institutional mechanisms used for limiting state power in a democratic society. It is proved that decentralized system of local government is one of the elements of the institutional system of constitutionalism. Evolution of the Ukraines local government system after independence, 1990 and the origins of its current problems are analyzed. Issues of local and regional government structure are defined. Special attention is paid to the issues of control and supervision of local governments. Conclusions regarding the problems of local authorities are done. Key words: constitutionalism, decentralization of rower, local self-government. In sovereign Ukraine constitutional development in late 20th - early 21st centuries has been quite active and occurred with difficult social and political processes, i.e.: formation of the multiparty system, new electoral standards, gradual decentralization of power and liberalization of public life. At the same time, the attempts were made to organize an effective system of public authority, which had to be able not only govern the state in post-socialist conditions, but to conduct a number of necessary state’s reforms. Obviously, national experts tended to the model of strong president with authority of managing the executive branch of power, in fact, he had to lead these processes. Society, in which the need for a strong hand” had been forming during the time of the socialist system and the paternalistic attitudes spread, inclined to follow such type of model. Other experts emphasized the risks carried by the presidential form of government in illiberal post-socialist society. However, evaluating different options, at the adoption of the Constitution of 1996 the decision in favor of the government’s effectiveness, not of its limitations has been made. Today the fallacy of this decision is obvious, in fact, the lack of appropriate safeguards in the system of public power led to the excessive concentration of powers in the hands of the President, who actually controlled the legislative and executive powers and had serious leverage on the judicial power as of 2013. After the revolution of 2014 Ukraine is on the verge of another constitutional reform, therefore it is so important to change the priorities in the construction of public authority and shift the focus on to forming the system of limited and responsible government that is the essence of constitutionalism. Most of the European scholars consider constitutionalism to be a doctrine and practice of limited government, contrary to the arbitrary government actions. By the way, millions of Ukrainian citizens who took part in the protest actions of 2013-2014, demanded to eliminate the arbitrary conduct of the government and to fundamentally change the state, change its essence. Similar demands and revolutionary events were peculiar to other European states but such events took place there several centuries before. And constitutionalism appeared as the result of struggle for the limited character of government. In its building, the benchmark for Ukraine is to be a European model of constitutionalism. Ukraine belongs to the Romano-Germanic legal family, its totalitarian past formed statist traditions, which are similar to some European states, and the experience of the Eastern European states that have gone constitutional establishment of the European model, evidences of its acceptability. The European model, based on the ideology of liberal democracy, developed on the grounds of political and legal practice of the Continental Europe states regarding the limitation of the government’s tyranny in the course of struggle against absolutism. It originates in the ideas of limited government and democracy, according to which constitutionalism should be considered in the light of institutional mechanisms used for limiting the state power in a democratic society. This is the institutional system of limited government, which includes the following elements: 1) written constitution, which is the act of the constituent power and guarantees the derivative (constituted) nature of the state; 2) constitutional rights and freedoms of man and citizen and the system of their protection, which should determine the substance and orientation of the state’s activities; 3) constitutional jurisdiction (usually in the form of constitutional justice) aimed at ensuring the supremacy and stable nature of the constitution, limiting the legislative powers of the parliament, as well as ensuring the stability of the whole system; 4) parliamentary system, in which the head of state performs mainly representati