UrFU Scientists With Chinese Colleagues Reveal New Methodology Comparing Forms of Government

15:10, January 14, 2021

Scientific project's leader, Nina Symaniuk, told how the research team compares the state structures of Russia and China

Scientists of the Ural Federal University, together with colleagues from China, search for a new method for comparing the state structure of the two countries. The research has received a financial support from the President of the Russian Federation for a period of two years.

The main problem to be solved by the grant is the absence of a comparative legal study of the state structure of Russia and China. The peculiarity of the proposed study is that Russia is a federal state, China is a unitary state. At first glance, this makes comparative analysis impossible. That is why one of the main tasks of the project was to find a new method of comparing them.

“With new methodology, we formulate the new forms of government structuring. This is a fairly new idea in legal science, since in classical jurisprudence there are separate federal and unitary state structures. In my opinion, Russia and China cannot be ranked as one thing, ”said Nina Symaniuk, Associate Professor of the Department of Theory, Methodology and Legal Support of State and Municipal Administration.

According to the scientist, despite the fact that according to the constitution China is a unitary state, it has a large number of points of contact with Russia, which is not a classical federation. If you look deeper, in China you will find legal relations enshrined in regulations that correspond to a purely federal structure. Also in Russia there are features inherent in Unitarianism.

“The relevance and novelty of the study is that there is not a lot of material on China, since the country is closed, the main materials are available only in Chinese. In addition, there are no verified sources for the stated problem. To solve this problem, we are working with a Chinese co-executor who will be able to translate ideas from Chinese materials in English, ”explained Nina Symanyuk.

Thanks to acquired financial support, it is planned to expand the typology of forms of state structure, develop and substantiate scenarios for borrowing positive Chinese experience in order to improve the state structure of Russia. The scientists' activities are also aimed on creating a new methodology for conducting a comparative legal study of the forms of government, which can be extrapolated to other countries.

The results of the research are planned to be used for the preparation of a doctoral dissertation, where specific proposals for improving legislation will be formulated.