№ 4 - 2001
Galkin A.A., Fedosov P.A., Valentey S.D., Solovey V.D.
Federalism and the Public Sphere in Russia

As stipulated by the “Federalism: a Multidimensional Model of Research” scientific-publishing program, a report - the first of a series - is published here within the “Federalism and the Public Sphere in Russia and Canada” project being realized by the political science department of the Carleton University (for the Canadian part) and the Gorbachev Foundation (for the Russian part). The 1st part of the report contains comprehensive definitions of the notions of “federalism” and “public sphere”; Russian federalism with its specific features is characterized. The 2nd part elucidates legal aspects of social policy in Russian Federation, contains analysis of the condition of social legislation on both the national and the regional levels. The 3d part covers the problem of social reorientation of the relations in the “federal centre - RF subjects” system. The 4th part devoted to the study of the role played by various agents of civil society in the life of Russian regions, examines the main channels and forms of their participation in the shaping of social policy and in the control over the social sphere.