The organization included in the mechanism of the state is. state mechanism. Government departments. Types of state bodies

The concept and structure of the mechanism of the state. Bodies of the state, their signs, types, functions and principles of activity. The system of separation of powers in the mechanism of the state. The role and place of customs authorities in the mechanism of the state.

The concept and structure of the mechanism of the state. Any complex social system, such as society, needs to be managed. Management of society is a process of organized influence on various aspects of human life: economic, social, cultural and others.

The control action is carried out as state, and non-state bodies of a political, economic, cultural nature, such as political parties, political leaders, professional associations, creative unions, etc.

However, the greatest organizational potential of managerial influence, capable of influencing almost all spheres of society, has state due to the presence systems special bodies of institutions and enterprises, as well as special class of people professionally engaged in activities for the execution of the powers of state bodies.

Taken together - state bodies, as well as civil servants employed in them, carry out the goals, tasks, functions of the state and compose it mechanism .

Thanks to him, the state ensures law and order, guarantees the rights and freedoms of citizens, coordinates the conflicting interests of various groups of the population.

The peculiarity of these bodies is that their activity is domineering character and relies on possibility of legitimate violence.

In legal science, there are two points of view regarding the relationship between the concepts of "mechanism of the state" and "state apparatus".

Under state apparatus understood system of state bodies (or apparatus of management). AT mechanism of the state besides state bodies (administrative apparatus) also include the armed forces, the police, etc. (coercive apparatus), which act as a power support for the activities of the state apparatus. In addition, such forms of democracy as a referendum, elections, etc. can be included in the mechanism of the state.

In this way, mechanism of the state represents .

The structure of the mechanism of the state means the internal structure, place and role of its constituent elements, i.e. government agencies.

It is possible to classify various groups of state bodies in the structure of the mechanism of the state.

Theoretically, two large groups are distinguished:

- manadgement Department;

- coercive apparatus.

Depending on the form of activity of state bodies in legal science, the following structure of the mechanism of the state is represented:

Government departments;

Government bodies;

Judicial bodies;

Prosecutor's offices.

In addition, various material values, organizational means, coercive force, etc. are also included in the structure of the mechanism of the state.

In the mechanism of the state, there are various organizations and institutions that do not carry out the functions of power, but ensure the implementation of the main activities of the state. These include institutions of culture, education, healthcare, etc.

Thus, in broad sense the mechanism of the state includes the entire set of state bodies through which the tasks and functions of the state are carried out.

With this understanding, the mechanism of the state consists of the state apparatus, state institutions and state enterprises.

Schematically, this can be represented as follows:

The central place in the mechanism of the state is occupied by state machine representing a system of interrelated state bodies endowed with authority, and the civil servants employed in them, who practically exercise state power.

Along with the state apparatus, the mechanism of the state includes state institutions whose activities are aimed at managing a specific area of ​​activity and performing the functions of the state in this area (for example, in the field of education, in the field of healthcare, science, in the economic field, etc.).

Schools, universities, hospitals, research institutes act as state institutions.

Finally, state enterprises They are also deprived of power and are created to carry out economic and other activities aimed at the production of essential items (goods), the provision of various services to the population.

In a narrow sense the mechanism of the state is identical to the concept of "state apparatus", the primary element of which is state body .

State mechanism has characteristic features (features), allowing to distinguish it from other political institutions participating in the exercise of state power or influencing it (for example, parties), and diluting it with the concept of "political system".

Firstly, the mechanism of the state is an integral system of state bodies based on the commonality of goals and objectives, the unity of the principles of its organization and activity. Among them, for example, the principle of separation of powers, the principle of legality, etc., which are usually fixed in the constitutions of states and current legislation.

Secondly, the organs of the state that make up the mechanism interact as components of a strictly hierarchical a system based on the subordination of lower bodies to higher ones acting within their competence.

Thirdly, the mechanism of the state consists of special group of people separated from society and trained to manage it, carrying out this activity professionally and on a permanent basis.

Fourth, each element of the mechanism (in this case, an organ of the state) is a relatively independent and separate part of the system, and has power, is created by the state, acts on its behalf and on its behalf. A single state body performs its specific function, and all state bodies taken together ensure the effective functioning of the state as a whole.

Fifth, to perform the tasks and functions of the state, state bodies have the necessary means: material (for example, money), informational, organizational, including the possibility of state coercion.

At sixth, the forms of organization of the mechanism of the state are determined by the content of the functions they perform.

Consequently, the functions determine the specific configuration of the state mechanism, the principles of interaction between its elements. In turn, the creation of functions depends on the maturity of civil society, the diversity of stable interest groups.

Bodies of the state, their signs, types, functions and principles of activity. State bodies are created to carry out a particular function of the state. The relevant legislative act defines the tasks of the activity of the state body and its competence. To implement its tasks, the state body is endowed with power, as well as material and organizational resources.

Professional activity to ensure the execution of the powers of state bodies is called the public service, which is carried out by persons with the status of public servants.

To the most characteristic features of state bodies include the following:

Represent the interests of the state, express its will;

They are created and function on the basis of normative legal acts regulating the procedure for their activities, competence, etc.;

Implement their specific tasks and functions;

Possess power;

Apply in cases established by law, measures of state coercion;

Endowed with a certain amount of rights and obligations, have appropriate powers in a particular area;

Have an appropriate internal organizational structure;

Issue legal acts of a normative or individual nature;

They have an organizational and material basis for their activities.

State bodies are called upon to solve the problems facing the state and to implement its functions. However, each state body, along with the general tasks of the state, solves its own tasks and functions.

In this way, state body - this is a constituent element of the mechanism of the state (state apparatus), performing its inherent tasks and functions and possessing in this regard the powers of authority.

Public bodies can be classified on various grounds depending on terms of office, hierarchy, form of activity, etc.

According to the principle of separation of powers

1) legislative authorities (parliament);

2) executive authorities (government);

3) judicial authorities.

According to the forms of state activity(the nature of the tasks performed) the state bodies are divided into:

1) public authorities (parliament);

2) government bodies (ministry);

3) judicial authorities;

4) control bodies (prosecutor's office, customs authorities, tax police, accounting chamber).

By term of office government agencies are divided into:

1) permanent (prosecutor's office);

2) temporary (commissions under the State Duma).

By order of education government agencies are divided into:

1) bodies elected by the population (Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation);

2) bodies formed in accordance with the established procedure by other bodies of the state (ministers);

3) bodies formed by way of succession to the throne.

According to the legal forms of state activity State authorities are divided into:

1) bodies carrying out law-making activities (State Duma);

2) bodies carrying out law enforcement activities (ministry);

3) bodies carrying out law enforcement activities (police).

By number of civil servants, the method of decision-making, state bodies are divided into:

1) one-man (president, governor);

2) collegiate (government of the Russian Federation, administration).

By hierarchy(the scope of power) state bodies are divided into:

1) higher, central (federal bodies);

2) local (bodies of subjects of the Federation).

This model of organization of the state apparatus is typical only for unitary states.

In the Russian Federation, there is also local government system , which are called upon to resolve issues of local importance, and are not included in the system of state authorities.

Status heads of state (monarch, president) and, accordingly, the place in the system of state power of the body of the head of state is determined depending on the form of government established in this state.

A special role among the various types of state bodies belongs to representative authorities , which act as such, since they are called upon to represent the interests of their constituents in the exercise of state power. The people, thus, delegate their powers to the exercise of state power. The legislative bodies are the representative bodies.

In the Russian Federation, the representative authorities include the Parliament - the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, the legislative bodies of the constituent entities of the Federation.

In municipalities, there are representative bodies of local self-government elected by the population living within the territory of the municipality.

The organization and activities of the state apparatus are carried out in accordance with certain principles , which represent the fundamental beginnings, the guiding ideas of education, the construction and functioning of the system of state bodies.

The principles of organization and activities of state bodies are expressed in legislative acts, primarily in the Constitution of the country, as well as in special laws.

At the present stage, the organization and activities of state bodies in a legal state are based on the following principles:

1) the principle of legality;

2) the principle of separation of powers;

3) the principle of priority of the rights and freedoms of man and citizen, their direct action: the duty of civil servants to recognize, observe and protect the rights and freedoms of man and citizen;

4) the principle of unity of the system of state power,

5) the principle of democracy;

6) the principle of humanism;

7) the principle of publicity in the performance of public service;

8) the principle of unity of the basic requirements for public service;

9) the principle of professionalism and competence of civil servants;

10) the principle of equal access of citizens to public service in accordance with their abilities and professional training;

11) the principle of obligation for civil servants of decisions taken by higher state bodies and managers within their powers;

12) the principle of responsibility of civil servants for their decisions.

The system of separation of powers in the mechanism of the state. The government is one. However, state bodies implement their specific tasks and functions in a particular area, in connection with which they are endowed with power. To do this, it is necessary to provide a certain independence to the state bodies in the implementation of their activities.

The principle of separation of powers presupposes the functioning of three independent branches of power: legislative, executive and judicial, with their appropriate interaction.

The idea of ​​separation of powers was considered by ancient thinkers. This theory was developed in detail in the 18th century. in the work of the French philosopher and jurist Charles Louis Montesquieu "On the Spirit of Laws" (1748), who believed that the combination of all types of state power in one person or state body could lead to tyranny.

The system of separation of powers makes it possible to delimit the competence of state bodies, to provide them with independence in decision-making, to ensure their normal functioning, and to prevent arbitrariness and abuse of power. In addition, there is a need for each branch of government to control the other two in order to avoid the usurpation of power by one of its branches. The organization of such control in the state mechanism is called a system of checks and balances.

The system of "checks and balances" is the ability of the legislative, executive and judicial authorities to control each other's activities in order to avoid the monopolization of power by one of its branches.

In accordance with Article 10 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, state power in the Russian Federation is exercised on the basis of division into legislative, executive and judicial. Legislative, executive and judicial authorities are independent.

The state bodies of the three branches of government of any state whose activities are based on the principle of separation of powers have similar features and a common characteristic.

1. Legislature It is called upon to carry out, first of all, the activity of adopting laws. Legislative bodies are elected by the population and are called representative, since they represent the interests of their constituents in the state apparatus. Parliaments are the highest legislative bodies.

Powers of Parliament:

1) solution of financial issues: establishment of taxes, consideration of the draft state budget;

2) control over the executive authorities: participates in the appointment of various officials and bodies that make up the executive branch (for example, the appointment of the head of state, head of government and cabinet);

3) issuing laws independently or jointly with the head of state;

4) participation in the foreign policy process;

5) solution of defense issues;

6) implementation of certain judicial functions: bringing the president, members of the government to justice.

Parliament exercises its powers in sessions. The order of its work is determined by the regulation, which also fixes the main stages of the legislative process: legislative initiative, discussion of the bill at plenary meetings and in commissions, adoption and approval, publication.

The system of legislative power in Russia includes the legislative representative bodies of the constituent entities of the Federation, as well as local representative bodies.

2. Executive branch designed to ensure the implementation of regulatory legal acts. The activities of executive authorities are called executive-administrative, because, on the one hand, they directly execute legal orders, on the other hand, they give power orders to other bodies, organizations, and citizens.

The executive authorities operate continuously throughout the state, their activities are secondary in relation to the activities of the legislature. Acts (decrees, orders) adopted by executive authorities are of a subordinate nature, must be based on laws and must not contradict them.

The executive power represented by the government is specific and substantive, which distinguishes it from the legislative. The government has great potential because it controls the state apparatus: officials, army, police, judges, security agencies, etc. It exercises management of the current affairs of the society, manages its resources, executes the decisions and laws adopted by the representative bodies.

The supreme body of executive power in some states is the president, in others - the government. Bodies appointed by the central government or local self-government bodies elected by the population act locally.

In the Russian Federation, the supreme body of executive power is the Government of the Russian Federation, which consists of the Prime Minister and federal ministers. The system of federal executive bodies of Russia includes: federal ministries, federal services, federal agencies.

The system of executive bodies of the state includes the executive bodies of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation. Municipalities have local executive authorities.

3. Judiciary called upon to administer justice and is an arbitrator in disputes about law. Judicial authorities ensure the protection of the rights and freedoms of citizens, organizations, interests of government and administration. The activities of the courts are aimed at ensuring law and order in society, restoring social justice.

One of the main principles of the activity of the courts is impartiality . This means that everyone is equal before the law and the court must impartially apply the law, no matter who is before it: poor or rich, president or ordinary citizen.

Courts independent . This means independence in decision-making and respect for them by society and state bodies. In addition, the independence of the courts is associated with non-interference in their activities by both the legislative and executive authorities.

Despite national peculiarities, the judicial systems of different countries use the same principles :

Independence of courts in resolving any issues within their competence;

Equality of all before the law and court;

Publicity of legal proceedings;

Competitive legal proceedings;

presumption of innocence;

The rights of the accused to defense, etc.

In the Russian Federation, judicial power is exercised through constitutional, civil, administrative and criminal proceedings.

The highest bodies of judicial power in the Russian Federation are:

1) the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation;

2) the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation;

3) The Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation.

The federal court system consists of:

1) the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation;

2) courts of general jurisdiction;

2) arbitration courts.

The law on the judicial system provides for the courts of the subjects of the Russian Federation - constitutional (charter) courts and justices of the peace.

Judicial power in the Russian Federation is exercised only by courts represented by judges and jurors, people's and arbitration assessors involved in the administration of justice in accordance with the procedure established by law. No other bodies and persons have the right to assume the administration of justice. All judges are independent and irremovable.

Control authorities. According to the principle of separation of powers, three branches of state power are usually distinguished: legislative, executive and judicial. This is how the organization of the highest authorities was imagined by the creators of the theory of separation of powers J. Locke and Sh.-L. Montesquieu.

However, with the growth of the state, the complexity of its structure, the variety of forms and methods of activity of state bodies, it became necessary to control the legality of acts and activities of the state apparatus. Thus, there was a need for a fourth branch of government - control power.

The beginning of this process was laid by the institute established in Sweden in 1809 ombudsman (granting the right to parliament to elect a special parliamentary commissioner to oversee the implementation of legislative acts). Subsequently, a system of control authorities emerged in various countries.

It should be noted that control functions to some extent are carried out by the majority of state bodies. So, for example, the parliament or the president, depending on the type of republic, controls the government. In turn, the government exercises control over the actions of the administrative apparatus, there is departmental control, etc.

Depending on the subject of control, the following are distinguished varieties control bodies:

Supervisory authorities constitutionality(for example, the Constitutional Council in France);

Supervisory authorities legitimacy(prosecutor's office);

Supervisory authorities executive power and its acts(for example, the Council of State in France);

Control bodies for the observance of human rights(for example, the Commissioner for Human Rights in the Russian Federation);

Organs financial control(for example, the Accounts Chamber in Austria, France, Russia), etc.

Head of state. Along with the four types of public authorities, the institute of the head of state occupies an important place in the mechanism of the state.

The principle of separation of powers protects society from the danger of being subordinate to a dictator. However, the independence of these authorities is relative, since they closely interact. Their actions are coordinated by the head of state. It is he who personifies the integrity and unity of state power, its desire to serve for the benefit of the whole people, represents the state in the international arena. In modern republics, the head of state is the president, and in constitutional monarchies, the monarch.

Thus, the principle of separation of powers is one of the most important in public administration. It creates a system of checks and balances in the state mechanism that does not allow anyone to usurp power and use it alone.

The role and place of customs authorities in the mechanism of the state. Customs authorities are state bodies that regulate legal relations that arise, change and terminate in the field of customs.

The activity of the customs authorities is universal and specific, it has no analogues. Its versatility is manifested in the variety of social functions performed by the customs authorities and enshrined in Art. 403 of the Customs Code of the Russian Federation of 2003.

Customs authorities are an integral part of the system of federal executive authorities of the Russian Federation, the structure of which is determined by Decrees of the President of the Russian Federation No. 314 dated March 9, 2004 and No. 649 dated May 20, 2004. In accordance with them, the Federal Customs Service is subordinate to the Government of Russia.

The legal status of customs authorities is established by constitutional norms and includes the structure and procedure for their formation, competence (range of rights and obligations), as well as relationships with other bodies (executive, legislative, etc.).

The customs authorities constitute a single federal centralized system. Other bodies of state subjects of the Russian Federation, bodies of local self-government, public associations may not interfere in the activities of customs authorities in the exercise of their functions.

The customs authorities are(Article 402 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation):

1) the federal executive body authorized in the area of ​​customs affairs;

2) regional customs departments;

3) customs;

4) customs posts.

The creation, reorganization and liquidation of regional customs administrations, customs houses and customs posts are carried out by the federal executive body authorized in the field of customs affairs.

Regional customs departments, customs offices and customs posts operate on the basis of regulations approved by the federal executive body authorized in the area of ​​customs affairs.

The system of customs authorities also includes institutions that are not law enforcement agencies, which are created by the federal executive body authorized in the field of customs affairs to ensure the activities of customs authorities.

Customs authorities carry out the following main functions:

1) carry out customs clearance and customs control, create conditions conducive to the acceleration of trade across the customs border;

2) levy customs payments, taxes, anti-dumping, special and countervailing duties, customs fees, control the correctness of the calculation and timely payment of the said duties, taxes and fees, take measures to enforce their collection;

3) ensure compliance with the procedure for the movement of goods and vehicles across the customs border;

4) ensure compliance with the prohibitions and restrictions established in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation on the state regulation of foreign trade activities and international treaties of the Russian Federation in relation to goods transported across the customs border;

5) ensure, within their competence, the protection of intellectual property rights;

6) fight against smuggling and other crimes, administrative offenses in the field of customs, stop illegal circulation across the customs border of narcotic drugs, weapons, cultural property, radioactive substances, rare species of animals and plants that are endangered, their parts and derivatives, objects of intellectual property, other goods, as well as assist in the fight against international terrorism and the suppression of unlawful interference at the airports of the Russian Federation in the activities of international civil aviation;

7) carry out, within their competence, currency control of operations related to the movement of goods and vehicles across the state border, in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation on currency regulation and currency control;

8) keep customs statistics of foreign trade;

9) ensure the fulfillment of the international obligations of the Russian Federation in terms of customs affairs, cooperate with customs and other competent authorities of foreign states, international organizations dealing with customs matters;

10) carry out informing and consulting in the field of customs affairs, provide, in accordance with the established procedure, state bodies, organizations and citizens with information on customs issues;

11) carry out research work in the field of customs.

Relations in the system of customs authorities are based on the principle of a combination of centralization and decentralization.

Centralization is expressed in strict hierarchical subordination and accountability of the lower bodies of the system of customs authorities to the higher ones.

Decentralization is manifested in the presence of each customs authority of a strictly defined competence for the implementation of customs affairs in the territory under its jurisdiction and the combination of a single centralized leadership with the initiative and responsibility of lower customs authorities for the performance of their functions.

In pursuance of the functions assigned to them, the customs authorities have the right to issue legal acts of management (both regulatory and individual), binding on all subjects - participants in legal relations regulated by the norms of customs law.

An important distinguishing feature of the customs authorities, which determines their place in the system of executive power, is the implementation in their activities of the functions of law enforcement and law control within the framework of the powers granted to them by law.

Therefore, the customs authorities perform the tasks assigned to them both independently and in cooperation with other state bodies, enterprises, institutions and organizations, as well as with citizens.

At the same time, state bodies and their officials are obliged to assist the customs authorities in solving the tasks assigned to them, including by creating appropriate conditions for this. This applies, first of all, to financial and tax authorities, border service authorities, transport authorities and many others that are functionally closely related to the customs authorities and are part of the mechanism of the state.

Thus, the mechanism of the state represents a unified system of state bodies exercising the functions of power and control on behalf of the state and relying in their activities on the apparatus of coercion (armed forces, police, etc.). An important element of this mechanism is the customs authorities.

test questions

State mechanism there is that real organizational material force, having at its disposal, the state exercises power. The mechanism is a structural and subject personification of the state, it is a material "substance" of which it consists. We can say that the mechanism is an active, constantly functioning expression of the state.

The mechanism of the state is an integral hierarchical system government bodies and institutions practically exercising state power, tasks and functions of the state.

The above definition allows us to single out the following characteristic features of the mechanism of the state.
1. This is an integral hierarchical system of state bodies and institutions. Its integrity is ensured by uniform principles of organization and activities of state bodies and institutions, uniform tasks and goals of their activities.

2. The primary structural parts (elements) of the mechanism are state bodies and institutions employing government employees(officials, sometimes they are called managers). State bodies are interconnected by the principles of subordination and coordination.

3. To ensure state power decrees, he has direct instruments (institutions) of coercion corresponding to the technical level of each era - armed groups of people, prisons, etc. No state can do without them.

4. Through the mechanism power is practically exercised and the functions of the state are performed.

The structure of the mechanism of the state

The unified and integral mechanism of the state is differentiated (divided) into its constituent parts - bodies, subsystems. There is a hierarchy between them: various organs and subsystems occupy an unequal place in the state mechanism, are in complex relationships of subordination and coordination.

The structure of the mechanism of the state is changeable and diverse, but under all conditions it includes governing bodies and enforcement agencies. This, of course, should not be understood in such a way that one part of the state mechanism is engaged only in administration, and the other - only coercion. In real life, control and coercion are intertwined.

For many centuries and millennia, the state mechanism was undeveloped, its bodies were not differentiated in composition and competence. In the slaveholding, feudal, and even in the early stages of the development of the capitalist state, the basis of the mechanism was the military department, departments of internal affairs, finance and foreign affairs.

The mechanism of the modern state is distinguished by a high degree of complexity, a variety of organs and institutions, and is divided into large subsystems. So, one of its subsystems (part) is formed by the highest organs of the state: representative, head of state, government. They are usually in the field of view of the public, the media, and public opinion is formed around them. Another subsystem is law enforcement agencies, court, prosecutor's office, as well as strong structure(army, police, intelligence). The latter carry out the decisions of the highest bodies of the state, including the methods of state coercion (military suppression, police measures). The most severe methods of coercion are carried out by armed detachments of people - the army, the police.

Adjacent to the organs of the state state institutions who do not have power, but perform general social functions in the field of economy, education, healthcare, science, etc.

The concept and features of a state body

The primary and most important structural element of the mechanism of the state is state body.

Government body- this is a link (element) of the mechanism of the state, participating in the implementation of the functions of the state and endowed with authority for this.

Disclosure of the concept, features of this body allows you to better understand the mechanism of the state as a whole.

1. Although the body of the state has a certain independence, autonomy, it serves part a single mechanism of the state, takes its place in the state machine and is firmly connected with its other parts.

2. The organ of the state consists of civil servants which are in a special legal relationship between themselves and the body. They are abstracted from family, civil and other relations that have no connection with the public service, they are official.

The position, rights and obligations of civil servants are determined by law and ensure their legal status. The volume and procedure for the use of power by them is also established by law and specified in job descriptions, staffing tables, etc.

Public servants also include officials who have power, issue legal acts, and independently implement them.

Servants of the state do not directly produce material goods, so their maintenance is entrusted to society. They receive a salary in a state body according to their position.

3. State bodies have an internal building (structure). They consist of divisions held together by the unity of purpose for which they are formed, and by the discipline which all employees are bound to observe.

4. The most important feature of a state organ is that it has competencies- powers of authority (a set of rights and obligations) of a certain content and volume. Competence is determined by the subject matter, i.e. specific tasks and functions that the state body decides and performs. Competence is usually legally fixed (in the constitution or current legislation). The realization by the state body of its competence is not only its right, but also its duty.

5. According to its competence, the state body has powers of authority which are expressed: a) in the possibility to issue binding legal acts. These acts can be normative or individually defined (acts of applying the rules of law); b) in ensuring the implementation of legal acts of state bodies by applying various methods, including methods of coercion.

6. To exercise its competence, a state body is endowed with the necessary material base, has financial resources, its own bank account, and a source of funding (from the budget).

7. Finally, the body of the state actively participates in the implementation of the functions of the state, using appropriate forms and methods for this.

Types of state bodies

The organs of the state are classified on various grounds. By way of occurrence they are divided into primary and derivative. Primary state bodies are not created by any other bodies. They either arise in the order of inheritance (hereditary monarchy), or are elected according to the established procedure and receive power from the electors (representative bodies). Derivatives bodies are created by primary bodies, which endow them with power. These include executive and administrative bodies, prosecution authorities, etc.

In terms of the scope of powers States are classified into superior and local. True, not all local bodies are state (for example, local governments). higher state bodies most fully personify state power, extending to the territory of the entire state. Local state bodies function in administrative-territorial units (counties, districts, communes, counties, provinces, etc.), their powers extend only to these regions.

By breadth of competence state bodies of general and special competence are distinguished. Organs general competence empowered to deal with a wide range of issues. For example, the government, executing laws, actively participates in the implementation of all the functions of the state. Organs special (industry) competence specialize in the performance of some, one function, one type of activity (Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Justice).

The organs of the state are elected and appointed, collegiate and individual. The mechanism of the state, the classification of its supreme bodies, is directly influenced by the principle of separation of powers, in accordance with which legislative, executive and judicial bodies are created.

Legislatures. The right to issue laws usually belongs to the highest representative bodies. They are referred to by the generic term "parliament". In England, Canada, India and other countries, the term "parliament" is the proper name of the legislature, in other countries it is called differently.

Parliaments in most countries of the world consist of a lower house and an upper house. Unicameral parliaments exist in small countries (Denmark, Finland). The upper house often serves as a kind of counterbalance to the usually more democratic lower house.

head of state. Divided into three branches, state power does not cease to be unified and sovereign: it has a single power-forming source - the people, it expresses the common fundamental interests of the country's population. Therefore, the independence of the legislative, executive and judicial authorities is not absolute, but relative. The head of state is precisely called upon to ensure coordinated functioning these bodies in the interests of the unified power will of the people and the achievement of national goals. In modern states, the head of state, as a general rule, is sole: in constitutional monarchies - the monarch, in the republics - the president.

In most modern states, the head of state is the president elected either by the people, or by parliament, or by a special electoral procedure.

The president receives foreign diplomatic representatives, appoints ambassadors to other states, ratifies (approves) international treaties and agreements in a number of countries, and is the supreme commander of the armed forces. In some countries, the president has the right to dissolve parliament, refuse to approve a law, or submit it to parliament for second consideration.

In parliamentary and presidential republics, the role and powers of the president are far from the same.

In parliamentary republics the president is an inactive figure in internal affairs, overshadowed by the head of government, in whose hands real power is concentrated. For example, the dissolution of parliament in such states, although formalized by presidential decree, is carried out by decision of the government; the appointment of a government requires the consent of parliament. Acts of the President are not valid without the signature of the head of government or the minister in charge of the subject matter of the act.

In presidential republics the president is the central political figure. Thus, the President of the United States is endowed with broad powers by the Constitution, is both the head of state and government. He heads a huge state apparatus of 2.5 million civil servants, of whom he appoints about 1,500 officials of federal departments. Only the highest federal posts are appointed by the President "on the advice and with the consent" of the Senate. He issues decrees on various issues of public life.

executive bodies. Executive power belongs to the government, which directly governs the country. The government usually consists of heads of government(prime minister, chairman of the council or cabinet of ministers, first minister, chancellor, etc.), his deputies and members of the government, who head individual central government departments (ministries, departments) and are called ministers, secretaries, secretaries of state.

AT unitary The state has one government. AT federal The state has a federal government and governments of the members of the federation.

On all issues of its competence, the government issues legal acts (decrees, decrees, resolutions, orders), which are binding.

Governments are one-party and coalition. In the first case, they include representatives of one party, in the second - two or more.

The government carries out its multilateral activities through numerous bodies of state administration - ministries, departments, commissions, etc. Ministries and other departments are overgrown with a complex, cumbersome and branched bureaucratic apparatus that forms the basis of the state mechanism.

Justice authorities form a rather complex system consisting of civil, criminal, administrative, military, transport and other courts. At the top of this system are supreme and constitutional courts. The judiciary implements justice through legal proceedings regulated by procedural law. In countries where there is judicial precedent, they participate in lawmaking.

The courts are independent. Legislation enshrined such democratic principles as the equality of all before the law and the court, participation in the consideration of the case by jurors, the right of the accused to defense, etc.

The mechanism of the state includes law enforcement agencies, which form the basis of the power of the state - the armed forces, security agencies, police (militia). The main purpose of the latter is the protection of public order and internal security. The police specialize in accordance with the various aspects of its activities. Political police ensures internal security, fights against the political opponents of his state. criminal police maintains public order. It is divided into transport, border, customs, sanitary, forestry, etc.

Stand out in the mechanism of the state local authorities. Such bodies or officials (governors, prefects, commissioners, etc.) are usually appointed by the government to govern certain regions (Finland, Luxembourg). Often, along with appointed officials, local representative bodies elected by the population of the region function at the regional level. There are states (Great Britain, Japan) where all the functions of local self-government are performed by a local administration elected by the population.


The mechanism of the state is a system of state organizations through which state power is exercised, state leadership of society is provided. A special state apparatus is created to carry out the functions of the state. It is a complex system of state bodies, which are characterized by the presence of powerful state powers and have a certain structure. Each body of the state is endowed with competence - the range (volume) of rights and obligations established by law.
The organs of the state include: public authorities, administrations, diplomatic bodies, courts and prosecutor's offices. The mechanism of the state, in addition to the organs of the state, includes the armed forces in the form of a standing army. It is used both to carry out external functions and to suppress anti-government and anti-social speeches.
The mechanism of the state has the following properties.
1. He consists of a special group of people who have separated themselves from society and are engaged only in that, or almost only, or mainly in that which governs.
2. The state bodies that form it are hierarchically subordinated to each other. The isolation of individual links of the mechanism and their transformation into a dominant force is in itself an indicator of the crisis of political power that states periodically experience.
3. Each body has authoritative, binding powers for all. Speaking on its own behalf, the state body acts as a body of state power.
4. Mandatory presence of organizational and material instruments of coercion.
The state mechanism can be called "state power" or "public power". It is created to carry out the functions of the state, and this connection is most tangible in the specific structure of the state apparatus.
The state apparatus is a part of the mechanism of the state, which is a set of state bodies endowed with power for the implementation of state power. In addition to the state apparatus, the structure of the mechanism of the state includes state institutions and state enterprises.
State institutions are such state organizations that carry out direct, practical activities to perform the functions of the state in various fields: economic, social, cultural, protective, etc. It is often believed that state institutions carry out socio-cultural functions in the field of science, education, and health care.
State enterprises are established to carry out economic activities in order to produce products or provide them, perform various works and provide numerous services to meet the needs of society, individuals, and make a profit.
The state apparatus is specially intended for the exercise of state power, its structure and principles of formation have been and are influenced by various factors of an economic, political, historical, religious and other nature, and essential or functional changes inevitably require the improvement of the state apparatus, the emergence of new state bodies.

The state really acts, manifests itself only as a system, as an ordered set of special bodies, teams of people who manage the affairs of society on its behalf and within the limits of the powers granted. Such collectives operate constantly, on a professional basis, which distinguishes them from society and puts them above society. Citizens can take part in the affairs of the state, but in the end, state bodies, officials are personally responsible for the effectiveness of their work (V.M. Syrykh).

Such a system of state bodies, professional teams is called the mechanism of the state. Consequently, the mechanism of the state is a system of state bodies designed to exercise state power, tasks and functions of the state. The mechanism of the state is that real organizational and material force, at the disposal of which the state pursues this or that policy.

In legal science, the concept of "mechanism of the state" and "state apparatus" are usually used as synonyms, although there is a point of view according to which the state apparatus is understood as a system of bodies that directly carry out managerial activities and are endowed with authority for this, and the concept of "mechanism of the state" along with the state apparatus, state institutions and organizations are also included, as well as “material appendages” of the state apparatus (armed forces, police, penitentiary institutions, etc.), relying on which the state apparatus operates.

There is a scientific position, according to which the apparatus of the state refers to all the organs of the state in statics, and the mechanism of the state - the same organs, but in dynamics. Studying the apparatus of the state, they primarily talk about the appointment, formation procedure, competence of a state body, and studying the mechanism of the state - directly about the activities of state bodies, about their relationship with each other in the process of implementing certain functions of the state (Lazarev, Lipen).

Characteristic features of the mechanism of the state:

a) it is a system, i.e. an ordered set of state bodies interconnected with each other. The mechanism of the state includes legislative bodies (parliament), the president with his administration, executive bodies (government, ministries, departments, state committees, governors, etc.), judicial bodies (constitutional, supreme, arbitration and other courts), prosecutorial and other supervisory authorities, police, tax police, armed forces, etc. Together they make up

a single system of government;

b) its integrity is ensured by common goals and objectives. It is the goals and objectives that unite such different state departments into a single organism, orient them towards solving common problems, direct their energy in a certain positive direction;

c) its main element is the state bodies with power;

d) it is the organizational and material force (lever) with the help of which the state exercises its power, achieves concrete results.

The mechanism of the modern state is characterized by a high degree of complexity, a variety of its constituent parts, blocks, subsystems. The structure of the mechanism of the state is understood as its internal structure, the arrangement of its links, elements, their subordination, correlation and interconnection.

Movement structure:

1) state bodies that are in close relationship and subordinate in the exercise of their direct power functions. The peculiarity of these bodies is that they have state-imperious powers, i.e. such means, resources and opportunities that are associated with the power of the state, with the adoption of generally binding management decisions (parliament, president, government, ministries, departments, state committees, governors, administrations of territories and regions, etc.);

2) state organizations - these are subdivisions of the mechanism of the state (its "material appendages"), which are called upon to carry out the protective activities of this state (armed forces, security services, police, tax police, etc.);

3) state institutions are such subdivisions of the mechanism of the state that do not have power (with the exception of their administrations), but carry out direct practical activities to perform the functions of the state in the social, cultural, educational, scientific fields (libraries, clinics, hospitals, post, telegraph, research institutes, universities, schools, theaters, etc.);

4) state enterprises are such subdivisions of the mechanism of the state that also do not have power powers (with the exception of their administrations), but carry out economic and economic activities, produce products or provide production, perform various works and provide numerous services to meet the needs of society, extract arrived;

5) civil servants (officials) specially engaged in management. Civil servants differ in their legal position in the mechanism of the state. Depending on their powers, they can be divided into the following types: a) persons holding positions related to the direct execution of the powers of a state body (president, head of government, deputies, ministers, etc.); b) persons holding positions to directly ensure the powers of the above-mentioned employees (assistants, consultants, advisers, etc.); c) persons holding positions established by state bodies to exercise and ensure the powers of these bodies (referents, specialists, heads of structural divisions of the apparatus, etc.); d) persons who do not have administrative powers (doctors in state medical institutions, university professors, other employees who receive wages from the state budget);

6) organizational and financial resources, as well as coercive force, necessary to ensure the activities of the state apparatus.

The mechanism of the state and its structure do not remain unchanged. They are influenced both internally (cultural-historical, national-psychological, religious-moral features, the territorial size of the country, the level of economic development, the balance of political forces, etc.), and externally (the international situation, the nature of relations with other states and etc.) factors.

In particular, if the state has a large territory (for example, the Russian Federation), then its management system will be appropriate, including the complex structure of the mechanism of the state (general federal bodies of state power and administration and bodies of state power and administration of the subjects of the federation); in conditions of war, the role of the army, special services, military enterprises, etc., increases; in conditions of a high level of crime, corruption and other negative, painful phenomena in the social organism, law enforcement agencies specially designed for "surgical" intervention and neutralization of these "diseases" acquire special significance; in the conditions of the Spiritual crisis, scientific, upbringing and educational units, cultural institutions, etc. should come to the fore.

The concept, features and types of state bodies

An analysis of the state from the standpoint of its mechanism makes it possible to identify the place and role of each element in the system of state power, to determine its optimal structure, hierarchical connections with other elements, etc. At the same time, each element, considered as a component of a single mechanism, acts as an organic and rather independent part of the whole, i.e. a phenomenon that has certain imperative and autonomous qualities and properties, which makes it possible to more fully reveal its nature and purpose.

The first element, a kind of "brick" of the entire "building" of the mechanism of the state is the state body. An organ of the state is a link in the state apparatus that participates in the implementation of certain functions of the state and is endowed with authority in this regard.

SIGNS OF A STATE AUTHORITY

    It is an independent element of the mechanism of the state

    Formed and acting on the basis of legal acts

    Performs tasks and functions peculiar only to him

    empowered in this regard

    Composed of civil servants and related units

    Has a material base and financial resources

    has a certain legal status, which reflects the position of this state body and its specific social content;

    in the process of realizing property rights, it acts as a legal entity, i.e. may be liable for his obligations with the property entrusted to him, as well as, on his own behalf, acquire and exercise property and personal non-property rights, bear obligations, be a plaintiff and defendant in court;

    operates in a certain territory (has a territorial scale of activity).

Government agencies are diverse. They can be classified according to the following criteria.

according to the order of formation, state bodies are classified into bodies directly elected by the people

the State Duma of the Russian Federation, the legislative bodies of the constituent entities of the Federation), and bodies formed by other state bodies (the Government of the Russian Federation, the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, etc.);

according to the form of implementation of state activities - to legislative (representative, executive, administrative, judicial, control and supervisory bodies.

Legislative(Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, Saratov Regional Duma, Penza Representative Assembly, etc.) are called upon to directly express the will and interests of society in laws (here it is important to keep in mind that the concepts of “representative bodies” and “legislative bodies” do not coincide in volume. The relationship between them is this - every legislative body is simultaneously representative, but not every representative body can act as a legislative one; for example, a convened constitutional meeting can be recognized as a representative body, but not legislative).

Executive and administrative(Government of the Russian Federation, ministries, state committees, administrations of territories and regions, etc.) are called upon to ensure the implementation of adopted laws and by-laws

Judiciary(constitutional, ordinary, military, arbitration courts) are called upon to administer justice, consider property disputes of individuals and legal entities, and ensure the protection of the rights and freedoms of man and citizen.

Supervisory(the prosecutor's office, industrial oversight bodies, nuclear and radiation safety oversight bodies) are called upon to monitor compliance with the law and technological discipline;

according to the principle of separation of powers - into legislative, executive and judicial;

by hierarchy - into central, republican and local;

by the nature of subordination - to bodies of exclusively "vertical" subordination (the prosecutor's office, the court, etc.) and bodies of "double", or "vertical-horizontal" subordination (police, state banks, etc.);

by terms of office - into permanent ones, which are created without a time limit (the prosecutor's office, police, court), and temporary ones, which are created to achieve short-term goals (temporary administration under a state of emergency);

according to the procedure for exercising competence - into collegiate and one-man;

by legal forms of activity - into law-making, law enforcement and law enforcement;

according to the nature of competence - to bodies of general competence, which, within their powers, make decisions on any issues (government), and bodies of special competence, carrying out activities in any one sphere of public life (ministries).

PRINCIPLES OF ORGANIZATION AND ACTIVITIES OF THE STATE APPLICATION Priority of human and civil rights and freedomsDemocracySeparation of powersLegalityOpennessFederalismProfessionalismCombination of election and appointment

In the science of the theory of state and law, there is still no generally accepted, unified approach to the concept of the mechanism of the state. Some theorists argue that this is the actual apparatus of the state, i.e. the system of its organs through which state functions are carried out. Others include both the apparatus of the state and state organizations in the mechanism of the state, distinguishing between two types of state organizations: those performing the protective functions of the state (armed forces, police, special services, correctional institutions); realizing economic and socio-cultural functions (special hospitals, special clinics, transport parts, sewing). Still others argue that the mechanism of the state includes, in addition to state bodies and organizations, also such components as: public services and corporations; procedures for making government decisions; resource provision. Some legal scholars focus their attention only on the concept of "state apparatus", and instead of the term "mechanism of the state" they use the terms "state mechanism" and "mechanism of state power". At the same time, it is argued that the apparatus of the state is not at all state power, but only an auxiliary and completely subordinate structure of this power. The state apparatus, consisting of employees, is called upon to serve the state power, its constitutionally established bodies, analyze information flows and synthesize them in relevant analytical materials, prepare drafts of relevant documents (including legal ones), and carry out certain instructions.

After analyzing these points of view, we can conclude that it is necessary to analyze the relationship between the concepts of "mechanism of the state" and "apparatus of the state."

The mechanism of the state consists of an apparatus that includes state authorities (legislative, executive, judicial, control and supervisory), as well as state organizations (medical, transport, service) and the so-called material appendages (army, law enforcement agencies, prisons). Indeed, among the state institutions, one can single out a non-specific part - institutions and structures that perform economic, socio-cultural, technical and other tasks, but which do not have power powers. The non-specific set of institutions is especially large in societies where state bodies often perform various economic and socio-cultural functions and possess a large amount of state property. In this regard, this point of view seems to be more acceptable in terms of a detailed and in-depth analysis of various parts of the mechanism of the state, and not only public authorities and administration.

The most important component of the mechanism of any state is the body of the state as a state entity, consisting of an individual official or a group of officials that exist and act on the basis of law. We agree with the opinion expressed in the science of state and law that law is also the most important component of the mechanism of the state. It is with the help of laws and other legal acts that the foundations and principles of building the mechanism of the state are regulated, the rights, obligations, functions and methods of activity of the state bodies for the implementation of the goals and functions facing it are determined. Law in the mechanism of the state should be considered from two sides: on the one hand, it is a means used by state bodies in the course of their activities, and on the other hand, it determines, consolidates and ensures the organization and functioning of parts of the state mechanism.

The mechanism of the state is not a mechanically assembled, heterogeneous phenomenon, but an interconnected, clear, coordinated system of authorities and other state structures. Otherwise, the state would not be able to successfully carry out the functions facing it, and its activities would consist of inconsistent actions of various bodies, which would give rise to inconsistency and inconsistency both in the very mechanism of the state and in the life of all its citizens. Stability, consistency and consistency of the elements of the state mechanism predetermine the following factors: the unity of the political system on which the activities of all state bodies are based; the state has an effective national idea; the unity of the principles underlying the construction and functioning of state bodies, organizations and institutions that are part of the mechanism of the state; commonality of political and legal ideas and economic basis (market and planned); commonality of ultimate goals, immediate and final tasks facing the state.

Speaking about the stability and stability of the mechanism of the state in the world, we can also highlight its other significant features:

  • - the mechanism of the state is brought to life by the need to carry out specific functions that inevitably require appropriate state-legal influence, which, in fact, is the mechanism of the state, i.e. the emergence of certain bodies, organizations, institutions in the state is explained;
  • - the mechanism of the state is always based on uniform principles of organization and activity, which, as a rule, are established and enshrined in laws and other acts or are formed historically;
  • - the mechanism of the state has a complex multi-level structure, which is explained by the need to solve various social, economic and legal tasks facing the state (protection of its own territory, ensuring the rights and freedoms of citizens, economic cooperation with other states, combating crime, solving environmental problems). In addition, there are objective requirements for the legitimate and effective functioning of the mechanism of the state, emanating from the source of power - the people;
  • - the mechanism of any state characterizes the presence of the necessary financial resources, material structures, without which it cannot work normally. The peculiarity lies in the fact that they are not independent elements of an imperious, managerial nature, but act as providing factors that allow the main elements of the state mechanism to successfully carry out their functions. Such, for example, are various material objects and structures: buildings, structures, funds, some institutions (warehouses, bases, transport, communications institutions);
  • - the mechanism of the state implies the presence of a human factor in it; the presence of people who are specially involved in the implementation of managerial functions, carrying out lawmaking, implementing legal norms, protecting them from violations.

It should be noted that ensuring the effective functioning of the mechanism of the state also necessarily requires that it be built and operate on the basis of certain principles that are objective. Among such principles in the theory of the state are the following:

  • – obligatory real representation in the entire system of state bodies and institutions of the interests of the relevant citizens. This is possible only in the case of an effective functioning of a democratic electoral system, strict observance of economic, political and other rights and freedoms of citizens;
  • - transparency and publicity of the activities of all state bodies, access to relevant information (excluding that which is legally classified as secret) of all interested parties. The content of this principle includes the right of everyone to receive information affecting his rights and legitimate interests, and in a broader sense - the formation of public opinion about the activities of the entire mechanism of the state;
  • - legality, meaning the obligatory observance of laws in the activities of all links of the mechanism of the state, both in relations with each other and with the population of the country or organizations expressing its interests;
  • – the competence and professionalism of the activities of all employees of state bodies, guaranteeing a high level of solution of the most important issues of public life. Compliance with this principle is possible only if the state apparatus is formed from knowledgeable, educated persons in the field of management and law;
  • - the separation of powers provides for the independence of bodies belonging to different branches of power, their ability to provide a mechanism of checks and balances against each other in order to prevent excessive strengthening and elevation of any one branch of power over others, to prevent anyone from seizing power or appropriation of power, establishment of dictatorship;
  • - observance of the ideas of federalism in the formation and operation of the mechanism of the state is determined by the fact that, for example, the Russian Federation consists of equal subjects, which are republics, territories, regions, cities of federal significance, autonomous regions, autonomous districts. In relations with the federal authorities, the subjects of the Russian Federation are equal among themselves.

The apparatus of the state is a system of specially created bodies of professional employees who occupy the regular positions established in them, ensuring the performance by these bodies of their inherent power-state functions (including the adoption and implementation of generally significant and generally binding decisions by them), having the appropriate rights and obligations for this. . One part of this apparatus is often represented by the state (power-administrative, power-administrative, administrative-state) bureaucracy, and the other part, as world practice shows, is represented by military and paramilitary state bodies and institutions. The former consist of civil servants, or officials (in the broad sense of the word), while the latter consist of military personnel and paramilitary civil servants. Both ensure the performance by state bodies of their inherent power-state functions (including the adoption and execution of generally significant and generally binding decisions by them), have appropriate powers for this either in relation to other states, or in relation to citizens or subjects of their own state. But if the former do this without the use or threat of violence, by other means, then the latter, if necessary, have the right and are obliged to do this through the use or threat of use of physical force and appropriate weapons. If the latter ensure the performance of power-state functions mainly in the military and paramilitary (state security, law enforcement, state-coercive) sphere, then the former - in all other areas of state activity and legal relations.

From a legal standpoint, both parts of the state apparatus represent specific communities. They include two sides: formal (official) and informal (informal). In the first case, they are specially created power-administrative state bodies, whose employees carry out official activities and enter into official relations. In the second case, they often act as spontaneously emerging communities (groups) of subjects of the apparatus of state power, whose members carry out unofficial (private, personal-group) activities and enter into informal (private, personal-group) relations.

Both sides of their activities and relations significantly affect the life, functioning and development of the central, regional and local bodies of the state, which in their daily work rely on the appropriate mechanism of state power, because without it the functioning of neither the state power itself nor any other her organs. The existence of state power finds its expression precisely in the work of officials, the army, the administration, and judges. Apart from this physical incarnation of her, she is only a shadow, an imagination, a mere name. After all, bureaucracy, or bureaucracy, is a natural and necessary attribute of any apparatus of the state, in which the needs of management receive more or less significant development.

The modern theory of the state identifies and explores three main models for building the state apparatus:

  • - a centralized-segmental model, in which only central bodies operating on the scale of the whole society (president, parliament, government), as well as their local representatives, are considered state authorities. Local elected bodies are considered in this system as local self-government bodies and have a special, own sphere of activity. Such a model is characteristic of modern democratic states;
  • - a monocephalic model, in which the entire system of organs of the state is one. At the head of this system is a person or body that has full power and gives it to lower bodies. This system of state bodies is hierarchical, personified and pyramidal in its construction. Local authorities are considered here not as bodies of local self-government, but as bodies of the state. The monocephalic model of the mechanism of the state is characteristic of anti-democratic regimes;
  • - a monotheocratic model, in which there is the autocracy of the head of state, supported by religious dogmas and attitudes for the long-term preservation of tribal orders. The head of state is also the highest spiritual person. There is no separation of powers and no parliament. This model is typical for states that have declared Islam the state religion (Iran, Saudi Arabia, Qatar).

The principles of construction and operation of the apparatus of the state are the same as those that we outlined above when characterizing the principles of organization and functionality of the mechanism of the state (since the apparatus is part of the mechanism). However, individual theoreticians still identify and consider the general principles of the construction and operation of the state apparatus, which include: the principle of legality; legal order of education and activity; the effectiveness of the construction and structure of the state apparatus, the effectiveness of its work; professionalism and competence of civil servants; protection of civil servants from unlawful interference in their professional activities; the priority of human rights, which is expressed in two points: the recognition and observance of the rights and freedoms of man and citizen is the meaning and content of the activity of the apparatus, and the main criterion for evaluating the work of state bodies is the completeness of ensuring human rights and freedoms by the state; delimitation of competences and areas of competence between different bodies; openness of the public service, i.e. accessibility to public control; equal access of citizens to public service; separation of powers Morozova, L. A. Theory of state and law / L. A. Morozova. - M.: Eksmo, 2005. - S. 124.

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