Bunchuk, V.L. Regional policy of the federal state as a mechanism for the optimization and improvement of federal relations.

Abstract: In the conditions of the federal model of the territorial and state structure the possibility for complex and systematized regional policy is predefined by the stability and balance in the relations between the federal center and the constituent subjects of the federation. At the same time domination of the centralization or decentralization processes makes the choice of strategy for the regional development quite topical, be it a compensatory strategy in a centralized federal model, or the stimulating (generally systemic) model in the conditions of decentralization and considerable financial and political autonomy of the regions. The theoretical analysis of the key concepts of federalism allows to single out two key approaches: network approach and centralizing approach, which is also based on the certain level of decentralization within the framework of federal systems. The centralizing approach seems reasonable in its application to the Russian reality, since it centers on the priority of federal center in the regional policy.

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