The influence of civil society institutions on the fiscal policy of the state

Nagaitsev Viktor Valentinovich ORCID: 0000-0003-0231-8592 PhD in Sociology Head of the Department, Associate Professor, Department of Sociology and Conflictology, Altai State University 656049, Russia, Altai Territory, Barnaul, Lenin Avenue, 61 niipgergo2009@mail.ru Other publications by this author     Pustovalova Elena Valer'evna ORCID: 0000-0002-4078-8897 PhD in Philosophy Candidate of Philosophical Sciences, Associate Professor of the Department of Sociology and Conflictology, Altai State University 656049, Russia, Altai Territory, Barnaul, Lenin str., 61 niipgergo2009@mail.ru Savchenko Marina Stanislavovna Doctor of Law Professor, Head of the Department of State and International Law of Kuban State Agrarian University 350044, Russia, Krasnodar Territory, Krasnodar, Kalinina str., 13 niipgergo2009@mail.ru Other publications by this author     Petrenko Elena Gennad'evna PhD in Law Associate Professor of the Department of State and International Law, Kuban State Agrarian University named after I. T. Trubilin 350044, Russia, Krasnodar Territory, Krasnodar, Kalinina str., 13 niipgergo2009@mail.ru Other publications by this author

Goncharov Vitalii Viktorovich PhD in Law Associate Professor, Dean of the Faculty of Higher Education, Polytechnic Institute (branch), Don State Technical University in Taganrog 347900, Russia, Rostov region, Taganrog, Petrovskaya str., 109a niipgergo2009@mail.ru Other publications by this author

Introduction.

The issues of organization and implementation of public control in the Russian Federation are widely studied in the works of A. L. Gusev, ^{[8, pp. 159-162]} V. V. Goncharov, ^[3-5] A. D. Zasovin, ^{[11, pp. 862-866]} O. V. Matveev, ^{[15, pp. 33-38]} E. E. Nikitina, ^{[17, pp. 22-36]} E. G. Petrenko, ^{[19, pp. 86-89]} A. A. Rozhnova, ^{[20, pp. 194-201]} M. S. Savchenko, ^{[21, pp. 51-55]} A. K. Sisakian, ^{[22, pp. 29-35]} A. A. Solovey, ^{[23, pp. 38-41]} I. V. Teplyashina, ^{[24, pp. 34-37]} A. Y. Ulyanova, ^{[25, pp. 37-41]} as well as a number of other authors. The most important importance in the works of O. A. Abramov, ^{[1, pp. 21-25]} K. A. Boldyrev, ^{[2, pp. 149-157]} L. V. Davydova, ^{[8, pp. 36-43]} I. A. Zagoruiko, ^{[10, pp. 197-204]} M. A. Kosyan, ^{[12, pp. 208-211]} M. A. Lapina, ^{[13, pp. 2-6]} M. V. Lozova, ^{[14, pp. 423-427]} S. M. Mironova, ^{[16, pp. 54-58]} I. V. Penkova, ^{[18, pp. 147-157]} A. Khudoiberdieva, ^{[26, pp. 9-13]} O. A. Chernaya, ^{[27, pp. 329-331]} as well as some other scientists, given issues related to the functioning of public financial control, as well as their interaction with civil society institutions. However, the proportion of studies devoted to the influence of civil society institutions on the fiscal policy of the state is not large. This circumstance determines the choice of the topic of this scientific research, the purpose of which is not only to formalize and study the main problems that hinder the optimization of the processes of the impact of the institution of civil society on the processes of formation and development of the fiscal policy of the Russian state, but also to develop and substantiate a system of measures to resolve these problems aimed at the development of Russian civil society as a whole, so is the optimization of the fiscal policy of the state.

The main text.

According to its Constitution, the Russian Federation is a democratic State governed by the rule of law with a republican form of government. This determines the status of the multinational people of the country as the bearer of sovereignty and the only source of power in the state, which implements its powers through a complex set of direct and indirect forms of democracy. However, the constitutional principles of democracy and the participation of Russian citizens in the management of state affairs, the entire system of rights, freedoms and legitimate interests of man and citizen, need a system of legal guarantees, among which are: a constitutional ban on the seizure of power and misappropriation of authority; a system of constitutional control and supervision; an extensive system of civil society institutions.

The structure of modern Russian civil society was formed relatively recently – after the collapse of the USSR and the country's transition from socialism to capitalism. In this regard, Soviet civil society underwent a radical breakdown. In particular, the all-powerful CPSU, which according to Article 6 of the Constitution of the USSR had the status of the leading and guiding force of Soviet society, the core of its political system, state and public organizations, has sunk into oblivion. Many institutions of civil society, which had great power and might in the USSR, have lost their former importance and place in the civil society system (for example, trade union organizations).

There is no consensus in the Russian educational and scientific literature regarding the personal composition of the institutions of modern Russian civil society.

Thus, a number of authors, in addition to numerous public and religious organizations, which are traditionally recognized by all scientists as a type of civil society institutions, classify the human personality as civil society institutions. ^{[15, pp. 33-38]} Some scientists, based on the fact that the family acts as the primary unit of modern society, classify the institution of the family as the main type of institutions civil society. ^{[19, pp. 86-89]}

In our opinion, Russian civil society is currently represented, in particular, by the following groups of institutions: social; political; economic; spiritual (religious).

Among the main social institutions of the Russian civil society are:

a) citizens of the Russian Federation (in particular, this is confirmed by a number of constitutional rights and freedoms of citizens, including their right to participate in the creation and activities of public associations, other non-governmental non-profit organizations, the right to participate independently and as part of the above-mentioned legal entities in the organization and activities of subjects of public control, etc.);

b) associations of citizens of the country, which may be temporary or permanent, may be registered as a legal entity or not;

c) mass media (which, in accordance with Article 8 of the Law of the Russian Federation dated 12/27/1991 No. 2124-1 "On Mass Media" must be registered as a mass media in order to be considered mass media);

d) the institute of public control, which should be understood as the combined activities of its subjects (in which both citizens and numerous non-governmental non-profit organizations can participate) to control the activities, acts and decisions of public authorities, state and municipal organizations, other bodies and organizations endowed by federal laws with the right to exercise certain public powers.

Among the main political institutions of the Russian civil society are:

a) citizens of the country who have active and passive suffrage (that is, the right to elect and be elected to public authorities), as well as the right to participate in referendums at all levels;

b) political parties, which are the most important type of non-governmental non-profit organizations;

c) trade union organizations that have broad political rights provided for, in particular, by Chapter 2 of Federal Law No. 10-FZ of 12.01.1996 "On Trade Unions, their Rights and Guarantees of Activity";

d) an institution of civil society, the subjects of which are authorized to exercise control over any public authorities and other structures authorized to exercise certain public powers.

Among the main economic institutions of Russian civil society, in particular, organizations, enterprises and institutions engaged in the production of material goods, the provision of various kinds of services, both tangible and intangible.

Among the main spiritual (religious) institutions of Russian civil society, religious public non-profit organizations can be distinguished, primarily those belonging to traditional religious denominations in Russia: Orthodoxy (in particular, the Russian Orthodox Church); Islam; Buddhism; Judaism (for example, the Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia).

An important place in ensuring the preservation and development of Russian society and the state is occupied by state policy, which in a broad sense should be understood as a systematic set of basic principles, methods and methods of implementation by public authorities of state functions enshrined in the Constitution of the Russian Federation and current legislation.

Public policy includes a lot of areas that generally correspond to the function of the apparatus of public authority. They can be classified for a number of reasons. For example, in terms of scale and focus, domestic and foreign public policy can be distinguished. Within the framework of internal state policy, a number of areas can be identified, in particular, socio-economic, cultural, fiscal, etc.

What is the concept and essence of the fiscal policy of the state? And what is its place in public policy in general?

The fiscal policy of the state, it can also be called the fiscal policy of the state, is a direction of state policy consisting of a systematic set of measures to influence the apparatus of public power on the country's economy using various tax and budgetary instruments, in particular, the amount of expenditures and revenues of public budgets, primarily the federal budget of the Russian Federation.

The essence of the state's fiscal policy is to regulate the country's economy in such a way as to ensure optimal growth and development in the short, medium and long term of the system of economic indicators (first of all, the volume of gross domestic and gross national product, disposable income of the population, the revenue side of public budgets, etc.). In addition, depending on the challenges facing The instruments of fiscal state policy allow us to build a system of measures to prevent, eliminate, reflect or minimize the negative consequences of these threats.

Thus, the fiscal policy of the state occupies a key place in the state policy of the country, since it is through its implementation that optimal financing of all other areas of state policy is ensured.

The main objectives of the fiscal policy of any modern sovereign state include: achieving macroeconomic stability; minimizing unemployment in the country; increasing the number of jobs with a high level of added value; priority development of economic sectors of the fifth and sixth technological orders; balanced development of individual regions of the country and municipalities; stimulating fertility; reducing mortality, etc.

The fiscal policy of the state is influenced, in particular, by the following factors: a) the level of gross domestic and national product (calculated in per capita terms, taking into account the purchasing power parity of the national currency); b) the level of development of sectors of the economy with the highest level of high added value; c) demographic factors (percentage of the working-age population, percentage of employed in the economy population, percentage of youth, etc.); d) the level of public support for the state policy being implemented; e) the level of development of civil society institutions.

Why is the level of development of civil society so important in terms of its influence on the formation and development of the fiscal policy of the Russian Federation? How do various institutions of civil society influence the above-mentioned processes?

Firstly, the institutions of Russian civil society influence the fiscal policy of the state in such a way that its development is aimed not at enriching the power elites, but at improving the macroeconomic indicators of economic development in the country, at ensuring a progressive improvement in the standard of living of all socio-political classes and strata of Russian society.

Secondly, various institutions of civil society, primarily trade unions, ensure the growth of public budget expenditures for the development of real sectors of the Russian economy, for the creation of new economically highly efficient jobs (primarily in industries with the highest level of high added value).

Thirdly, the institutions of civil society, first of all, public control, make it possible to monitor that in the process of forming and implementing the fiscal policy of the state, on the one hand, constitutional principles are respected, in particular, legality, responsibility of officials of public authorities, and on the other hand, the constitutional rights and freedoms of citizens of the Russian Federation Federations, the rights and legitimate interests of public associations and other non-governmental non-profit organizations that form the institutional basis of Russian civil society.

Fourth, civil society institutions make it possible to ensure transparency of the Russian state fiscal policy for citizens of the country and legal entities, which minimizes the level of social tension in the country.

Fifth, through the Institute of Public Control, which is the youngest but most effective institution of civil society, Russian civil society receives information about the most and least effective measures of the Russian state fiscal policy and its effectiveness.

However, the impact of civil society institutions on the processes of formation and development of the fiscal policy of the Russian state is difficult due to a number of problems, among which the following can be distinguished:

Firstly, a major problem today is the fact that the Constitution of the Russian Federation, in fact, ignores the need to formalize the concept, structure and basic elements of Russian civil society, including its most detailed institution – public control. This, on the one hand, reduces the authority and importance of various civil society institutions in the eyes of both the population of the country as a whole and numerous state and municipal employees, and on the other hand, creates difficulties in determining the grounds and limits of the impact of civil society institutions on the formation and functioning of public authorities, including the main ones areas of public policy, including the fiscal policy of the state. The solution to this problem is seen in the inclusion in the Constitution of the Russian Federation of a separate chapter "Russian Civil Society", which will define its structure, the mechanism of interaction with public authorities, the concept and content of civil society control over the apparatus of public power (public control), the limits and grounds for its implementation, the basic principles, forms, methods and Alternatively, it is possible to consolidate the above-mentioned provisions in Chapter 2 of the Constitution in the form of a set of articles.

Secondly, a significant problem is the fact that Russian legislation regarding the possibility of organizing and exercising public control over the apparatus of public power (and other entities entitled to exercise certain public powers) regulated in detail only the institution of public control. At the same time, federal laws on other civil society institutions have consolidated the minimum rights of civil society entities to control the above-mentioned objects. The solution to this problem is seen in the systematic expansion of the powers of civil society entities to control public authorities and other entities entitled to exercise certain public powers. In particular, it is necessary to expand the specified powers of trade unions, public and religious organizations, etc.

Thirdly, a major problem is the fact that Russian tax and budget legislation practically does not contain provisions regulating the grounds, procedure (mechanism) of interaction between civil society institutions and fiscal public authorities in the process of forming and implementing the fiscal policy of the state. This concerns, first of all, the institution of public control. The solution to this problem is seen in the expansion and detailing in the Russian budget and tax legislation of the powers of subjects of public control, on the one hand, over the processes of formation and implementation of the fiscal policy of the state as a whole, and on the other hand, over the activities, acts and decisions of the above-mentioned public authorities.

Fourthly, the fact that civil society institutions in Russia as a whole are not endowed with real powers to control the activities, acts and decisions of public authorities, state and municipal organizations, and other bodies and organizations endowed by federal laws with the right to exercise certain public powers is also a significant problem. The powers of civil society actors are mainly advisory, advisory, and auxiliary in nature. If signs of a crime are found in the actions of officials, for example, public authorities, representatives of civil society entities can only apply to law enforcement agencies and the court with appropriate statements. They have no real authority to stop the crimes and offenses being committed. But with the current level of development of digital technologies, the bill goes literally for minutes. If, for example, a subject of public control finds that in the process of conducting public procurement procedures, products are being purchased at a deliberately inflated price, then while he applies to law enforcement agencies and they make a decision, the funds will already be stolen and withdrawn outside the Russian Federation.  Thus, in general, it is necessary to reconsider the concept of the powers of subjects of civil society, first of all, subjects of public control, in terms of providing them with a system of real powers. You can criticize the institute of people's control of power in the USSR for as long as you like (for example, for its dependence on the apparatus of party power of the CPSU), but this institution of civil society was not an example more effective, as we proved in previous studies, ^{[6, pp. 196-200; 7, pp. 127-130]}

Fifth, a major problem is the fact that the Russian scientific and educational literature (Russian legal doctrine in general) has not developed specific forms, methods and principles of influence of subjects of Russian civil society on the processes of formation and implementation of public policy in general, as well as fiscal policy of the state in particular. Solving this problem requires special attention from the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation, which, in fact, crowns not only the system of subjects of public control, but also the system of subjects of civil society in the country as a whole. The Public Chamber of the country should organize work in this area among scientific and educational institutions.

Sixth, a significant problem also lies in the fact that positive foreign experience of interaction between civil society institutions and fiscal public authorities is poorly used in Russia, especially in terms of the organization and implementation by civil society of control over the activities of these public authorities. Of exceptional importance in this matter is the experience of Switzerland, where civil society institutions have been exercising almost complete control over the formation and implementation of certain areas of public policy at all levels for more than 200 years (both at the state level as a whole and at the level of individual cantons), including, first of all, the fiscal policy of the state.

Seventh, an important problem is the fact that the institutions of Russian civil society have an exceptionally weak financial, as well as organizational and technical base. The solution to this problem is seen in the expansion of financing for the development of this base at the expense of the federal budget. It seems advisable for the Government of the Russian Federation to develop, adopt and implement a system of relevant federal programs aimed at both the development of Russian civil society in general and the institution of public control in particular.

Conclusion.

In the course of our scientific research, we have made a number of conclusions, among which the following can be distinguished:

1. Civil society in the Russian Federation should be understood, on the one hand, as a set of citizens of the country and legal entities, as a rule, non-governmental non-profit organizations, their associations and unions, independent in making their decisions from public authorities and other entities endowed by legislation with the right to exercise certain public powers, and on the other hand, the sphere of self-realization and self-manifestation of these subjects, expressed in their participation in the state and public life of the country.

2. The system of civil society institutions in Russia acts as the most important legal guarantee for the implementation, protection and protection of both the system of constitutional principles and the system of human and civil rights and freedoms, as well as the rights and legitimate interests of public associations and other non-governmental non-profit organizations.

3. The preservation and development of Russian society and the state are largely determined by the degree of effectiveness of the development and implementation of public policy, the most important element of which is the fiscal policy of the state, which should be understood as a key direction of public policy, consisting of a systematic set of measures to influence the apparatus of public power on the country's economy using various tax and budgetary instruments.

4. The fiscal policy of the state is influenced by a system of various factors (economic, social, demographic, international), the most important of which is the level of development of civil society institutions in the country.

5. The activities of Russian civil society institutions make it possible to optimize the processes of formation, development and implementation of public policy in the country as a whole, as well as the fiscal policy of the state in particular, including by optimizing macroeconomic indicators of the country's development, reducing the level of social tension, minimizing differentiation in the development of individual socio-political classes and strata in society, regions and municipalities.

6. The impact of civil society on the processes of formation and development of the fiscal policy of the Russian state is difficult because of several problems, the main of which are: a) the lack of consolidation in the Constitution of Russia, the concept, structure and basic elements of Russian civil society (especially public control); b) lack of detail in the legislation of the legal status and powers of individual members of civil society; C) lack of tax and budget legislation provisions regulating the founding, the order (mechanism) interaction of civil society institutions and fiscal and public authorities in the process of formation and implementation of the fiscal policy of the state; d) the lack of civil society actors (including the subjects of public control) real powers to control the activities, acts and decisions of public authorities, state and municipal organizations, other agencies and organizations with Federal laws, a right implementation of certain public functions; d) the absence in the Russian legal doctrine of projects devoted to specific forms, methods and principles of the impact of constituent entities of the Russian civil society on the processes of formation and implementation of state policy in General and fiscal policy in particular; e) poor use of the Russian legislation and practice of the organization and activities of civil society actors of positive foreign experience of interaction between civil society institutions and fiscal public authorities, especially in the organization and implementation of civil society in monitoring the activities of the public authorities; g) lack of financial and technical base of the Russian civil society.

7. Solving these problems will require the development and implementation of a system of measures, including: a) the institutionalization of civil society in the Constitution of the country, as well as the detailing of its institutions in legislation (including the grounds, procedure (mechanism) of interaction between civil society institutions and fiscal bodies of public authority in the process of forming and implementing fiscal policy of the state); b) expanding the list of real powers of civil society entities, including, in terms of control over the activities, acts and decisions of public authorities and other structures authorized to exercise certain public powers; c) the adoption by the Government of the Russian Federation of a system of federal programs aimed at developing the material and technical base of Russian civil society, stimulating the development of specific forms, methods and principles of influence of subjects of Russian civil society on the processes the formation and implementation of public policy in general, as well as the fiscal policy of the state in particular; d) the organization of the processes of analysis, adaptation and implementation of positive foreign experience of interaction between civil society institutions and fiscal public authorities, especially in terms of the organization and implementation by civil society of control over the activities of these public authorities.