LEGISLATIVE PROCESS IN INDIA AND RUSSIA: A CONSTITUTIONAL COMPARISON

Abstract

Legislative process is necessary for democratic governance, for it is a reflection of constitutional structure of a nation. Legislatures in India and Russia are two very different federal systems that have written constitutions. This paper thus compares two such constitutions along structural differences, legislative initiation, constitutional amendments, presidential roles, and judicial oversight. India operates under a parliamentary system with a ceremonial head of state and a bicameral legislature, whereas in Russia the president is actually semi-presidential and his powers are much stronger than the head of state in India. Whereas Russia’s constitutional amendment-based process is more centralized than India’s federal multi-tiered federal consensus. But the methods of judicial review differ in both countries, both for the judiciary to play an important role in both preserving constitutional principles. These structural differences reveal an impact on the rule of law, democratic participation and balance of powers. Both systems strive to secure constitutionalism, but their legislative tradition determines, to the extent political and historical tradition matters in governance and democratic development, distinct historical and political understandings of constitutionalism.