The Constitution of the
Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic
The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR or RSFSR ( rus, Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика, Rossíyskaya Sovétskaya Federatívnaya Soci ...
of 12 April 1978 was formally its
supreme law.
History
At its Extraordinary Session of 12 April 1978, the Supreme Soviet of the Russian SFSR adopted a new republican Constitution, to replace the old
Russian Constitution of 1937
Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including:
* Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
*Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and pe ...
, including its subsequent amendments. The new Constitution initially consisted of a Preamble and 185 articles, and was prepared as part of the whole process of bringing all 15 republican Constitutions in line with new
Constitution of the Soviet Union of October 1977.
It was the fourth Constitution of the Russian SFSR.
Following a
turbulent period of democratization,
dissolution of the Soviet Union and subsequent
economic reform the Constitution was amended several times. It lost its legal force by
the referendum of 12 December 1993, which was preceded by a
power struggle
In political science and political history, the term power vacuum, also known as a power void, is an analogy between a physical vacuum to the political condition "when someone in a place of power, has lost control of something and no one has repla ...
between the
President of Russia
The president of the Russian Federation ( rus, Президент Российской Федерации, Prezident Rossiyskoy Federatsii) is the head of state of the Russian Federation. The president leads the executive branch of the federa ...
Boris Yeltsin
Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin ( rus, Борис Николаевич Ельцин, p=bɐˈrʲis nʲɪkɐˈla(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ ˈjelʲtsɨn, a=Ru-Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin.ogg; 1 February 1931 – 23 April 2007) was a Soviet and Russian politician wh ...
and Russia's legislative institutions – the
Congress of People's Deputies and the
Supreme Soviet of Russia.
List of amendments
See also
*
Constitution of Russia (1993)
*
Russian Constitution of 1918
*
1977 Soviet Constitution
{{Constitutions of the Soviet Union and the Soviet Republics
1978 documents
1978 in law
1978
1978 in Russia
Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic
Legal history of Russia
Constitutions of republics of the Soviet Union
April 1978 events in Europe