¹ The concept was likely first used in relation to South African constitutionalism in Klare, K.E., ‘Legal Culture and Transformative Constitutionalism’, 14(1) South African Journal on Human Rights (1998) p. 146 CrossRefGoogle Scholar; see Vilhena, O. et al. (eds.), Transformative Constitutionalism: Comparing the Apex Courts of Brazil, India and South Africa (Pretoria University Law Press 2013)Google Scholar; see also Bonilla, D. (ed.), Constitutionalism of the Global South: The Activist Tribunals of India, South Africa, and Colombia (Cambridge University Press 2013)Google Scholar (where the terms is used in numerous country chapters); see also von Bogdandy, A. et al. (eds.), Transformative Constitutionalism in Latin America: The Emergence of a New Ius Commune (Oxford University Press 2017)Google Scholar; Gargarella, R. et al. (eds.), Courts and Social Transformation in New Democracies: An Institutional Voice for the Poor?, 1^st edn. (Routledge 2006) p. 1 at p. 107-152Google Scholar (describing India, South Africa, and Colombia as courts that could help provide a voice for the poor in the consolidation of democracy). It has recently been applied to German constitutionalism: see Hailbronner, M., ‘Transformative Constitutionalism: Not Only in the Global South’, 13 American Journal of Comparative Law (2017) p. 527 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

² D. Moldonado (ed.), Constitutionalism of the Global South: The Activist Tribunals of India, South Africa, and Colombia (Cambridge University Press 2013), p. 21; Hailbronner, supra n. 1, p. 527 (describing how the term applies in Germany’s post-authoritarian transition).

³ For representative examples among many: see e.g. U. Baxi, ‘Preliminary Notes on Transformative Constitutionalism’, in Vilhena et al. (eds.), supra n. 1, p. 19; Robinson, N., ‘Expanding Judiciaries: India and the Rise of the Good Governance Court’, 8 Washington University Global Studies Law Review (2009) p. 1 at p. 67Google Scholar (discussing a ‘a global shift to check representative institutions with increasingly broad principles of good governance’); Stacy, H., Human Rights for the 21^st Century: Sovereignty, Civil Society, Culture, 1^st edn. (Stanford University Press 2009)Google Scholar (looking at Colombia, India, and South Africa courts as powerful guardians of judicially protected human rights).

⁴ Hailbronner, supra n. 1, at p. 527.

⁵ See e.g. Hailbronner, M., Traditions and Transformations: The Rise of German Constitutionalism, 1^st edn. (Oxford University Press 2015)CrossRefGoogle Scholar; D. Bilchitz, ‘Constitutions and Distributive Justice: Complementary or Contradictory?’ in Bonilla (ed.), supra n. 1; see generally supra n. 2; but see P. Sonnevend, ‘Preserving the Acquis of Transformative Constitutionalism in Times of Crisis: Lessons from the Hungarian Case’, in von Bogdandy et al. (eds.), supra n. 1.

⁶ Constitution of the Russian Federation (1993), available at ⟨constitution.kremlin.ru/⟩, last visited 5 November 2019.

⁷ Ibid., Art. 2.

⁸ Ibid., Art. 13.

⁹ Mazmyan, A., ‘The Judicialization of Politics: The Post-Soviet Way’, 13 International Journal of Constitutional Law (2015) p. 200 CrossRefGoogle Scholar (describing how post-Soviet courts have generally acted in the interests of the dominant group in power); Trochev, A., Judging Russia: Constitutional Court in Russian Politics 1990–2006 (Cambridge University Press 2008)CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

¹⁰ Mazo, E., ‘Path Dependency in Soviet and Russian Constitutionalism’, in Albert, R. and Guruswamy, M. (eds.), Founding Moments in Constitutionalism, 1^st edn. (Hart Publishing 2019)Google Scholar; see generally Varol, O., ‘Constitutional Stickiness’, 49 UC Davis Law Review (2016) p. 899 Google Scholar; Mahoney, J., ‘Path Dependence in Historical Sociology’, 29 Theory and Society (2000) p. 507 at p. 507-508CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

¹¹ Partlett, W., ‘Expanding Revision Clauses in Democratic Constitutions in Constitution-Making in Democratic Orders’, in Negretto, G. (ed.), Redrafting Constitutions in Democratic Orders: Theoretical and Comparative Perspectives (Cambridge University Press forthcoming)Google Scholar (discussing how one of the key status quo problems is that pre-existing constitutional legality and institutions can be used to block change).

¹² Partlett, W., ‘Separation of Powers Without Checks and Balances’, in Borisova, T. and Simons, W. (eds.), The Legal Dimension in the Cold War Interactions: Some Notes from the Field (Martinus Nijhoff 2012) p. 113 Google Scholar.

¹³ Mazmyan, supra n. 9, p. 200 at p. 206-207 (describing how political competition is a key variable in determining the independence of courts in the post-Soviet region).

¹⁴ Mazo, supra n. 10; see generally Varol, supra n. 10; Mahoney, supra n. 10.

¹⁵ Fogelklou, A., ‘Constitutionalism and the Presidency in the Russian Federation’, 18 International Sociology (2003) p. 181 at p. 194CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

¹⁶ Arato, A., Post-Sovereign Constitution-Making: Learning and Legitimacy (Oxford University Press 2016)CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Partlett, W., ‘The Legality of Liberal Revolution’, 38 Review of Central and East European Law (2013) p. 217 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

¹⁷ Arato, A., The Adventures of the Constituent Power: Beyond Revolutions? (Cambridge University Press 2017) p. 418 CrossRefGoogle Scholar (Arato describes this as ‘the normative logic of insurance that follows from the plurality of necessarily uncertain actors’ involved in the constitution-making process).

¹⁸ See Hailbronner, supra n. 5.

¹⁹ See Somek, A., The Cosmopolitan Constitution, 1^st edn. (Oxford University Press 2014)CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

²⁰ Extra-constitutionally, however, the Soviet legacy was not completely repudiated. Most notably, the Russian Foreign Ministry described Russia as a ‘continuing state of the USSR’. See Mullerson, R., ‘The Continuity and Succession of States, by Reference to the Former USSR and Yugoslavia’, 42 International and Comparative Law Quarterly (1993) p. 473 at p. 476-480CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

²¹ Danilenko, G., ‘The New Russian Constitution and International Law’, 88 American Journal of International Law (1994) p. 451 at p. 451CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

²² Holmes, S., ‘Superpresidentialism and its Problems’, 3 East European Constitutional Review (1994) p. 123 Google Scholar.

²³ Metcalf, L.K., ‘Presidential Power in the Russian Constitution’, 6 Journal of Transnational Law and Policy (1996) p. 125 at p. 139Google Scholar.

²⁴ Mazo, E., ‘Constitutional Roulette: The Russian Parliament’s Battle with the President Over Appointing a Prime Minister’, 41 Stanford Journal of International Law (2005) p. 123 Google Scholar.

²⁵ Sharlet, R., ‘Legal Transplants and Political Mutations: The Reception of Constitutional Law in Russia and the Newly Independent States’, 7 East European Constitutional Review (1998) p. 59 Google Scholar.

²⁶ Ibid., p. 64.

²⁷ Ludwikowski, R., ‘“Mixed” Constitutions: Product of an East-Central European Constitutional Melting Pot’, 16 Boston University International Law Journal (1998) p. 1 Google Scholar.

²⁸ Colton, T.J. and Skach, C., ‘A Fresh Look at Semi-Presidentialism: The Russian Predicament’, 16 Journal of Democracy (2005) p. 113 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

²⁹ Nichols, T.M., ‘The Logic of Russian Presidentialism: Institutions and Democracy in Post-Communism’, in O’Malley, E.L. et al. (eds.), The Carl Beck Papers in Russian and East European Studies (University of Pittsburgh, 1998) p. 1 at p. 11Google Scholar.

³⁰ Atchison, D., ‘Notes on Constitutionalism for a 21st-Century Russian President’, 6 Cardozo Journal of International and Comparative Law (1998) p. 239 at p. 351Google Scholar.

³¹ Sakwa, R., Russian Politics and Society, 4^th edn. (Routledge 2008) p. 40 Google Scholar.

³² Sakwa, R., ‘The Struggle for the Constitution in Russia and the Triumph of Ethical Individualism’, 48 Studies in East European Individualism (1996) p. 115 at p. 131Google Scholar.

³³ Ackerman, B., ‘The Rise of World Constitutionalism’, 83 Virginia Law Review (1997) p. 771 at p. 786CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

³⁴ Weaver, R. and Knechtle, J., ‘Constitution Drafting in the Former Soviet Union: The Kyrghyzstan and Belarus Constitutions’, 12 Wisconsin International Law Journal (1994) p. 29 at p. 30Google Scholar.

³⁵ A Troitskaya, The Proportionality Principle in Russian Constitutional Court Jurisprudence (on file with author); Mazmyan, supra n. 9.

³⁶ See e.g. S Belov, ‘The Limits of the Universality of Constitutionalism: The Influence of National Values in Judicial Decision Making’, [in Russian] Sravnitel’noe Konstitutsionnoe Pravo (2014) p. 37-56.

³⁷ Freedom House has labelled the majority of post-Soviet republics, including Russia, as ‘not free’: R.W. Orttung, ‘Nations in Transit: Russia’, Freedom House (2008) ⟨freedomhouse.org/report/nations-transit/2008/russia⟩, last visited 5 November 2019.

³⁸ Mazo, supra n. 10.

³⁹ Brown, I., ‘Clinging to Democracy: Assessing the Russian Legislative-Executive Relationship under Boris Yeltsin’s Constitution’, 33 Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law (2000) p. 645 at p. 663Google Scholar. The underlying approach was that the Russian President was unconstrained by the separation of powers. See e.g. Hayden, W., ‘Seeds of Unrest: The Political Genesis of the Conflict in Chechnya’, 24 Fletcher Forum of World Affairs (2000) p. 49 at p. 69Google Scholar. (‘Yeltsin’s exercise of super-presidential power threatened the precarious separation of powers contained in the 1993 Constitution’).

⁴⁰ Skach, C., ‘The “Newest” Separation of Powers: Semipresidentialism’, 5 International Journal of Constitutional Law (2007) p. 93 at p. 108CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

⁴¹ Henderson, J., The Constitution of the Russian Federation: A Contextual Analysis, 1^st edn. (Hart Publishing 2011) p. 256 Google Scholar.

⁴² Fogelklou supra n. 15, p. 194.

⁴³ See e.g. Arato, supra n. 17; Colon-Rios, J.I., Weak Constitutionalism: Democratic Legitimacy and the Question of Constituent Power (Routledge 2012)CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

⁴⁴ Arato, supra n. 17 (discussing the role of post-sovereign constitution-making in the South African example).

⁴⁵ Arato, supra n. 16.

⁴⁶ Partlett, W., ‘The Dangers of Popular Constitution-Making’, 38 Brooklyn Journal of International Law (2012) p. 193 Google Scholar; Landau, D., ‘Abusive Constitutionalism’, 47 UC Davis Law Review (2013) p. 189 Google Scholar.

⁴⁷ Partlett, supra n. 46.

⁴⁸ See Arato, supra n. 17 and accompanying text.

⁴⁹ Parlett, supra n. 46.

⁵⁰ Partlett, W. and Nwokora, Z., ‘The Foundations of Democratic Dualism: Why Constitutional Politics and Ordinary Politics are Different’, 26 Constellations (2019) p. 177 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

⁵¹ Partlett, supra n. 12, p. 114-116.

⁵² Partlett, W. and Ip, E., ‘Is Socialist Law Really Dead?’, 48 NYU Journal of International Law and Politics (2016) p. 463 at p. 470-471Google Scholar.

⁵³ The concept of ‘transmission belts’ was used by Lenin in a 1920 speech (and borrowed from his ongoing fascination with mechanisation and focused development). See V.I. Lenin, ‘The Trade Unions, The Present Situation and Trotsky’s Mistakes’ (Speech, Joint Meeting of Communist Delegates to the Eighth Congress of Soviets, 30 December 1920).

⁵⁴ Ludwikowski, R., ‘Judicial Review in the Socialist Legal System: Current Developments’, 37 International and Comparative Law Quarterly (1988) p. 89 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

⁵⁵ Partlett and Ip, supra n. 52, p. 482-483.

⁵⁶ Service, R., The Bolshevik Party in Revolution: A Study in Organisational Change 1917–1923, 1^st edn. (Palgrave Macmillan 1979)CrossRefGoogle Scholar (discussing how the Bolsheviks increasingly exercised centralised power after the Russian Revolution).

⁵⁷ March, L., The Communist Party in Post-Soviet Russia (Manchester University Press 2002) p. 39 Google Scholar (describing how the Communist Party of the Soviet Union was abolished in 1991); Marples, D.R., The Collapse of the Soviet Union 1985–1991 (Routledge 2004) p. 88 Google Scholar.

⁵⁸ Saunders, C., ‘Constitution-Making in the Twenty-First Century’, 4 International Review of Law (2012)Google Scholar.

⁵⁹ Arato, supra n. 16.

⁶⁰ Ibid.

⁶¹ Constitution of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (1978), Art. 267 (as amended 15 December 1990) ⟨constitution.garant.ru/history/ussr-rsfsr/1978/red_1978/5478725/⟩, last visited 5 November 2019.

⁶² O. Rumiantsev, Konstitusiya Devyanosto Tret’ego. Istoriya yavleniya. [The Constitution of ’93. A History of the Movement] (Moscow 2013) p. 176-177.

⁶³ In the final versions of the 1978 Russian Constitution we can find different formulations including ‘The Council of Ministers; The Council of ministers-Government; The Government of the Russian Federation’. This constitution is available online (including its frequent updates) at ⟨constitution.garant.ru/history/ussr-rsfsr/1978/red_1978/⟩ last visited 5 November 2019.

⁶⁴ Gleisner, J. et al., ‘The Parliament and the Cabinet: Parties, Factions and Parliamentary Control in Russia (1900–93)’, 31 Journal of Contemporary History (1996) p. 427 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

⁶⁵ At the IX (Extraordinary) Congress of People’s Deputies, the agenda included questions about the removal of the President of the Russian Federation from office and about re-election of the Chairman of the Supreme Soviet, but did not garner the necessary majority (617 votes were cast for the dismissal of the President of the Russian Federation and 268 against).

⁶⁶ Vestnik Konstitutsionnogo Suda RF [The Bulletin of the Russian Constitutional Court] No. 6 (1994).

⁶⁷ Ibid.

⁶⁸ In spring 1991 in Russia, 57% of the Russians voted for Yeltsin and radical reforms: see Baturin, Y., Epokha El’tsina: Ocherki politicheskoi istorii [The Yeltsin Epoch: Descriptions of Political History] (Vagrius 2001) p. 1 at p. 118Google Scholar.

⁶⁹ Poslanie Prezidenta Rossiskoi Federatsii Verkhovnomu Sovetu RF ‘O Konstitutsionnost’ [Presidential Address to the Supreme Soviet “On Constitutionalism’] Izvestiya, 25 March 1993.

⁷⁰ Vedomosti CPD i SS RSFSR [Report of the Congress and Supreme Soviet of Russian Federation] № 44, (1991) p. 1455.

⁷¹ Ibid., at p. 1456.

⁷² Baturin, supra n. 68, p. 177-178.

⁷³ Ibid.

⁷⁴ Postanovlenie Konstitusionnogo Suda RSFSR ‘Po Dely o proverke konstitutsionnosti Ykaza Prezidenta RSFSR ot 19 Dekabrya 1991 “Ob obrazovanii Ministerstva bezoposnosti i vnutrennikh del RSFSR”’ [Decision of the Russian Constitutional Court of the RSFSR ‘On the Constitutionality of the Presidential Degree from 19 December 1991 “About the Creation of a Ministry of Security and Internal Matters of the RSFSR”’, Sobranie Zakonodatel’stvo RF. № 6, (1992) p. 247.

⁷⁵ Vedomosti CPD i SS RSFSR № 13 (1993) p. 466.

⁷⁶ O. Rumyantsev, Ukaz. soch. [Collected works] (1996) p. 178.

⁷⁷ Sobranie aktov Prezidenta RF i Pravitel’stvo RF [Collection of acts of the President and Government of the Russian Federation], № 39 (1993) p. 3597.

⁷⁸ Sobranie aktov Prezidenta RF i Pravitel’stvo RF [Collection of acts of the President and Government of the Russian Federation] № 42 (1993) p. 3995.

⁷⁹ Baturin, supra n. 68, p. 370.

⁸⁰ Samuels, K., ‘Post-Conflict Peace-Building and Constitution-Making’, 6 Chicago Journal of International Law (2006) p. 663 Google Scholar.

⁸¹ Arato, supra n. 16; Partlett, supra n. 16.