The rule of law is a fundamental principle of the Constitution of the Russian Federation. The development of the rule of law is a complex and lengthy process that will continue as reforms and the universal values for building a modern democratic society are being managed. The implementation of various reforms in the state can be considered a necessary prerequisite for the final formation of the rule of law.
The legal state is a state that is guided only by the legal requirements, ideas, basеs, and it does not work in favor of the political elite, oligarchs and transnational corporations, lobbying their interests in the process of implementation of their functions by the state bodies; it isn’t under the influence of a populist environment at some point, particularly pre-election conditions, and it’s not especially influenced by the corrupt officials and criminal networks. The idea of the rule of law was relevant in the past. The main reason for this attention to the rule of law lies not only in the humanism of the idea of its emergence, but also in the search for the most appropriate way to shape it and effectively implement it.
In 1993, the Constitution declared the Russian Federation a legal state. Characteristics of Russia as a legal state indicated in article 1 are one of the important points of the current Constitution of the Russian Federation: "The Russian Federation – Russia is a democratic Federal legal state with a Republican form of government [1]". The Constitution of the Russian Federation absorbed the main achievements of the first legal science.
The process of creating a State based on the rule of law in Russia takes a long time. A breakthrough to this goal will largely depend on solving a number of problems that the government and the people face: strengthening of state power, development of civil institutions, observance of the principles of public justice. The importance of law as a social institution is contained in its established purpose to regulate social relations. The idea of forming a legal state is at the center of modern legal consciousness. The basis for building a modern legal state is the implementation of the principle of separation of powers, so that the powers of authority have been balanced between the different public authorities to ensure that there is no concentration of all powers [2].
When studying the gaps of the rule of law, it is necessary to consider emerging issues both from the perspective of the rule of law and from the point of view of the justice of the state's actions. In the early 90's, an active movement towards the establishment of the rule of law began, while the experience of the evolutionary development of political institutions and the state, as well as the gradual strengthening of the legal framework of the rule of law, was practically absent [3]. It is necessary to highlight the most well-known problems that hinder the development of a legal state: the underdevelopment of civil society, which is largely known errors of the reformers of the early 1990s (political unstructured society); violation of the freedom of speech and the media; non-enforcement of autonomy of local self-government; legal nihilism; the slow development of the market economy that does not allow freedom of entrepreneurship; non-ensurance of equality of citizens before the law and the courts, which are set out on paper; violation of electoral rights of citizens, falsification; distortion of legal awareness
The historical path of our state shows that there are problems with the long-term development of civil culture and civil institutions in the history of Russia. In the Russian state, at all stages of its existence, they sought to suppress any manifestations of the autonomy of the individual and society. Civil society is still at the stage of development, characterized by instability of social relations, its structure is amorphous. For the first time in the history of the Soviet legislation, a classification of the grounds for the emergence of civil rights and obligations as well as a classification of forms of civil rights protection was given [4].
The problem of distortion of legal consciousness, i.e. the mental reflection of state and legal reality in the form of social concepts and images, should be overcome. The deformation of legal consciousness is a distortion of the mental reflection of the state-legal reality by a person in the form of generalized concepts and images, their incorrect understanding or denial. The deformation of legal consciousness in any society is the strongest factor that negatively affects the process of building a legal civil society. Therefore, the elimination of legal awareness defects is one of the most important activities of any modern state. Speaking about the problems in the legal culture, it is worth noting that if it is undeveloped, it is at a low level, state and legal institutions are rejected by most members of a society as a value. Public relations are regulated by other, non-legal and non-state means. In this case, it is necessary to understand that the legal culture cannot be isolated from the general culture of a society. There can't be high legal culture in an uncultured society, and vice versa, there can't be low legal culture in a cultured, civilized society.
One of the most important problems in the development of the rule of law is the gross violation of the rule of law in the country. A significant part of the norms stipulated by the federal legislation is not implemented, but acts only formally [5]. The state is not always able to ensure the rights and freedoms of citizens in various spheres of life. The principle of separation of powers in the Constitution of the Russian Federation shows that the legislative power is not able to fully organize parliamentary control over the executive power to ensure the implementation of federal laws. A successful solution to this problem will help create a favorable environment for the creation of a state governed by the rule of law. It is necessary to achieve a high level of legal and political consciousness; to create consistent legislation; to develop both legal and common culture; to establish the principle of pluralism of opinions and judgments in all spheres.
The main catalyst for the creation of the rule of law is the high level of development of the country's economy. Small businesses don't have full freedom yet. Entrepreneurs cannot feel their power and opportunity in the economic sphere, which does not allow them to reach their potential. As a result, there is an increase in the lumpenized layer of the population, a slow access to market relations. The state should develop a well-thought monetary policy and ensure the inviolability of private property legally.
With the beginning of market relations in Russia began to form a group of people who reminded the middle class in terms of their parameters. The crisis of 1998 dealt a huge blow to the middle class. The development of the middle class is possible if there are consistent internal and external factors.
The development of the rule of law is a complex and misleading process. These goals need to be implemented in a step-by-step and appropriate manner, taking into account the historical and national characteristics of the country. It is necessary to make maximum use of the already accumulated experience of other countries in implementing legal reforms, intensively developing the level of productive forces and legal consciousness of Russian citizens. It is impossible to build a legal state in a couple of years. In other countries, the phenomenon has evolved over the centuries, gradually improved. It is worth overcoming these obstacles, actively exercising your constitutional electoral rights, participating in the political life of the country, and claiming your rights.
