Bohiv Y. People's sovereignty and the mechanism of its realization by public authorities: theoretical and legal aspect

The dissertation is devoted to the study of people's sovereignty as a basic principle of building relations between society and the state. In particular, the essence and nature of people's sovereignty are comprehensively considered, a modern concept of interaction between civil society and public authorities is developed and proposed, according to which people's sovereignty can become an effective constitutional principle. The paper investigates the evolution of the idea of people's sovereignty in European and domestic political and legal theory. Particular attention is paid to the author's position on understanding the legal nature of people's sovereignty and its definition in modern theory of state and law. Modern theoretical and legal approaches to the consideration of the principle of people's sovereignty – from the standpoint of the concepts of constitutional democracy and participatory (participatory) democracy. The theoretical and methodological aspect of people's sovereignty is revealed through the analysis of its relationship with state sovereignty, human rights, civil legal consciousness. The author's definition of people's sovereignty as a natural property of the people formed in the process of public life to have a supreme, independent, constituent power, which expresses the common will of all active members of the political community and is realized in the rights of citizens to create a state, establish and change its constitutional order and exercise control over them, within the framework of the constitutional and legitimate legal order. The mechanism of realization of the constitutional principle of people's sovereignty and its forms – participatory democracy, parliamentarism, local self-government is investigated separately in the dissertation. During the consideration of the peculiarities of the implementation of the principle of people's sovereignty in modern democracies, attention was paid to its crucial importance for ensuring the legitimacy of state power in the conditions of democratic transformation. It is established that under such conditions the implementation of the principle of people's sovereignty is complicated by attempts to appropriate the will of the people by both the government and the opposition. In both cases, it is a matter of political populism and the struggle for power. Abuse of the principle of people's sovereignty in their own interests is directed against human rights and freedoms and the legitimate rule of law. Attention is drawn to the fact that the implementation of the principle of people's sovereignty is impossible without civil legal consciousness, which is closely linked to the fundamental values – dignity and freedom. After all, citizens have an understanding of the essence of the democratic process and awareness of their rights and means of their protection allows the establishment and implementation of sovereign power of the people. The study considers the conceptual principles, content and principles of local self-government as a special form of democracy. Attention is drawn to the fact that in modern conditions of state formation it is definitely appropriate to consider local self-government as a legitimate type of public power, one of the foundations of the constitutional order, form of democracy and constitutional means of limiting state power. The paper highlights the institutional and organizational forms of civil society participation in the exercise of public power. It is substantiated that the process of realization of the principle of people’s sovereignty is directly related to the functioning of civil society as a sphere of self-organization and freedom of individuals. At the same time, the state of development of civil society determines the opportunities for the implementation of the principle of people's sovereignty.