Published: 15 March 2017
Purpose. The aim of the article is to study the problem of completeness of the legal status of a mass citizen, which requires to analyze the political order of modern Russia. Theories of modernization and democratic transit form paradigmatic framework of the research. Methodology. The author's methodological approach is based on the synthesis of methods of neoinstitutionalism, social construction of reality and cultural anthropology. Based on theoretical model of the citizen, designed by the author, the main political and legal institutions are analyzed as mechanisms for implementing the constitutional status of a citizen in Russian Federation, as well as political and legal culture of the population and the elite. Results. The author obtained the following conclusions and results. The political order in today's Russia has contradiction between the formal norms of outwardly modern political institutions and informal practices of their functioning. The principle of separation of powers is not fully realized; reforms (administrative, reforms of the legal system, etc.) are completed with the process of monopolizing all state functions by presidential power. The Constitutional Court in Russian Federation has lost the role of the supreme executor of constitutional control and the main defender of the rights and freedoms of citizens. Limitations of the citizens' political rights occur both at the legislative level and at the level of mechanisms of control over the executive power parliament, opposition, free media, civil society, local self-government bodies. The possibilities for political competition are decreased. Sociological data show a low level of citizens' participation in the adoption of political decisions and the activities of socio-political associations. Science novelty. A mass citizen is alienated from politics, he does not act as a subject of political participation. The results of the reform of the legal system in Russia show that the principles of law state the rule of law and the equality of citizens before the law are implemented selectively. There is no universal political and legal status of a citizen in Russia. The problem of determining the actual relationship between a citizen and the state in Russia requires a critical understanding of the transit paradigm and the identification of new methodological approaches. The author considers the concept of neo-feudalism as one of the possible ones.