Constitutional Framework of Activities of Nonprofit Organizations Producing Public Goods

Abstract

The basic human needs include the needs for public goods, their satisfaction stipulated by the Constitution of the Russian Federation. The State cannot be the sole producer of such goods, as the state monopoly in the public sector has a negative impact on the quality of public goods. Their production should be based on the competitive activities of nonprofit organizations (NPO). The participation of the state and local governments in the public sector should be primarily limited to financing the citizens' expenditure for the consumption of public goods, as well as to the regulation and control of the activities of NPO. The constitutional framework for the creation of membership-based NPO is the right to association guaranteed by Art. 30 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation. Creating conditions for the exercise of the citizens' right to association requires a system of guarantees including socio-economic, political, legislative and other guarantees. A special role among the guarantees of the citizens' right to association is played by its judicial protection against the misconduct of the state and local self-government. Such protection should be aimed at the application of liability measures to public entities, their bodies and officers in the event of violation of the rights and legitimate interests of nonprofit organizations or their members.