“Pravova derzhava”. Issue 36 (2025), pages 94–105.

DOI: 10.33663/0869-2491-2025-36-94-105

Kubko Ievhen
Theoretical issues of the functioning of the state and legal institutions

The article examines the theoretical issues of the functioning of modern state and legal institutions, which by their nature constitute the basic elements of both the state mechanism and the legal system. State legal institutions are seen as a means of counteracting the entropy of the public administration system, ensuring its stability and the required level of efficiency. The concept of state and legal institutions is considered to be distinct from related legal concepts such as institution of law, institution of state, legal institutions, state institutions, institutional mechanism, etc. The purpose of the study is to identify the system of internal and external factors influencing the formation of the state and legal system of Ukraine since its independence. The author analyses the impact of international legal documents that shaped the ideas of democratic standards of state-building, as well as the impact of Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine. The author notes that the definitional order of issues related to state and legal institutions is aimed at overcoming the consequences of the interdisciplinary nature of research, including theoretical issues of institutionalism as a branch of economics, political science, sociology and law. From the point of view of legal institutionalism, the author examines the issues of the interaction of state and legal institutions with the mechanisms of the state and the legal system of the country, as well as the balance between stable and dynamic elements of any state and legal institution.
Depending on the nature of this balance, the author proposes a classification that includes stable, conditionally stable, dynamic and problem-oriented state legal institutions. Programme-targeted institutions are considered in the context of their temporary nature, which has time and material limitations. They are formed to achieve a specific goal and solve a specific problem that society faces in order to concentrate resources and implement a specific programme. The author concludes that state and legal institutions should be used as a means of controlling the efficiency and legality of administrative decisions, as an instrument of checks and balances from the perspective of modern legal practice, and also as an object of scientific research from the perspective of state and legal theory.

Key words: legal institution, state mechanism, state and legal institution, legal institutionalism.

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