THE VIEWS OF A. D. GRADOVSKY ON THE ORIGIN OF SUPREME POWER AND THEIR MEANING FOR MODERN UNDERSTANDING OF THE STATE
Background. The study of the heritage of lawyers, who wrote their works before the revolution, is very topical nowadays because there are a lot of very valuable ideas. The works by A. D. Gradovsky are a model example. The author considered a part of Gradovsky's views concerning the state, which is often neglected by scientists - his views on the state power. The purpose of the work is to generally investigate the Gradovsky's teaching about supreme power in connection with modern understanding of the state. Materials and methods. The author used the works by Gradovsky describing the main points of his conception of supreme power. The researcher also paid attention to publications of modern experts in order to prove his conclusions, being a result of his investigations. Historical, comparative, logical and systematical methods were used in the study. Results. During the investigation the main aspects of the works by Gradovsky concerning supreme power with the point of views of the modern theory of state and law were revealed. It was estimated that such characteristics of supreme power as unity, dominance, inseparability, described by Gradovsky, find its' scientific grounds nowadays and represent a special interest in connection with principles of division of powers and federalism. Conclusions. Thus, the research of questions of the origin and essence of supreme state power based on the works by the law scientist of the XIX century and represented from the point of view of modern juridical science allows to take a deeper look at the problems of place and role of supreme power and correlate state power with the state. The state power is a fundamental symbol of the state, many features of which are characteristics of the state. All of it is important for modern understanding of the state.