What are the nature and institutional mechanisms of lawmaking? How did philosophers of the past interpret them and how do the classics of modern political science see them? Why do the number of laws and the speed of their change do not at all reflect the quality of the legal environment and the effectiveness of government? What features of political and legal reality allow us to talk about symptoms of degradation of lawmaking in Russia? What, in the author’s opinion, can revive the legislative process, including in parliament?

These and many other complex issues are analyzed in her book by Ekaterina Shulman, candidate of political sciences, a specialist in the problems of lawmaking. Based on extensive domestic and foreign material, as well as experience in the State Duma, the author reconstructs the dynamics of Russian lawmaking over the past fifteen years, reveals its essence, political content, and issues. The book can be used as a guide for studying the theoretical foundations and practices of lawmaking in modern Russia.