The post-Soviet period may be characterized as years of increased attention by the
authorities to social policy, and implementation of a number of transformations in the social
sphere. Russia has constitutionally proclaimed itself a social state, and in this manner it has
acknowledged as a priority the defense of basic social rights of citizens. This has stimulated
the adoption of legislation regulating the development of social sectors (education, public
health, etc.) and the socioeconomic status of certain categories of the public (the disabled, the
elderly, refugees, those who have undergone forced resettlement, etc.), and aimed at
resolving a number of urgent, “burning” social problems. The principle of equality of all
organizational and legal forms for realization of social policy has been legally mandated, and
the right of the coexistence and development of non-state structures and organizations of the
social sphere has been declared.