Evolution of the constitutional legal status of the federal territory of the District of Columbia, USA: constitutional legal risks
Authors: Tretyak I. A. 
Published: March 2022

The subject. The article analyzes seven stages of the evolution of the constitutional legal status of the first federal territory in history the District of Columbia, USA. In the course of this analysis, the author formulates the constitutional legal risks of the existence of federal territories in the state. From the standpoint of identifying constitutional legal risks, an amendment to Article 67 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation on the possibility of the formation of federal territories on the territory of Russia is also analyzed.

The purpose of the paper is to identify constitutional legal risks in terms of the existence of federal territories using the example of the centuries-old struggle of the District of Columbia for autonomy.

The methodology of the study includes general scientific methods (analysis, synthesis, description) and legal methods. In addition to this, historical method was also applicable.

The main results and scope of their application. The author realized, that a certain constitutional risk exists when the federal territory is established as a special public-law entity, because the evolutionary process of the constitutional-legal status of the first federal territory, that was established in constitutional law – the District of Columbia in the United States of America, demonstrated such risk. The author describes seven different stages of the evolutionary process of the DC's constitutional legal status in its pass to autonomy and full political rights: (1) 1800–1870; (2) 1871 – June of 1874; (3) 20 of June 1874 – 1967; (4) 1967–1973; (5) 1973–1983; (6) September of 1983 – 2016; (7) since 2016 until now.

According to these periods, since 1801, DC residents, bound by all obligations of American citizenship, want to be equal to the rest of America's citizens. The United States is the only democratic country in the world today that denies the right to vote for a representative of the capital in the Congress. The Statehood of Washington, DC will correct a long-standing historical injustice that is unique in its nature among all capitals in the world. The author also proposes to consider as a constitutional risk the possibility of negative consequences (legal damage) for the subjects of constitutional law due to the contention of constitutional values.

In addition to this, the author concluded, that there is a risk that the Council of the Federal Territory “Sirius” will lose its representative character due to the absence of the established dependence of the number of elected Council members on the number of voters, as happened in the District of Columbia, where a fixed number of Council members (13) is also established, which cannot be changed by the district and which does not depend on the population living in its territory. It is also necessary to take into account the constitutional risk of the federal territory striving for autonomy within the federation, especially in the case of the formation of a local community on its territory.