The evolution of the idea of the separation of powers in Ukrainian political and legal thought in Galicia in the interwar period (1918-1939)

The article is devoted to the analysis of the formation and development of the fundamental principles of separation of powers in the theoretical concepts of representatives of Ukrainian political and legal thought. It is emphasized that at the beginning of the 20th century, the period of stateless existence was marked by the rise of the national consciousness of Ukrainians, the growth of their activity in political and legal thought with clearly expressed aspirations for a political struggle for the restoration of Ukrainian statehood. It is emphasized that attempts to implement the theoretical experience of the problems of the relationship between power structures fall on the period of the First National Liberation Struggle, when the construction of the Ukrainian state entered the real plane. The evolution of the concepts of separation of powers in Ukrainian political and legal thought of the pre-war period in Galicia is highlighted. The views of its significant representatives on the construction and organization of the optimal model of state power, whose works form the basis of the presented study, are analyzed. It is stated that the formation of certain scientific and theoretical ideas was significantly influenced by the mentality, values prevailing in society, the development of the principles of constitutionalism, democracy, the rule of law and legality, as well as the specific historical conditions that developed in Galician society in the pre-war period. It is emphasized that the classical principles of the separation of powers, which were formed by representatives of Ukrainian political and legal thought of the national-democratic direction, were not perceived by intellectuals who were disappointed with the results and consequences of the First Liberation Struggles - conservatives and nationalists. Their worldview paradigms were radically different from the state and legal views of the national-democrats who dominated Ukrainian socio-political life. Conservatives considered the monarchical state to be the most favorable form of state government in Ukraine. And representatives of the national-independence ideology defended the statist concept of natocracy.