Annotation

The article is devoted to the study of the political and legal ideas of the Decembrists as a fundamental stage in the development of Russian constitutional thought in the first quarter of the 19th century. An analysis of the mechanisms for limiting power reveals that the Decembrists proposed specific tools to curb despotism: the separation of powers, the principles of parliamentarism, and the introduction of the right of suspensive veto. Particular attention is given to the teleological approach, which interprets sovereignty as a functional means of achieving "public welfare" and social transformation. As a result of this research, the author concludes that the Decembrists' ideas about sovereignty as the will of the people became a powerful catalyst for the evolution of Russian law from absolutism to constitutionalism.