INNOVATIVE STATE IN THE CONSTITUTIONAL DISCOURSE: A NEW CONCEPT OR A MODERN DIMENSION OF THE WELFARE STATE?

Abstract

The article is devoted to an issue of constitutionalizing the innovative state principle in Ukraine.The author analyzes the definition of innovation as a key element of the state’s innovative ecosystem, without the proper functioning of which it is impossible to achieve prosperity in society, as it contributes to the achievement of sustainable development goals. The article highlights the inextricable link between the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals and the constitutional welfare state principle. The author analyzes the place of the right to innovative activity in the Constitution of Ukraine and examines the essence of the innovative state principle through the prism of the views of Anish Chopra, an expert in public administration and the first Chief Technology Officer of the United States of America (hereinafter referred to as the USA). Practical examples of the effectiveness of an innovative state in the USA in terms of improving the well-being of the population are given. When describing the innovative state, the author emphasizes its ultimate goal, similar by its common features to the goal of the traditional welfare state. The article lists the characteristics and instruments of an innovative state according to A. Chopra. It mentions the crisis of the welfare state and its causes according to foreign and Ukrainian scholars as one of the reasons for updating the constitutional text. The author examines the views of Ukrainian scholars (in particular, V. Rechitsky) on the failure of the welfare state under the current Constitution of Ukraine. The author raises the question of the need to reflect the innovative state principle in constitutional discourse and analyzes possibility of considering the innovative state as a new model of the welfare state. The author explores the possibilities of reflecting the innovative state principle in the text of the Constitution of Ukraine. Particular attention is paid to the need for further development of this topic, taking into account the need to resolve the crisis of the welfare state, to reform the constitutional text (for example, by adopting a new Constitution of Ukraine), considering the processes of digitalization and rapid innovative progress, as well as stimulating an active society capable of providing for itself.