The government of any state carries out wide activity covering by public administration practically all spheres of life. Therefore the subject competence of this body is difficult to define constitutionally and consequently it is always determined in a general way.

The status of the RF Government is fixed in the same way in the Constitution of the Russian Federation. Article 114 of RF Constitution defines a list of issues jurisdictional to the Government of the Russian Federation, and at the same time in the conclusion of the article "other powers" of the RF Government are mentioned that are entrusted to it by the Constitution of the Russian Federation, federal laws, decrees of the President of the Russian Federation.

Therefore, the constitutional list is not exhaustive, and the issues itself included in the list represent the most general designation of the basic duties of the state.

The competence of the Government of the Russian Federation is defined in article 114 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation and in respective federal laws. It includes the following powers:

Budget and finance.
The government of the Russian Federation is a participator of the budgetary process, that is, of law-regulated activity on drawing up, consideration, approval and execution of budgets. The government develops and introduces to the State Duma the federal budget and provides its execution. The government also presents to the State Duma the report on the federal budget execution.

Social policy.
The government of the Russian Federation provides realization of unified state policy in the field of culture, science, education, public health service, social security, ecology all over the Russian Federation. Federal laws affect practically all these spheres and establish certain powers of the Government of the Russian Federation there.

Federal property management.
The government of the Russian Federation (through the State Committee on the State Property Management) carries out general management of the federal property, solves questions of privatization, rational use of the federal enterprises.

Defense, security, foreign policy.
The government of the Russian Federation realize measures on maintenance of the state defense, state security, fulfillment of foreign policy of the Russian Federation. The heads of chief ministries and departments carrying out administration in these areas, submit to the President of the Russian Federation, but at the same time large powers and responsibilities are given to the Government of the Russian Federation.

Guarantee of rights and freedom of citizens.
The sphere of powers of the Government of the Russian Federation includes realization of measures guaranteeing legality, rights and freedom of citizens, protection of property and social order, struggle against criminality. Questions concerning financing and provision of material base of law enforcement bodies, analysis of legality state in the country and efficiency of struggle against criminality are solved and fulfilled at the governmental level.

It is necessary to emphasize again that the constitutional competence of the Government of the Russian Federation has the most general character. There exist many of federal laws and decrees of the President of the Russian Federations specifying this competence.

A number of powers of the Government is formulated in the Federal law "On the Government of the Russian Federation". The powers of the Government of the Russian Federation are closely concerned with the powers of the President of the Russian Federation; textually they cannot be ever brought to absolute accuracy and concreteness. Even a fleeting glance on the structure and names of executive bodies gives an idea of its complexity and variety of questions included into the competence of the Government of the Russian Federation.

Besides, it is necessary to consider that public management inevitably demands many operative and unforeseen measures which fundamentally do not go beyond the frames of the Government competence, but frequently do not meet general legislative formulations of duties of the federal executive authority