The constitutional consolidation of people’s sovereignty as the bedrock of the State’s sovereignty, the exclusive right of the people to determine and change the constitutional order in Ukraine, the forms of people’s power and direct democracy brings to the forefront the issue of legal support of mechanisms via which the people may exercise power. One of the essentials of democracy is the institution of the All-Ukrainian referendum.

The article aims at analyzing the constitutional model of the institution of the All-Ukrainian referendum and developing the theoretical and methodological bases of its constitutionalization in the context of the people’s sovereignty principle.

It is emphasized that the theoretical base of the referendum rests upon the paradigm of people’s sovereignty, and the All-Ukrainian referendum is a form of expression (manifestation) of people’s sovereignty. Attention is drawn to controversial issues of the people’s sovereignty theory.

 The author analyzes the constitutional model of the all-Ukrainian referendum through the lens of understanding the idea of people’s sovereignty as a natural, inherent, inalienable characteristic of the people, with holding of supremacy and independence of people’s power being its content, and this involves not only the question of who holds the constituent power, but also continuous implementation by the people of own politicalstatus in the forms determined by the people. Direct and representative democracies are interrelated, mutually conditioned forms of people’s power which should not have essential contradictions between each other.

It is argued that the mechanism for its revision established in the Constitution of Ukraine, on the one part, creates certain foundations for stability of the constitutional system, and on the other part – significantly restricts the right of the people to change constitutional order through the institution of the All-Ukrainian referendum. In the context of the people’s sovereignty principle, the referendum held on people’s initiative, by definition, has “universal jurisdiction”, which means that broadly, it may be held on any issues of importance to the people and their State. With regard to issues of constitutional referendum, adoption of laws via referendum held on people’s initiative, and abrogative referendum, the author proves that the principle of parity between direct and representative democracies should be complied with.

It is noted that the All-Ukrainian referendum on changes to Ukraine’s territory provided for by the Constitution (Article 73) is contradictory in its subject matter and grounds, since the territory of Ukraine is recognized as integral and inviolable and the grounds for holding such a referendum are not defined in the Constitution of Ukraine. Attention is drawn to the difference between the subject matters of the national referendum on territory changes and changes in the territorial structure. The article also deals with problematic aspects of such types of referendums. It is pointed out that in the future there is a need for constitutional changes and adjustments to this type of referendum from the perspective of the principle of integrity and inviolability of Ukraine’s territory.

The conclusions indicate that the principle of people’s sovereignty proclaimed in the Constitution, which establishes that the people are the holder of sovereignty and the only source of power in Ukraine, opens up wide opportunities for the development of various forms and instruments of people’s power, including the institution of the All-Ukrainian referendum. However, the constitutional foundations of this institution are defined in the Fundamental Law of Ukraine ambiguously and inconsistently. The constitutional model of the institution of the All-Ukrainian referendum does not sufficiently take into account the dialectical connection between direct and representative democracy.

There is a need for a well-balanced view of the political and legal componentsin the content of the idea and the constitutional principle of people’s sovereignty, and this involves the development of a doctrinal framework for implementation of the right of the people to determine and change the constitutional order via the All-Ukrainian referendum based on a combination of direct and immediate democracy. It is crucial to provide for the principle of parity of people’s power forms in the new legislation on the All-Ukrainian referendum.