In the spring of 1992, in the aftermath of the collapse of the Soviet Union, deputies in the Russian Parliament struggled to create a constitution that would lay the foundations for a new democratic state, the Russian Federation. For the first time in Russia's long history, the country's elected representatives sought to establish a basis for the rule of law, defense of basic human rights, and the means to foster a market economy. Once the deputies had given their initial approval of the draft prepared by the special constitutional commission (which occurred by majority vote on March 19), they began discussion of each of the draft's six chapters. Their goal was to forward a final version of the draft constitution to the Congress of People's Deputies, a superlegislative body that alone had the authority to adopt a new constitution.

Discussion of the draft's six chapters began on March 25. On that day, parliamentary deputies discussed and approved the constitution's first chapter, “Principles of the Constitutional Order,” in which the basic provisions of the constitution were outlined. The next day, March 26, the deputies began discussing the draft constitution's second chapter, which concerned “The Basic Rights, Freedoms, and Responsibilities of the Individual Citizen.” Over the course of the day's debate, deputies amended the draft chapter nine times. At the end of the day, according to parliamentary procedure, deputies were asked to approve the final version of the draft.