The suggested article is dedicated to the analysis of general theoretical problems of legal (legislative) policy, which becomes a defining category of the legal science of the 21st century. Appeal to this topic is caused by protracted transformation in post-Soviet states and insufficient effectiveness of economic and social changes. The issues of scientific and social security, democratization of the legislative process and effectiveness of its results remain important. What are the origins of such an inert process of modernization of lawmaking? An attempt to comprehend this situation and find new meaning in legislative policy in the 21st century is made in this article.