Paradigms of Social Development
Objective Challenges and National Identity: Tendencies and Problems
Keywords: identity, nation-state, public consciousness, globalization
A new situation emerging in the world exerts multifaceted influence on such a phenomenon of the human political history as nation. National communities are subject to especially strong pressure from outside, which inevitably provokes a more acute response. Having stated the processes mentioned above A.Galkin thoroughly considers numerous challenges that institution of state faces nowadays, analyzes dynamics of national identity and explores the role of national problematique in confrontation of different political and ideological currents.
DOI: 10.30570/2078-5089-2013-68-1-6-23
Migrants and Host Society: Cultural Aspect of Interethnic Relations in Urban Atmosphere
Keywords: interethnic relations, migrants, identity, ethnicity, integration, host society
Migration processes intensification that often turns around into the growth of social tensions poses before researchers the whole array of acute issues. What role does ethnicity play in how host society perceives migrants? Is a migrant’s ethnic affiliation the main factor that determines attitude towards him? What is rejection of migrants based on? What can cause interethnic conflict? Looking for answers to these questions D.Karanov turns to the cultural aspects of interethnic interaction revealing the role of cultural factors that find their refection in key identities, in relations between migrants and members of host society under conditions of multiethnic urban atmosphere.
Foreign Policy Perspective
Nikolai Rabotyazhev, Eduard Soloviev
Keywords: Russia, “party of power”, foreign policy attitudes, conservatism
On the basis of the analysis of the foreign policy conceptions of “parties of power” that have been present on the Russian political arena during the last 20 years, N.Rabotyazhev and E.Solovyev demonstrate that the vector of party construction within this segment of the Russian political specter was directed from liberalism to conservatism, and each of the newly created pro-government parties increasingly referred to the conservative values and principles. Radical liberalism of “Choice of Russia” was followed by “centrism” of “Our Home – Russia” that in its turn was followed by the conservative “safeguarding” of “United Russia”, the postulate about the necessity of returning into the “womb of the world civilization” succumbed to the perception of Russia as an independent, unique civilization, and the Westernized idealism was replaced by geopolitical realism. According to the authors’ conclusion, this conservative drift will continue that will unavoidably impact international political attitudes of “United Russia”.
DOI: 10.30570/2078-5089-2013-68-1-36-54
Intervention as Part of State Foreign Policy: Evolution of Views
Keywords: intervention, international relations, conflict, intrusion
Studying intervention as a special form of foreign military intrusion into domestic affairs of independent states remains a comparatively new topic for the Russian science. Despite the fact that certain cases of such intervention were reflected in the research literature, it is still hard today to talk about the existence of general theory that is capable of explaining inherent features of such operations. Trying to at least partly fill the existing gap, A.Ivanov employs methodological results of conflictology in order to identify key characteristics of intervention that make it different from other forms of interstate confrontation.
Historical Retrospective: Contemplations and Hypotheses
I.S.Aksakov’s Conception of Society, People and State First half of 1860-s
Keywords: I.A.Aksakov, people, society, state, zemstvo, Slavophilism
In the article the author considers transformation of Slavophils’ socio-political views in the works by I.Aksakov on the basis of the broad range of sources including the archive materials that have been never published before. After analyzing political implications of Aksakov's abandoning binary opposition of “state” and “the people”, “the people” and “the public”, A.Teslya shows that Aksakov created a rather consistent conception of “non-political liberalism” and that he was able to permanently point out its “non-political character” only due to the extremely narrowed interpretation of the notion “political”, thereby providing space for political society to be established as a space of formed public opinion.
Russian Regions
Regional Situation and Power Discourse Crericalization
Keywords: religiousness, discourse, communication, public space, private sphere
The article is devoted to the analysis of the religious situation in the Russian Federation on the example of the Far Eastern Federal District. On the basis of the empirical data P.Blyakher demonstrates that mass surveys indicating the growth of religious sentiments in the country reflect the reality of mass media and government structures rather than the reality that millions of Russians live in. According to the author’s conclusion, the attempts to impose religiousness in Russia resulted in the formation of another virtual space between the society and the power that is equally alien to both of them. The artificial actualization of values that are not obviously present in the everyday life of most citizens, spawns reality-simulacrum that becomes subject to the analysis, whereas the very life of people, both religious and atheistic ones, appears to be driven out of the critical reflection.
DOI: 10.30570/2078-5089-2013-68-1-80-92
Models of business and power interaction in Far North Regions
Keywords: business, regional power, interaction model, Far North
Having analyzed models of power and business interaction in the Far North regions on the example of the Komi Republic N.Luks draws the conclusion that the institutional environment in the Russian northern territories is underdeveloped. Institutions that are necessary in order to maintain partnership relations between state, business and society, are inefficient or even absent, and relationships between power and business are built on the agreements that are concluded with the key business players at the regional and local levels, mostly during backstage negotiations.
DOI: 10.30570/2078-5089-2013-68-1-93-102
Local Communities and Local Power in Non-Institutionalized Space Case-Study of Irkutsk Suburbs
Keywords: suburbanized space, local community, power institutions, Irkutsk
In the article the author attempts to determine contours of a new system of relations between two levels of power institutions in the rural district, as well as between these institutions and local community under the conditions of non-institutionalized space of Irkutsk suburbs. The author focuses on the changes in the position of administrations of rural districts (first level) and municipal district (second level) as well as in the character of their interaction with the growing suburb community that reflect the specificity of the social space emerging at the intersection of urban and rural worlds. The research paper empirical base consists of the complex of semi-structured interviews gathered in the suburbs of Irkutsk agglomeration in 2009–2012.
Post-Soviet Space
Presidential and Parliamentary Elections in Republic of Abkhazia after Declaration of Independence
Keywords: Abkhazia, elections, political process, international recognition, sovereignty
The author analyzes presidential and parliamentary elections in Abkhazia after Russia recognized its independence. Having considered in details the process, content and results of three electoral campaigns that took place in the Republic in the last four and a half years M.Platonova demonstrates that inspiteof the political situation alteration the former Georgian autonomy today faces for the most part the same problems as earlier, and not only did the tendency of the republic turning into ethnic nationalism fail to weaken, but it actually strengthened.
Antithesis
Keywords: Russian criminal novel, social stereotype, mass sentiments, Darya Dontsova
The article justifies an opportunity to use popular literature as a source of information on the existing in the society social stereotypes. Using texts of one of the pillars of the national criminal novel – Darya Dontsova – D.Timoshkin shows how social stereotypes dissolved "in the air" obtain flesh and blood in the works of popular literature, thus turning them into a certain guide through modernity.
DOI: 10.30570/2078-5089-2013-68-1-127-137
Gubernatorial Readings
Keywords: schooling, mass pedagogy, information technologies, Tyumen region
The material published here is a report on the Eleventh Gubernatorial Readings held in Tyumen, December 4th, 2012, under the framework of the joint project conducted by the journal Politeia and the administration of Tyumen region with the topic being directions and models of schooling development and a lecturer – A.L.Semenov, Rector of the Moscow Institute of Open Education, Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
Laboratory
Keywords: polyarchal democracy, political and state orders, corruption, empirical analysis
The article summarizes results of the empirical testing of the hypothesis that the level (distribution) of corruption in the public sphere might serve as an integral indicator of the continual quality of realization of polyarchal democracy political and state orders. Confirming the validity of the hypothesis on the whole, the study conducted by Yu.Nisnevich showed that 83 out of 194 sovereign states existing in the world can be classified today as polyarchal democracies.
DOI: 10.30570/2078-5089-2013-68-1-156-174
Social and Political Efficiency of Regional Power: Measurement Problem
Keywords: efficiency, effectiveness, regional power, public administration
The article is devoted to developing a methodological base that allows to explore social and political efficiency of the regional government in Russia. Having analyzed the existing approaches to evaluating the efficiency of public administration, R.Turovsky identifies four dimensions of power efficiency (administrative, financial, social and political) and three approaches to efficiency (resource-based, instrumental and problem-based). The presented methodic prepares the basis for the subsequent determination of specific indicators that can be used to assess the performance of the regional authorities structures.