Paradigms of Social Development
Victor Sergeev, Elena Alekseenkova, Vladimir Nechaev
Typology of innovative development models
The authors examine models of economic modernisation and the types of national innovative systems that ensure such modernisation. Basing on the analysis of the existing innovative systems, the authors distinguish three basic models of innovative development: “Euro-Atlantic”, “East-Asian” and an “alternative” one. The first model is primarily typical of the countries of the Euro-Atlantic region and implies the full innovative cycle – from the inventive conception to the mass production. The innovation cycle of the second type lacks the stage of conceiving the fundamental ideas. Being oriented at exporting high-tech products, such countries usually adopt these technologies from the outer world. Finally, the third model not only skips the stage of fundamental science and applied research, but simply ignores the high-tech component as such. The innovative development of this type comes from redirecting the innovative policy from high-tech to high-hume, which in many cases allows to achieve fast pace of economic growth.
DOI: 10.30570/2078-5089-2008-51-4-6-22
Pages: 6-22
Cis – Terra Incognita: Political Processes in the Former Soviet Republics
ARE WE INTERESTING TO EACH OTHER?
The article presents the results of the research “Humanitarian interests of the population of the Commonwealth of Independent States as the basis of integration: what brings us together and makes interesting to each other?” carried out in 2008 by the “Eurasia Monitor” international research agency with the assistance of the Interstate Foundation for Humanitarian Cooperation of the CIS states. On the basis of the detailed analysis of cognitive and practical interests of the citizens of the former Soviet republics towards their neighbours in the post-soviet space, that were revealed during the opinion polls, I.Zadorin strongly proves that mutual interest between the CIS citizens is quite low today and is often purely declarative. Such situation is seen by the author as even more alerting, since the study has discovered a correlation between the level of population’s knowledge of other cultures (frequency of visits to other countries, participation in their cultural or sporting events, etc.) and its readiness for unions and integration. The more respondents in a country say that they are acquainted with other cultures, the more inclined to integration these nations are.
DOI: 10.30570/2078-5089-2008-51-4-23-48
RUSSIAN-KAZAKH RELATIONS: BOUNDLESS HORIZONS AND HIDDEN DANGERS
The article analyses the dynamics of the Russian-Kazakh relations during the post-Soviet period. S.Golunov notes the considerable growth of the majority of indexes reflecting the economic cooperation between the two states as compared to 1990s and at the same time shows that today’s high level of bilateral relations is based on shaky ground. According to the author, the future of the Russian-Kazakh relations depends on concerted efforts to promote economic and humanitarian bonds and overcome borderline, administrative, psychological and other barriers. The author believes that without intensifying such bonds these relations will continue to depend on fuel prices and short-term political interests of the ruling elites.
Practical Sociology
MODIFICATION OF THE IMAGE OF DEMOCRACY AS A FACTOR OF SELF-DETERMINATION FOR RUSSIA
Based on the public opinion polls L.Nikovskaya traces significant redirection of the Russia’s quest for identity and role in the world and tries to bring to light the factors determining the “pulsating” nature of political preferences of Russian citizens. The author focuses special attention on bifurcation points in Russia’s reformist movement during the past fifteen years.
DOI: 10.30570/2078-5089-2008-51-4-62-72
DIALOGUES ABOUT HEAT SUPPLY: NON-COMMUNICATIVE SOCIALITY
The article is based on applied research of a particular problem (attitude of the citizens of Kazan to the reconstruction of the city’s heating system), which revealed a number of interesting patterns characterizing general state of modern Russian society. The analysis of the research data has demonstrated that Russian citizens are totally alienated from the everyday issues, and are inclined to shift the responsibility on others – either in the form of complaints and petitions or by means of “commodity-money relations”. The fact that the Russians don’t perceive themselves as direct participants even to their daily pursuits and don’t socialize through these channels is interpreted by D.Rogozin as a substitution of social order by a non-communicative one, and as rational (at the level of everyday rationality) wind-down of social interactions leading to the degradation of sociality itself.
Foreign Polities
Political life in today’s Serbia can only be qualified as chaotic. The country does not have any consistent coalitions whatsoever, the political institutes are extremely unstable, and the level of the authorities’ legitimacy is way too low. E.Chirimis believes that the specific multi-component structure of the Serb society together with the institutionalisation of the cultural cleavage and its underpinning at the level of political parties is the reason for this state of affairs. The article demonstrates how the latent subcultural divergences were given a “political superstructure” and thus transformed into “segment-forming contradictions”. These contradictions, according to the author, doom Serbia to instability, all the more that the country’s institutional structure resides on the principle “winner takes it all”: when a system with a unified public sphere combines several antagonistic cultures, they will inevitably fight for dominance, and the “underdog” culture will never accept the defeat. This means that the “winner”, in its turn, can never be sure of its status and despite the most rigorous observation of the democratic norms will always lack legitimacy in ruling the nation.
DOI: 10.30570/2078-5089-2008-51-4-86-94
“OPEN DOORS POLICY” IN THE CROSS-BORDER REGIONS OF THE PRC
The article analyzes the experience of China that launched in 1980s the programme of cross-border cooperation by creating special conditions for economic management in cross-border zones and achieved considerable results on this path. N.Ryzhova gives a detailed analysis of the four components of China’s “open doors” policy (normalization of political relations with neighbouring states; creation of favourable psychological climate within the country; promotion of cross-border complementarity, development of industries oriented at the markets of neighbouring countries; support to any, including non-institutionalized, forms of trade as far as they help to achieve the goals set) and assumes that the rapid economic advance in cross-border regions of the PRC is to a large extent determined by a wise policy of the Chinese leadership.
Democracy and Democratization
CONTEMPORARY QUASI-DEMOCRACIES
The author undertakes to give basis to a new concept that allows to identify and describe regimes that claim to be democratic but still fall behind the liberal democracy model. Based on L.Diamond’s list of basic characteristics of the liberal democracy, V.Ryabushkina defines quasi-democracy as a type of political organization that in this or that way distorts the substance of liberal democracy while preserving its form (general elections, separation of powers, political parties, etc.). Analytical potential of the concept of “quasi-democracy” is tested on the example of Kazakhstan, Ukraine and Russia. Comparative analysis of the three post-Soviet nations helps the author to outline a number of reasons why this phenomenon has emerged.
Scientific Heritage
ROBERT PRESTHUS’ SOCIOLOGY OF POWER
The article analyses the classical book by an American social scientist Robert Presthus as one of the first attempts to overcome the conflict of the elitist (“sociological”) and the pluralist (“politological”) schools of power research in early 1960s. Having thoroughly considered R.Presthus’ work from methodological and conceptual point of view, V.Ledyaev proves that some of R.Presthus’ ideas remain acute in our days. The author concludes that despite the specific political and cultural contexts of our country, many components of the foreign experience are well in line with modern Russian realities, and therefore, it would be extremely useful for Russian authors to learn about the problems and the methods of “early” empirical studies of power.
Cathedra
“THINK TANKS” AND PUBLIC POLICY CENTRES AS SUBJECTS OF EXPERT SUPPORT OF POLITICS
The article compares in detail two types of expert organizations – “think tanks” and public policy centres. Having thoroughly analyzed the distinctive features of the two types of structures and having pointed out separate sub-types of expert organizations, N.Belyaeva and D.Zaytsev are building a “map” of subjects of intellectual support of politics that helps to orientate oneself in the sphere of “expert services”.
DOI: 10.30570/2078-5089-2008-51-4-139-151
QUANTITATIVE METHODS OF ASSESSING PERSONAL INFLUENCE ON COLLECTIVE DECISIONS
The article deals with description and comparative analysis of the quantitative methods used to conceptualize the influence of stakeholders elaborating collective decisions. Among the approaches considered by A.Sokolova are such methods as the Banzhaf index and other classical indexes that measure potential (a-priori) influence of the stakeholders that depends only on the distribution of voices and decision-making rule; the Aleskerov influence index that determines the real (a-posteriori) influence of the stakeholders that considers their preferences in relation to the coalition partners; the Coleman index that allows to assess the ability of the participants to ban the decision; and the index of effectiveness of the influence that shows the degree to which the stakeholders have implemented their potential influence.
Book Review
EMPIRE AS A PARADIGM OF POLITOLOGICAL REASONING: PROBLEM OF «REVERSAL» IN POLITICAL SCIENCE
L.Blyakher evaluates the book by S.I.Kaspe as an achievement in the life of the Russian political science community, which allows portraying and methodologically interpreting the new layout of the political reality, as well as comparing it with classical patterns of politological description. L.Blyakher sees his task in drawing his colleagues’ attention to this work. He notes the contours of a new dimension of reasoning revealed in the monograph, which strongly prove that the book indeed permits to methodologically correctly “see” behind the kaleidoscope of various technical forms, organizations and institutions a new entity, new subject of politological description and analysis. The study is not yet an “answer” to the challenge that the contemporary political science has to take up, but a thoroughly formulated question that draws the answer closer.
Chronicle
THE VERTICAL DEAD END (Russia’s Party Life and Its Roundabouts: Summer-Autumn 2008)
From this issue the traditional for the “Politeia” journal reviews by Yu.Korgunyuk will be published in a different format. The current review analyzes the processes in the life of political parties in the summer-autumn 2008. The author states that the unification of the Union of Right Forces, the “Civilian Power” and the Democratic Party of Russia signifies the creation by the right forces of a structure absolutely loyal to the authorities and thus completes the “cleanup” of the political landscape initiated by the authorities eight years ago. Yu.Korgunyuk believes that the return to a real political life in Russia can only be possible if the remaining opposition forces in the country will learn to find common ground.