КРИЗА ІНСТИТУТУ ДЕМОКРАТІЇ В УМОВАХ ГІБРИДНОЇ ВІЙНИ: ЕЛЕКТОРАЛЬНИЙ РАКУРС

Abstract

In this article the vulnerability of democratic states in the context of a hybrid war through the prism of political institutions and processes was considered. It is determined that the Russian Federation in its dissemination of hybrid threats pays special attention to the institute of direct democracy - elections as the main process of state functioning. Through disinformation campaigns and manipulations with democratic values and principles, the aggressor tries to weaken the opponents, undermine political systems from the inside, and exacerbate tension and polarization in society. The article analyzes the publication of the adviser to the president of the Russian Federation, Vladislav Surkov, in which the unequivocal threat to the Western democratic world order is expressed. An analysis of the statements of Surkov showed that modern liberal democracy is an extremely vulnerable mechanism, where the Russian Federation spreads chaos by manipulating. The aggressor focuses on the erosion of confidence in the government and the strengthening of populism. A similar result is achieved by spreading misinformation and manipulating information. It has been established that misinformation is intended to create an appropriate public opinion, which should correspond to the goals of the aggressor. It is established that the aggressor is interested in the elections as a process, and therefore the victory of a particular (pro-Russian) candidate is not so important for aggressor’s purposes. Therefore the process of voting is bringing to the point of absurdity, which would entail doubts about the result of such a procedure. Accordingly, the final result of such elections will be a political system without voter’s confidence. Narratives that are “thrown” into the information field are designed to disorient the voter as much as possible, to polarize society, which ultimately should cast doubt on the effectiveness of the electoral process. Therefore, Russian propaganda, through various channels, simultaneously criticizes all the political forces, even opposing in its ideology, or supports some of them (e.g. far-right or far-left populist movements).