ПЕРСПЕКТИВИ МОДЕРНІЗАЦІЇ КОМУНІКАЦІЙНОЇ СТРАТЕГІЇ ВЕРХОВНОЇ РАДИ УКРАЇНИ НА 2017–2021 РОКИ

Abstract

The article examines the issue of improving the Communication Strategy of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine for 2017-2021 to increase the level of trust in Parliament, raise the political and legal culture of citizens, counteract information wars and operations against the Parliament, as well as the development of e-democracy. It is noted that the low level of public trust in Parliament causes the necessity of modernizing the parliamentary system of communications in the vector of approximation to EU standards and raising the political and legal culture of citizens. The thesis is grounded on the necessity of developing a communication system of protection against information wars and operations against the Parliament of Ukraine, forming its positive image and counteracting manipulative media. The main criterion for the effectiveness of the Strategy is proposed to be the increase of the level of trust in the Parliament and parliamentarians. It is suggested to pay more attention to the formation of the institutional basis for the implementation of the Communication Strategy: responsible entities, their job responsibilities and necessary resources. The implementation of joint projects of the Parliament of Ukraine with universities and research institutions, the establishment of a school of communications, conducting seminars, trainings and forums in cooperation with civil society will have a positive impact on the implementation of the Communication Strategy. This will develop the tradition of communication and understanding of the parliamentarian as a professional communicator. The implementation of the Communication Strategy envisages increasing the efficiency of the information space monitoring system, timely response to negative reports about the Parliament and prevention of their occurrence, which is the basis of anti-crisis communications. The tools that ensure the openness of the Parliament not only contribute to the realization of the idea of representation, but also immanently pose threats to democracy through manipulative media, trolling, cyberbullying. Digital communications are important, but by themselves will not completely solve the problem of low confidence in Parliament, and are seen as a modern tool that can be updated at any time. The implementation of the Communication Strategy of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine for 2017-2021 should be considered in the context of ensuring the national security of the state, branding of Ukraine in the world and responding to opportunities-threats from globalization.