Features of the political field of ‘strong’ and ‘weak’ power: Acceptable limits

Abstract

The article considers the features of the political field of strong and weak power, and social institutions and structures that influence the transformation process. The authors propose a new reading of the concept of political field, and its main characteristics are the status roles of subjects, configuration of space, nature of the relationship of opposing forces, and methods for preserving the priorities of the opposing subjects. The article identifies interaction problems between the government and the opposition, mechanisms of power retention, tendencies and prospects for the development of the political field of weak and strong power under crises, global instability and government mistakes that lead to dramatic changes in the public opinion. The authors note that clashes in the political field restructure the political space in a new way, which is due to both peculiarities of the historical development and the social-economic and political situation. Transformations of the post-Soviet world are not complete, and the transition of post-Soviet countries to the sustainable development is possible only by adaptation to new realities. The peculiarity of the political field is the constant confrontation of its subjects: the more unstable the political field, the higher the unpredictability of events and the role of the leader. In the contemporary state, there is always a danger of destabilization due to information wars and new forms of influence on the mass consciousness, values and behavior. The empirical basis of the article are monitoring sociological studies conducted from 1987 to identify the level of social tension and political stability, fullness of the political space, rankings of politicians, etc.