Influence of political scientists on political processes in Ukraine

Abstract

Theoretical and practical aspects of activity of political scientists in Ukraine are considered in this article. The author analyzes lists of kinds of activities of political scientists, which are noted on the sites of higher educational establishments of Ukraine and in the National Classifier of Professions. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, in the first decade of independent Ukraine, known in society became persons, who began to position themselves as political scientists, although were historians, philosophers and even theoretical physicists etc. Most of them worked as political technologists for certain politicians or political parties. They often appeared in the media in order to promote the interests of their customers. As a result, political scientists began to be associated with political technologists. The situation after the Revolution of Dignity has changed a bit. In particular, there are a huge number of diploma political scientists, who have more opportunities to get into the media space. Two approaches to understanding profession «political scientist» in Ukraine — professional and dilettantish are formulated in this article. The author defines kinds of influence political scientists on political processes: positive, negative, neutral; conscious and unconscious; direct and indirect. In the author’s opinion, in order to increase the positive influence of political scientists on practical policy, it is necessary to create a professional environment of highly skilled, objective, responsible for the development of state, political scientists.