Legal framework for national identity policy: purpose, legal basis, main tasks and principles

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to analyze the legislative framework of national identity policy as defined in the Law of Ukraine «On the Basic Principles of State Policy in the Field of Affirming Ukrainian National and Civil Identity» (hereinafter referred to as “the Law”). The results of the study show that unity around common national values, overcoming socio-cultural, linguistic and regional contradictions, declared in the Law as its purposes, are urgently important and currently feasible in Ukraine. A significant number of Ukrainian citizens who had been loyal to the ideas of the «russian world», have now realized that in practice, for the russian federation, the destruction of Ukrainian identity means the elimination of the Ukrainian people or their voluntary renunciation of their national identity and their own individuality with all the consequences that follow (the main consequence, according to the russian plan, should be the cessation of the very existence of the Ukrainian State). The scientific novelty of the study lies in the study of the legislative framework of the national identity policy. Based on the analysis of the Law, the author systematizes the principles of state national and civil identity policy, identifies its basic principles and urgent tasks, and studies the legal definitions of the concepts of «Ukrainian national identity» and «Ukrainian civil identity» in the context of an inclusive national identity doctrine. Conclusions. The author analyzes the legal basis of the national identity policy, as defined by the Law, the fundamentals of the public national and civil identity policy, its basic principles and urgent tasks, as well as outlines the ways of implementating the said policy in the public administration field. It is substantiated that unity in all its collective manifestations is of utmost importance for the Ukrainian society. It should be ensured by removing contradictions within the society (of sociocultural, linguistic, regional, etc., character) and by effectively implementing Ukraine's European and Euro-Atlantic integration policy.