Nudge in the processes of political manipulation of social consciousness

Abstract

With the activation of the electoral process in Ukraine, the problem of the use of manipulative technologies is actualized. At the same time, scientific results in the field of behavioral economics, social psy- chology and cognitive research contribute to the emergence of new methods that can be used not only in public administration programs, but also in manipulating political consciousness and behavior.Psychological studies have revealed systematic cognitive mistakes in thinking, which limit the rationality of decision-making. In the process of seeking opportunities to influence the alleged irrationality, the choice of both the buyer and the voter, there are new technologies. One of them is the so-called jerks or superstitions (from English nudge - a slight push). Examples of their application in marketing and public administration are described by the Nobel Prize winner, economist Richard Thaler and lawyer, professor Harvard Cass Sunstein in the work Impulse. How to help people make the right choice. Nudge-tech implies an impact on the behavior of the individual and a soft push to a certain decision in order to improve his life without restricting his freedom of choice.The question arises about the use of naj-technologies in the processes of political manipulation. Pushing out is unnoticed, but rather an effective tool for influencing people's behavior, and therefore can become a means of political manipulation that is not controlled. R. Thaler and K. Sunstein believe that in this regard, state architects of choice in their influences may be more dangerous than commercial ones. For example, in order to manipulate consciousness, the so-called heuristics of accessibility are used.To prevent the use of government interventions by incompetent governments, naj technologies should be open, public. The most fundamental point for R. Thaler and C. Sunstein is the preservation of freedom of choice. Thus, we deal with methods of pushing, which can be avoided by the refusal of participation. However, although in most cases, these receptions are not hidden, the effect of individual tacks is invisible. The public architects of choice will have both appropriate powers and tools for possible manipulative influence. This situation is dangerous in modern Ukrainian realities (especially when focusing on private agents of influence). Abuse of the architecture of choice and the use of naj-technologies poses a threat to such value as freedom of choice.