Socio-political representation at the level of territorial communities: reflection in the modern political discourse

Abstract

The article considers the political evolution of territorial communities in democratic countries as a problem that reflects the local regional political authenticity and becomes the basis for applied research. The interrelation of the criteria of professionalization of managerial staff at the territorial level with local educational and scientific traditions is substantiated.The purpose of this article is to establish the level of reflection in the modern discourse of political science of socio-political representation of territorial communities.Research methods. The structural-functional method is used to analyze the criteria for staff promotion and their inclusion in certain management teams; the method of comparison used to relate to democratic procedures and practices of representation determines the quality of community development at the territorial level; a method of retrospective reconstruction to establish a high level of compliance with certain conditions of functioning in a controlled power environment, clear implementation of procedures, ensuring stability and implementation of a certain authoritarian course.Results. The assessment of the phenomenon of institutional inequality of communities determines the incomplete correspondence of elites of different levels in the former post-communist states. It is proved that the electoral variability of socio-political representation at the territorial level is manifested in the moderate position of the elites, their party and ideological mimicry in the conditions of insufficiently predictable and clear electoral result. Emphasis is placed on the factors of elite professionalism, which are not focused on managerial qualities, but are determined by archaic principles of situational loyalty and political expediency. The properties of population participation in the electoral process as a decisive factor in the qualitative political transformation of territorial communities are revealed. The specifics of the mechanisms of political representation and the processes of reforming territorial communities in the old European democracies and post-communist countries are noted. The substantiation of the tendency to preserve the internal elite patron clientelism and to ensure one's own position regardless of the political situation is proposed.