Modern Russian Political Research Articles

Value model of political communications of the Russian elite in conflictual and deviant polysubject environment

The article, based on the results of a comprehensive political analysis, substantiates that in the modern socio-political reality, the formation of a multipolar world, the problem of the effectiveness of political communications are closely related to the potential of political and administrative power elites. The communicative qualities of a modern politician are enhanced by value-civilizational and moral parameters, the ability of strategic vision and the ability to maintain civilizational and value discourse in the political and economic system and direct it towards sustainable advanced development of society. This, in turn, involves the analysis and development of parameters for diagnosing the quality of modern Russian political and administrative elites, their moral and professional adequacy and aptitude; so is the actualization and solution of the problem of deviations at the elite level of political power. In order to form a value model of political communications of the Russian elite, it is necessary to comprehensively consider management systems based on specific values (including management of public values), identify and position public values as determinants of socio-political development, develop mechanisms to counteract the value degradation and marginalization of national elites, take into account the propensity of the Russian government to identify internal and external enemies in the previous stages of development, and also to the uncritical borrowing of the models of democracy alien to the Russian cultural and civilizational code, and the image imitation of elite qualities.

The essence of conservatism in modern Russian political and journalistic discourse

The article is a study of the nature of conservatism in modern political rhetoric. The author analyzes the key concepts of conservatism, its inherent features, approaches, and the main provisions defining the content of its ideology, as set out in the works of Russian scientists.

The Impact of the Soviet Heritage on Women’s Political Leadership in Modern Russia

The study analyzes the specifics of women’s political leadership in the USSR and identifies the factors that predetermined the secondary role of women in Soviet, and later modern Russian politics. The purpose of this study is to identify the features of women’s activities as political leaders in the Soviet state and compare them with the features of women’s participation in political power in modern Russia. To achieve the goal, historical-chronological and comparative analysis are used as research methods. The unique experience of the women’s departments is considered in detail, as well as the personal factor of Soviet women leaders as the reason for political success. It is concluded that during the entire existence of the Soviet Union, the parity ratio of men and women at any level of power was not achieved even despite attempts to introduce various measures, such as a quota system, to achieve this goal. However, among the reasons for this situation, it was highlighted that attempts to achieve gender parity in government were primarily ideological in nature and aimed not at achieving real equality, but at demonstrating the ideology of the USSR on the world stage. The presence of women in the highest government positions in the USSR was an extremely rare phenomenon, since, in order to meet practical needs, the state, as a rule, preferred to involve women in politics at the lowest levels of the political hierarchy. A comparative analysis of women’s political leadership in the Soviet period with the present has shown that the same trend persists in modern Russia.

Countering Extremist Ideology and Media Security of the State

National security in the media sphere is becoming a multifaceted task related to the implementation of Russia’s cultural sovereignty in the context of digital transformation. Strategic planning for the development of the national media space involves domestic political and diplomatic decisions of a conceptual nature that can ensure the unity of the international information space while countering threats: (1) propaganda of violent extremism, (2) popularization of destructive ideology, (3) reduction of cultural capital level of the party in power and opposition. Operational plans for ensuring media security quite often follow the logic of situational response to threats posed by enemies and implement protective measures in relation to the media space at the national level. In methodological terms, the media security of the state is characterized by systemic practices of ensuring information security (in formal legal analysis), and analysis of threats to cognitive and noospheric security (in the natural science study of communication processes). The research methodology involves the use of the method of participant observation inherent in noxology to classify threats emanating from the mass media. Among the main objectives of the article: analysis of modern Russian political and legal documents aimed at ensuring media security and countering extremism, characterizing the Russian policy of securitization of social problems in the media sphere, delimiting legal political struggle from criminal (extremist and destructive) practices of political communication. The objectives of the study include the analysis of foreign experience in ensuring national media security in the context of digitalization and the growing threat of violent extremism. The logic of competition in the digital cultural space practically excludes the use of secrecy, censorship and forcing the audience to watch propaganda in the process of ensuring media security. Public relations in the media sphere involves the choice of media content by the audience of the global information space, which means that the protection of national spiritual and moral values is implemented in the liberal paradigm and demands open dialogue between the party in power and the opposition on topical issues of national security.

Modern russian Political elitology: Paradigmatic and inclusive Perspectives of development

The article analyzes the development of political — elitist (elitological) thought as a special paradigm in political science. Its specificity lies in the representation of the most significant subjective trigger of the political process. The authors consider the main points of the development of political elitology in modern Russia. Special attention is paid to the Rostov Scientific School of Political Elitology. The most significant scientific provisions and characteristics proposed within the framework of this school are highlighted: the civilizational conditionality of elitogenesis; the principle of elitological paradigmatization in political science; proto-elite status of the modern elite-forming process; factors of elite marginalization; new trends of the elite-forming process; the role of postmodern methodology in modern elitology.

Цифровые сервисы как этап развития экосистем в современной российской политике

Introduction. The article deals with issues related to the comprehensive phenomenon of modernity, the Internet. Attention is paid to new phenomena of its development, such as the emergence of digital services and platforms as well as the creation of digital ecosystems. Domestic and foreign approaches to the analysis of the ecosystem phenomenon are considered, and specific characteristics that are observed in the process of the formation of digital ecosystems in Russian politics are given. Materials and methods. The article presents the results of a survey of experts from 12 subjects of the Russian Federation, with a total sample of 134 respondents, aimed at determining the features of the formation and functioning of digital services in modern Russian politics. Experts assess the digital services of modern Russia and the potential of ecosystem development in politics. Analysis. Experts’ assessment of the existence of full-fledged ecosystems in politics at the moment in Russia is quite unambiguous. More than half of the experts note that at the moment there are no full-fledged ecosystems in politics, and only a small part of the experts note that they see certain elements of the manifestation of ecosystems in politics. At the same time, many experts note the effectiveness of the use of ecosystems in the commercial sphere, elements of which can be successfully used and integrated into ecosystems in politics. Results. The research conducted suggests that initially small digital services, as they developed, significantly transformed many traditional areas of activity. Moreover, they became the technologies that began to monopolize them, turning into global (both geographically and functionally) ecosystems. The Internet allows citizens and various political and civil institutions to simplify their own interactions through the use of modern advances in digital technologies. The creation of ecosystems is most effective when it is initiated by actors pursuing specific goals. In the case of ecosystems, there is a shortage of both subjectivity and goal-setting in politics. This significantly limits the incentives for the development of digital services. Authors’ contribution. Sokolov A.V.: formulation of the paper’s problem, creation of a theoretical concept, analysis of the literature on the research problem, scientific editing of the text of the paper, formulation of conclusions and research results. Frolov A.A.: creation of the main concept of the article, revision of the paper’s text, formulation of conclusions. Grebenko E.D.: data processing, preparation of the paper’s text and graphic results of the study, formulation of conclusions.

About the main directions of modern Russian politics in the field of information counteraction to destructive political technologies

The article provides a comprehensive analysis of the conceptual foundations of the policy of the Russian Federation in the field of information counteraction to destructive political technologies, which involves identifying patterns and trends in ensuring the state security of the country, modeling and forecasting political processes in this area. Among the main directions for improving the practice of implementing the policy of the Russian Federation in the field of information counteraction, the information-ideological and information-psychological directions have been identified.

Factors of Influence of the Regional Political Elite in Modern Russia: Evidences from St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region

The relevance of the research project is determined by the dominant role of elite groups in modern Russian politics. The opportunity and ability of the elite to solve topical social issues to a large extent depend on the degree of their influence. The article presents the results of an expert study in St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region (late November to early December 2021). Representatives of the regional political elite themselves, as well as “key informants” acted as experts. The technology for collecting expert information included a set of qualitative and quantitative methods (methods of grouping data with an estimate of the average values of the variation series and dispersion measures, as well as multidimensional scaling, factorial and cluster analysis). The evaluation was carried out on 22 parameters. In St. Petersburg, six factors are associated with the strategies used by the authorities to strengthen their influence: the conditions of general and political socialization; dominant communication strategies of politicians based on the type of their leadership; economic resources; informal grounds for political career related to the politicians’ families; cultivation of clientelism, atypical for a metropolis; the regional elite having work experience in other areas, in addition to public administration and public policy. The politicians themselves are mostly attracted to three image types: a) a productive political “heavyweight”, belonging to a clan by birthright or “overgrown” with economic and informal ties, including with “shadow structures”, who has real economic opportunities to influence the situation in the region; b) a “political tribune”, who actively communicates with the population and relies on cultivating a stable positive attitude towards themselves among the inhabitants of the region; c) an “insider”, connected with the region by their destiny and having stable political views. The study showed that in St. Petersburg, public communicative activity online and offline is not a significant condition for strengthening the “political weight” of a politician; belonging to a clan (family, friend group, professional clan) is much more important. Experts deny that accentuated masculine or feminine behaviour patterns of politicians in St. Petersburg are a significant factor in strengthening their influence. In the Leningrad Region, the configuration of the latent factors influencing the significance of politicians is different. The most important factors include the following: the channel and method of politician’s recruitment to power; the activity of personal information policy on the Internet; the presence of social, human and status capital through birth in a certain family or effective interaction with certain influential regional groups; an accentuated demonstration of personal resources; the presence of real leadership qualities; control over economic resources in the region. Five dominant types of politicians were identified in terms of the various qualities exploited by them and demonstrated to the public. The importance of the ability of politicians to large-scale, strategic thinking in solving regional problems and the accentuated gender type of behaviour in public politics was confirmed.

СОЦИАЛЬНАЯ СЕТЬ INSTAGRAM КАК ПЛАТФОРМА ИНТЕРНЕТ-КОММУНИКАЦИИ ЛИДЕРОВ ПАРТИЙ И НАСЕЛЕНИЯ (ПО РЕЗУЛЬТАТАМ РЕГИОНАЛЬНОГО ИССЛЕДОВАНИЯ)

Social media related to the development of social networks have been increasingly becoming the subject of scientific research in recent years. The focus of this study is the social network Instagram as an Internet communication platform for party leaders and the population. The object of the study is the consideration of the Instagram social network as the main social media in the system of Internet communication in the field of modern Russian politics. The subject of the study is identifying the features of news content on the Instagram accounts of the leaders of the regional parliament factions and regional branches of the political parties in Kuzbass. The purpose of the study is to analyze the features of news content on the Instagram accounts of the leaders of the regional parliament factions and regional branches of political parties as a means of Internet communication with the population in Kuzbass. The methodology of the study is based on M. Castells1 network approach, as well as systemic and comparative approaches. To analyze the types and sentiments of online posts and comments of the political party leaders in Kuzbass the author applied the method of qualitative and quantitative content analysis. The study follows concepts of foreign and Russian researchers: in theoretical and methodological aspects, a significant contribution to the studying of Internet communications was made by representatives of the industrial society theory (D. Bell, M. McLuhan, M. Castells), mass communication theory (H. Blumer, N. Postman, 巳. Skinner, G. Gerbner and others), as well as Russian scientists G. L. Akopov, I. A. Bykov, and S. V. Volodenkov. The author notes that the works of contemporary experts focus, to a greater extent, on conducting regional studies on social networks. It was found that there are fundamental differences between the content in social accounts of the political party leaders and the governor of Kuzbass. It is shown that, unlike the governor's account, where users can ask their urgent questions in the comments and receive answers, the content of the party leaders is more entertaining. The posts of politicians representing political parties are not opinion exchange platforms and are not aimed at solving topical social and economic issues. The main task of comments in the posts of party leaders is to maintain interest in their persons (by posting personality-focused content), rather than in the professional political activities of a politician.

Myths about the past in media environment: theoretical grounds and Russian political practice

This article is examines the issues of constructive use of the myths about the past in media environment. The goal lies in the attempt to align several most significant theoretical models of interpretation of the social myth in order to comprehend constructive use of myths about the past in modern Russian politics of memory. This required referring to the peculiarities of the ontology of the past in media myth, as well as to the trends characteristic to modern foreign and Russian research of the politics of memory. The scientific novelty lies in the detailed analysis of the key categories that reveal the peculiarities of creating ontology of the past in modern media myth, as well as allow analyzing the constructive potential of myths about the past in media environment in the context of the Russian politics of memory (the function of cultural-historical orientation, motivating function, functions of conflict settlement). The author explores myths about the past, which in recent decades have become a crucial instrument for conducting a peculiar type of information warfare – the so-called “memorial” wars.

СУБЪЕКТИВНЫЕ СОСТАВЛЯЮЩИЕ ЯЗЫКОВОГО ИМИДЖА ЖЕНЩИНЫ-ПОЛИТИКА: КОНТЕКСТ СОЦИАЛЬНО-РЕЧЕВОЙ ДЕЯТЕЛЬНОСТИ

Statement of the problem. This work is devoted to the study of the linguistic image of a Russian woman politician – a special type of public image that attracts the attention of both the mass addressee and the professional expert community. The very concept of “linguistic image” is used in many social and scientific practices, being of great interest for modern humanitarian knowledge – imageology, linguistics, psychology, sociology, philosophy, advertising, public relations, etc. Within the field of linguistic image, as well as in the linguistic theory of linguistic personality, the aspect of the subjective component of public speech, the so-called “author in the text”, has always been highlighted as a separate aspect. This is interconnected not only with anthropocentrism as a universal scientific idea of ​​the 21st century, but also with the global process of mediatization of all spheres of human activity. The purpose of the article is to reconstruct the subjective component of the linguistic image of a woman politician in the context of public social and speech activity. The methodology (materials and methods). The methodology of the analysis undertaken is based on the provisions and ideas of imageology, the theory of linguistic personality and linguistic semantics, in the context of which descriptive-analytical and comparative methods were used, as well as the method of semantic text analysis. The research material included the texts of public speeches and statements of 2016–2018, belonging to two representatives of modern Russian politics – Maria Zakharova and Natalia Poklonskaya. Research results. In the speeches of M. Zakharova and N. Poklonskaya, the description of social-speech communication corresponds to one language model and is presented in three aspects: 1) space (where?), 2) participants (who?), and 3) metascenarios of social-speech communication (what is happening?). In the texts of these women politicians, this semantic model is filled with its own content, which has general and specific elements that characterize their public images in different ways. Russia is described as a common communicative space for the activities of political subjects, despite the fact that for M. Zakharova the Ministry of Foreign Affairs turns out to be a specific medium of communication, and for N. Poklonskaya these are the State Duma, the Prosecutor’s Office and the Crimea. The common thing is that both speakers inscribe their own communicative activity in a threefold structure, where the main participants are a) the speaker himself, b) his associates and c) his opponents. In the contexts of M. Zakharova, the listed participants are embodied in roles: a) “Me” as “an intermediary” or “a moderator”, b) “We” as “diplomats”, as “teammates”, or a subject of the “conciliar” type (Russia, Moscow, diplomatic corps);in the contexts of M. Poklonskaya – a) “Me” as “a stateswoman” or “a prosecutor”, and also b) “We” as “prosecutors”, as “associates” and as “trustees”, respectively. As for the opponents, in both cases the set is practically the same: USA or the Ukrainian. The content of the described model is complemented by the so-called metascripts, which represent the social-speech situation in a new way and have a different functional purpose in every statement. Conclusion. The linguistic image of M. Zakharova is more objectified and restrained, in fact merging with the typical diplomatic image, while the image of N. Poklonskaya is more emotional and subjective, reinforced by the characteristic features of speech spontaneity and directness. At the same time, both images, framed by the modus of involvement and team goal-setting, organically fit into the space of the professional communication.

A tale of two councils: the changing roles of the security and state councils during the transformation period of modern Russian politics

ABSTRACT There is general agreement that both the Security Council and State Council are significant institutions in Putin’s Russia, but less clarity as to what this means, beyond that each provides opportunities for consultation with specific segments of the elite. Even this modest consensus was confounded in 2020, when both councils seemed to offer potential post-presidential roles for Putin himself, and underwent significant changes. This article describes the legal and administrative evolutions of both bodies, assesses their roles, and considers them from the perspective of a limited access order. It tackles the problem of institutions in undemocratic systems and the thin line between the decorative elements of the political system, and the bodies in which real administrative power is vested. We argue that they have a significant informal role as sites for the negotiation of power and resources and remain potential actors in the ongoing power transformation of the Russian political system.

“Nebuchadnezzar Archetype” of Eurasian Cultures in Nikolay Leskov’s Eurasian Concept: Implications for Modern Russia

In his literary works, the prominent Russian writer Nikolay Semenovich Leskov (1831-1895) introduced the concept of “Nebuchadnezzar’s archetype” of Russian mentality, that is, according to Leskov, a Eurasian mentality. Leskov opposed “holy foolishness,” a part of the described Eurasian archetype, to European rationality that distanced itself from God as a result of Enlightenment. However, the writer distinguished between the “holy foolishness” for God’s sake, a constituent of Russian mentality, and the “holy foolishness” for own sake, a component of Russian official state politics, that he regarded as an absolute evil. In “Nebuchadnezzar’s archetype,” Nikolay Leskov saw a reaction of the Russian national mentality to a number of heavy military and diplomatic defeats of Russian Empire caused by Europe in the mid-nineteenth century (e.g. Crimean war, Russo-Turkish war of 1877-1878). After these defeats, according to Leskov, Russian nation turned to its Eurasian origins, while Russian government kept loyalty to European-style of politics. In the article, I demonstrate the implications of Leskov’s concept of “Nebuchdnezzar’s archetype” for understanding and classifying modern Russian politics in Eurasian space.

Restriction of the Rights of Russian Senators as a Political Responsibility

This article explores the features of the implementation of individual parliamentary rights by members of the Federation Council, the upper house of the Russian legislative assembly. The relevance of the study is since in recent years there has been a transformation in informal practices of political influence on parliamentarians. In this sense, the object of the study was the analysis of individual legal norms, the regulations of the Federation Council and the practice of holding parliamentary hearings. The authors focused on the negative consequences expressing the responsibility of senators, considering the ambiguous statutory regulation of such measures in modern Russian politics. During the development of the scope of activities carried out by the upper house of the Federal Assembly, the reasons by which its members could lose their powers were significantly expanded. By way of conclusion, it was noted that, despite the rarity of the application of such sanctions, the authors recorded a systematization of forms and measures of responsibility used for political purposes. Such tendencies create artificial barriers to the implementation of certain senatorial powers and acquire a political character.

Концептуальные проблемы современной российской символической политики в сохранении исторической памяти о Великой Отечественной войне

The article attempts to explain the problems faced by modern Russian politics of memory in connection with falsifications of the history of World War II. Attention is drawn to the reasons for the spread in the public mind of the opinion of the equal responsibility of Germany and the USSR in starting a war. It is shown that the reason for the difficulties of the Russian symbolic policy is the lack of a coherent theoretical construct that allows a logically consistent interpretation of the events of the political history of the first half of the twentieth century. It points to the uncritical acceptance by the Russian political science of the theory of totalitarianism and insufficient attention to the laws of the formation of fascist regimes in Western Europe. It is concluded that inclusion in the world economic system under the conditions of the A historical and comparative approach, comparing the features of using various conceptual foundations of events at the beginning of World War II, depending on the interests and goals of political actors. West inevitably turns out to be supplemented by the loss of sovereignty in the scientific and theoretical sphere.

Self-Government Bodies In Russia By The Example Of Kazan City (Regulatory Aspect)

The paper discusses the features concerning the normative-legal regulation of the communicative activity of local authorities in one of the key entities of modern Russian politics. It has been established that the existing legislative framework stimulates the development of dialogue forms of communication between municipal authorities and the population, and contributes to the institutionalization of local self-government. At the same time, the proclamation of the information transparency principles in the activities of municipal authorities requires clarification of the procedures for information support in certain regulatory legal acts.

The Effectiveness of Counteracting Extremism

The article discusses the counteraction to one of the negative phenomena in modern Russian political and social landscape — terrorism. In spite of the measures that are currently taken against the cases of extremism, this issue remains urgent. Two interconnected factors reduce the effectiveness of counteracting extremism: 1) flaws in the system of sources of law, namely, insufficient strategic planning, systemic gaps in the anti-extremism legislation, weak links between its elements and the normative legal acts of relevant branches of law; 2) virtual absence of a legal definition for the basic concept of «extremism». The authors examine these factors and give recommendations on improving the effectiveness of counteracting extremism. According to them, it is necessary to develop a national security doctrine for the Russian Federation, whose integral part should be the theoretical basis of counteracting different types of extremism as one of the threats to national security. Next step would be to use this doctrinal base to develop the concept of ensuring national security, which will have an anti-extremism section. Only then should specific strategies be developed, and the legislation should be adjusted in accordance with them. The authors note that it is necessary to formulate the legal definition of the concept of «extremism», which would include its essential features and encompass all major manifestations, and stress that clearly described features of the phenomenon, which are united within one definition, should form the basis that the judges use to identify some actions, organizations or materials are extremist. In this connection, the right solution is not the rejection of the legal category of «extremism», but its more precise definition, provision of terminological clarity and accuracy, its consistent separation from adjacent legal categories, primarily, from the concept of «terrorism». The authors present a working definition of the concept of «extremism».

The Digitization of Criminal Policy as a Tool of Overcoming its Unsystematicity

The authors examine the necessity and relevance of using mathematical models for the digitization of criminal policy while simultaneously taking into account the results of qualitative analysis of the criminogenic situation (theoretical modeling) and using probabilistic prediction models of crime counteraction results (empirical modeling). They determine the chronological matrix of key criminogenic events of modern Russian political and economic history, which forms the basis for developing a mathematical model of predicting changes in the criminal policy. The authors conclude that contemporary criminal policy contains objective signs of manipulative character and that criminal policy decisions cannot be based on it exclusively. It is noted that the presented prediction models based on the theory of relativity allow to make verifiable quantitative evaluations of the situation in counteracting negative socio-legal phenomena and to take into account not only the latent component of these phenomena, but also the differences caused by changes in their criminal law assessment. The presented approach could be used to build a triplex system of official monitoring of criminogenic situation at the federal and regional levels based on the collection, analysis, assessment and prediction of information on criminality from three sources: criminal statistics, public opinion polls’ results, expert polls’ results. According to the authors, the creation of this system is a mandatory prerequisite for the transition from a dominantly repressive model of crime counteraction (typical for most contemporary states) to the preventive model. As the probable effectiveness of preventive model of crime counteraction could be first calculated on the basis of planned expenses and available resources and then compared with the actually achieved effectiveness of such counteraction, the state and the society could gain a considerably more effective instrument of controlling the criminal policy’s quality in comparison with the one used today, which will make it possible to ensure a gradual transition from the high cost criminal policy implemented through trial and error to the digital criminal policy based on the results of preliminary and verified calculations.

YOUTH POLICY IN MODERN RUSSIA. ABSENTEEISM AND POLITICAL PROTEST

The article analyzes the features of the current youth policy of the Russian Federation aimed at raising the political culture. Despite the current activities of the government institutions in the field under study, absenteeism, as well as the protest potential of the young people, remains at a fairly high level. In this regard, the government acknowledged the importance of forming a positive image of the state power in the eyes of young people and strengthen its influence in the sphere of forming loyal associations, which is not always positively perceived among the youth. The work focuses on the fact that raising the loyalty of youth organizations is one of the factors of political stability, both in case of internal turbulence and external influence. The authors also focus on the beneficiaries of youth protests. The authors paid special attention to the issue of forming political leadership among the youth and the absence of leaders expressing the opinions of young people in modern Russian politics. At the same time, youth protest as a social phenomenon lack class and in some cases ideological differences. The authors come to the conclusion that despite the steps taken by the government and political parties to involve Russian youth in the political agenda, the young people reject leaders of youth opinion imposed by the authorities, either cultivating nonparticipation in the electoral campagines or demonstrating latent protest voting.

Between the West and the East: the zigzags of modern Russian politics

Between the West and the East: the zigzags of modern Russian politics