Public Unions Research Articles

МОЖЛИВОСТІ АДВОКАЦІЇ ТА ЛОБІЮВАННЯ НЕУРЯДОВИМИ ОРГАНІЗАЦІЯМИ ІНТЕРЕСІВ СУБ’ЄКТІВ ПІДПРИЄМНИЦТВА В УКРАЇНІ

The article explores the possibilities of advocacy and lobbying of the interests of business entities by non-governmental organizations, in particular public organizations, public unions whose activities are aimed at supporting the development of entrepreneurship, employers' organizations and their associations, chambers of commerce and industry. The functions of non-governmental business support organizations were considered: protection and representation of business interests in relations with authorities in order to improve the conditions for conducting business, legislation, and the elimination of regulatory barriers; legal support; informational support and training; establishment of relationships and communication support; resource support. The advocacy function of non-governmental organizations and the tools for its implementation, including participation in public councils at executive bodies, public examination of regulatory acts, and others, are analyzed in detail. The concepts of "advocacy" and "lobbying" have been thoroughly researched and delineated, in accordance with the legal definition, the subjects of implementation, and the difference in the purpose and content of the activity. The main methods of implementation of advocacy and lobbying of the interests of business entities by non-governmental organizations were analyzed, a problematic aspect was established, which consists in the fact that the methods of implementation of such activities have a lot in common, which in the future, with the introduction of the law from 2025, will lead to controversial issues in the process of detection by controlling bodies of manifestations of lobbying by non-governmental organizations, as well as the process of identification of commercial interest in the activities of non-commercial organizations when establishing the fact of lobbying is assumed to be debatable. An analysis of the legal regulation of the implementation of advocacy and lobbying in Ukraine, including by non-governmental organizations in accordance with the regulatory and legal framework of Ukraine, was carried out. The absence of the concept of "advocacy" and related concepts in the Law of Ukraine "On Lobbying" was established, which is positive, and it was clarified that the law does not apply to the activities of non-profit organizations and institutions, in particular public associations, except in cases when such activities relate to commercial interests. The possibility of implementing lobbying by non-governmental organizations was considered, provided they received the appropriate status.

THE PRIORITY DIRECTION OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN THE SPHERE OF INNOVATION THE FACTOR OF PUBLIC-PRIVATE SECTOR COOPERATION

Such a vital trend for the economic development of innovation, as the above-defined cooperation between the public and the private sectors, mere fact becomes possible only due to such a symbiosis. The symbiosis of two fundamentally oppositional structures creates a context in which a unique ecosystem, propelling innovation and economic improvement, can be facilitated. On the one hand, the public sector brings an incredible insight into regulation capacities and significant funding utilities. The issue that arises in this partnership is a market failure when none of the sectors can encourage technological development on their own. A partnership, however, does help to establish innovation hubs, encourage research and development, and facilitate commercialization. Governments through adjusting public policies to the private sector and indulging in joint ventures overcome market failure and stimulate innovation. Such partnerships also beneficial in addressing societal problems via innovation, thus, at the long-run level, private and public unions become a necessity.

ІНКЛЮЗИВНЕ ІНСТИТУЦІЙНЕ СЕРЕДОВИЩЕ В ТУРИЗМІ

The article reveals the importance of inclusion and inclusive development, in particular in tourism, for Ukraine in view of the consequences of a full-scale war, namely in terms of ensuring the integration of victims, the number of whom is increasing, a large proportion of whom already need appropriate assistance in returning to a full-fledged life: socialization, employment, availability of services. The article examines the essence of the institutional environment and its elements, proposes the concept of an inclusive institutional environment in tourism, and also discloses its components, namely, among formal institutions – state bodies, enterprises of various forms, organizations and institutions, and informal – norms and rules of society, oral agreements, traditions, values, customs, mentality, business ethics, level of education and standard of living of the population. The article determines that the consolidation of the efforts of the constituents of an inclusive institutional environment regarding inclusiveness will accelerate the processes of inclusive development and contribute to increasing their efficiency, and tourism can become one of the main drivers of these processes by ensuring universality in matters of work organization, as well as the formation, implementation and consumption of a tourist product. In the course of the research, the role of the components in inclusive development, in particular the state through the implementation of its functions, was revealed, the available international and national legislative and normative documents were analyzed, which reflect the norms regarding inclusion, their basic provisions related to inclusion were revealed, and it was established that the central role will be played by formal institutions, first of all the state, in particular through the necessary legislative and regulatory acts and provision of social guarantees to the population, favorable conditions for the society to conduct its economic activities, raising the awareness of citizens in the issues of inclusion. In addition, the role of enterprises and institutions of civil society, represented by public unions, organizations, societies, etc., is determined.

ESG, Public Pensions, and Compelled Speech

Investing based on Environmental, Social, and Governance (“ESG”) principles has dramatically increased in recent years. Many institutional investors— including public pension funds funded by mandatory contributions from government employees—now incorporate ESG principles into their investment and engagement strategies even though certain aspects of ESG, such as investing to reduce carbon emissions, are politically controversial. Over this same period, courts have reaffirmed that the First Amendment protects individuals from being compelled to associate with or to subsidize the speech of third parties. Indeed, applying this compelled speech doctrine, the Supreme Court recently overruled a forty-year-old precedent that allowed states to force nonunion members to contribute to public unions engaged in collective bargaining on their behalf.
 This Article provides the first in-depth discussion of how the Court’s compelled speech doctrine might apply both in the wake of the Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Janus v. AFSCME and in light of the dramatic rise of ESG investing. In doing so, it explains how the Supreme Court’s post-Janus compelled speech doctrine will likely render state mandates requiring employees to contribute to public pension funds that invest according to ESG principles unconstitutional. And this Article also identifies two potentially serious consequences of the unconstitutionality of such mandates that current scholarship does not address. First, application of the compelled speech doctrine to public pensions may cause state and local governments significant financial distress, given that state employees might be able to withdraw all contributions (not just future contributions) to the public pension funds even as many of those funds are substantially underfunded. Second, extending the compelled speech doctrine to ESG investing might further hamper efforts to increase retirement savings among those least likely to save for retirement by precluding auto-enrollment of employees in retirement programs that invest according to ESG principles. Finally, this Article sketches some possible approaches to addressing these issues before concluding.

НСТИТУЦІОНАЛЬНІ ЗАСАДИ АНТИМОНОПОЛЬНОГО РЕГУЛЮВАННЯ ТА ЗАБЕЗПЕЧЕННЯ ПІДПРИЄМНИЦЬКОЇ КОНКУРЕНТОСПРОМОЖНОСТІ НА МІЖНАРОДНИХ ТА НАЦІОНАЛЬНИХ ТОВАРНИХ РИНКАХ

The formation and development of state antimonopoly policy and antimonopoly regulation takes place taking into account the peculiarities of the institutional environment in which this regulation takes place. The institutional environment of antimonopoly policy and antimonopoly regulation represented by mandatory and voluntary components. All institutional formations of antimonopoly policy and antimonopoly regulation play certain roles that differ in function. The article describes the institutional features of the state antimonopoly policy formation and development on national consumer markets. Among the peculiarities of the functioning and development of the state antimonopoly policy, mandatory and voluntary components highlighted. A mandatory component of the antimonopoly regulation institutional environment are state and international institutions subject to general, pre-documented regulatory acts, regulations, agreements, etc., it is a formal regulatory level. Institutions that have a clearly documented structure, rights, obligations, norms and rules of conduct. Antimonopoly regulation for these institutes is one of the mandatory elements of their functioning. The second component of the antimonopoly environment functions on a voluntary basis. These institutes can function based on legally registered agreements, on voluntary regulatory regulation, and without entering into documented agreements, on non-normative informal regulation. The voluntary component includes market participants, enterprises, organizations, associations, public unions, scientific research centers and institutes that are interested in antimonopoly regulation, purpose of promoting their interests and purpose of improving the general economic situation. Both components of antimonopoly regulation include institutions that are responsible for the role of institutional design. Within the framework of institutional design, each participant in antimonopoly regulation plays a certain role, while the same institutional formation can play several roles at the same time. The functions played by institutional formations vary from maximally aimed at promoting the formation and development of state antimonopoly policy and antimonopoly regulation to a lack of interest in changes and even active opposition to the introduction of new institutions, adaptation or improvement of already existing ones

일본 시가지재개발사업에서 공공의 역할에 관한 연구

This study analyzed the characteristics of the Japan’s urban redevelopment project and the UR participating union member system in order to introduce the public union member system in domestic redevelopment projects. As a result of the study, the following conclusions were obtained. First, business consent requirements in Japan is higher than in Korea. In Japan as well as in Korea, the project implementer such as individuals, associations, local governments, and URs participates in projects, but the land area subject to residents' consent requirements in Japan is more stringent than in Korea. Second, participating union members are selected at the promotion committee stage. In the initial stage of the project, UR and others participate in the project only when there is a request from residents and only where the private sector does not participate as a project partner, so that the project can be implemented stably along with financial support needed for the project. Third, the form of residents’ organizations for business promotion is very diverse. In Japan, residents make decisions in the process of promoting redevelopment projects, and local governments, coordinators, and consultants support residents’ organizations. The fourth feature is the role of coordinator to moderate and to conduct consultations with the parties concerned. In Japan's redevelopment project, the coordinator comprehensively coordinates the work of residents, unions, local governments, business operators, etc. in order to lead the drafting of business plans together with consultants in specialized fields. Fifth, UR participating union member systems are institutionally operated. Since 2003, it has been operated for about 20 years, and participating union members have become a catalyst for redevelopment projects.

СУБ’ЄКТИ ТА ОБ’ЄКТИ ГРАНТОВОЇ ДІЯЛЬНОСТІ

The article examines the peculiarities of the activities of the subjects and the content of the objects of grant financing in Ukraine as important elements of the grant mechanism system. The main features of the grant have been demonstrated, namely: 1) targeted nature of provision; 2) has the nature of assistance provided at the expense of funds accumulated in grantor funds 3) provision to strengthen the institutional and financial capacity of the recipient, as well as for the implementation of a specific project or program to achieve an economic, social and environmental effect. 4) provision in cash or in kind; 5) free of charge; 6) irreversibility. Emphasis is placed on the fact that two groups of persons can act as subjects of grant activity – grant givers and grant recipients. On the part of the grantor, the subjects are: international organizations, government donors, public donors, private donors, corporate donors, and on the part of the grantee – representatives of the government, local self-government, micro, small and medium-sized businesses, the public sector, individuals, etc. It is emphasized that grant recipients can be: bodies of executive power and local self-government, business representatives: private enterprises, limited liability companies, companies with additional liability, general partnerships, limited partnerships, family enterprises, collective enterprises, individual enterprises, peasant (farming) farms, unions of consumer associations, consumer associations, cooperatives, individual entrepreneurs; association of co-owners of apartment buildings; political parties, religious organizations; representatives of the public sector: public organizations, public unions, associations, charitable foundations; various institutions, institutions and even individuals. It is noted that depending on the strategic goals of the subjects of grant relations, grants can be directed to: support of the economy and democracy, development of civil society, communities and territories in particular, strengthening of the health care system, provision of educational industries, development of culture and creative industries, implementation of scientific research, implementation of startups and implementation of innovative projects, etc. The peculiarities of the content of the object of grant activity are considered, namely, the object is a grant – a monetary or non-monetary resource, which is provided free of charge and irrevocably by the grantor to the recipient for the purpose of implementing measures to strengthen the institutional and financial capacity of the grantee, as well as for the implementation of a specific project or program on achievement of economic, social and environmental effect.

To the Question of Departmental Procedural Control Over Decisions on Using the Measure of Restraint for Crimes in the Sphrere of Entrepreneurship and Other Economic Activities

The author examines the norm of Part 1.1. Art. 108 of the Criminal Procedure Code and the clauses presented in the Decree of the Plenary Session of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of Nov. 15, 2016 № 48 (edition of June 11, 2020). The concept of entrepreneurial activity, its substantive and formal attributes are studied. The norms of the Criminal Code, the Civil Code of the Russian Federation and the Law “On Public Unions” are analyzed. The author studies discrepancies in the norms of procedural and material law, and suggests how they could be eliminated through departmental procedural control. He also describes the operating procedures for officers authorized to carry out departmental procedural control when making decisions to petition the court on choosing the measure of restraint. The author states that it is important to observe the principles of legality and equality of citizens involved in entrepreneurial activities before the law and courts. It is noted that there is no necessity to amend the criminal procedure code in order to assign to the head of the inquiry department, the head of the inquiry body or the head of the investigation body the duty to establish the facts of legal entrepreneurial activities that could be carried out without formal attributes. The author concludes that the procedure of departmental control described in the article arises from the principle of legality.

UNIONIZATION TENDENCIES IN PUBLIC EMPLOOYES: AN APPLICATION ON THE EDUCATORS

This research was conducted to measure the unionization tendencies of teachers and school administrators working in state high schools in the city center of Erzurum and to determine the factors affecting whether they are unionized or not. The sample group of the study, which was carried out with the survey application, consisted of 171 education employees who are union members and 128 education employees who are not members of any union, working in the 2019-2020 academic year. Findings from the research; It shows that the expectations of union member teachers are focused on "change and develop the institutional structures of public unions" and "increase their union activities". The main reasons why non-union educators did not become members of the union were the "limited strike and collective bargaining activities of the unions" and "the fact that their democratic structure was not at the desired level".

ІНСТИТУЦІЙНІ ЗАСАДИ ФУНКЦІОНУВАННЯ ВИРОБНИКІВ ОРГАНІЧНОЇ ПРОДУКЦІЇ ТА РОЗВИТКУ ЇХ КОНКУРЕНТНИХ ПЕРЕВАГ В УКРАЇНІ

Organic production in Ukraine is gaining momentum every year and is becoming more and more popular among producers of agricultural products in the countries of the European Union. Ukrainian farmers striving to be on the European markets must meet the requirements of modern production trends. Such advantages of the production of ecologically clean food products as: care for the Planet and future generations, preservation of biodiversity, social responsibility of business, new ways of selling products at better prices for the producer, increasing the efficiency of production – encourage the owners of agricultural enterprises to switch to organic production. In turn, the development of a competitive environment for organic products is impossible without a high-quality institutional environment. The purpose of this study is to establish the main components of the institutional environment of producers of organic products in Ukraine and to determine their influence on the formation of competitive advantages. The article establishes that institutions are an integral component of the formation of competitive advantages of organic products. The main institutional foundations of the functioning of producers of organic agricultural products in Ukraine have been studied. These include formal institutions, informal institutions, sanctions for non-compliance with norms and rules, and organizations. The work analyzes the main legal acts regulating the activities of producers of organic products in Ukraine, briefly characterizes non-state public unions that popularize organic production and are a mandatory component of the institutional environment. Practical significance: the study shows that institutional foundations are an integral part of the activities of producers of organic products in Ukraine and are an element of ensuring their competitiveness. The study shows that the institutional environment is not sufficiently developed in Ukraine due to the lack of cooperation mechanisms between business and the state, the presence of outdated business methods and the imperfection of regulatory and legal support. These issues require detailed research in the future.

Posrednichestvo v trudoustrojstve konca XIX — nachala XX v.: istoricheskie zakonomernosti i nacional'nye osobennosti

The article examines the historical prerequisites for the creation of labor exchanges in France, Germany, and Russia in the period from 1870s to 1930s. It was determined, that the French revolutionary proletariat has initiated agency activity in the labor market to protect its rights. In Germany, the competitive relationships between private entrepreneurs and public unions effectively facilitated the solvation of the unemployment problems. The situation on Russian labor market required active agency work in employment by 1915. As a response an extensive network of labor exchanges, exchange artels of labor and employment bureaus was established. It had a great success in manage of labor supply and demand within the new economic policy (NEP) period.

Інститути громадянського суспільства як суб’єкти публічного управління

The article provides a theoretical and methodological justification of the predicate of civil society institutions from the standpoint of administrative and organizational and legal principles of relations with public administration for the implementation of democratic values enshrined in the Constitution of Ukraine. Modern approaches to defining the essence of civic institutions are analyzed, their functions, main components, features and forms of legal interaction in public administration are determined. The legal bases of the state policy of promoting the development of civil society in Ukraine are determined. The new current trends in the development of civil society institutions in Ukraine are indicated, where the dynamics of increasing the number of public associations in various organizational and legal forms of management (public organizations, charitable organizations, self- organization bodies, public unions, trade unions and their associations). There is also an increase in the level of public confidence in these organizations, which is explained by the purpose of their activities - to directly defend the public interest on selfless initiative and moral motivation. The analysis of statistical data also revealed a low level of public activity and increased public confidence in the activities of public organizations. The importance of integrating the activities of civil society institutions into the system of public administration in making responsible decisions and in the field of organizational and legal support of administrative reform is argued. Emphasis is placed on the fact that the interaction of civil society institutions and public authorities at the local level increases the level of decentralization of power. The forms of legal interaction of civil society institutions with public authorities, which are consolidated in paternalistic, liberal and participatory models, are generalized. The main problems of intensification of the processes of integration of civil society institutions into the system of public administration are identified.

Potentials and pitfalls in a partnership approach to recognition of prior learning

ABSTRACT This article analyses a partnership approach to ‘recognition of prior learning’ (RPL), testing its ability to facilitate reflective discourse and identity transformation among disadvantaged workers with negative learner identities. Hitherto, the transformative dimension of RPL has mainly been analysed within the context of educational institutions. Combining the theory of transformative learning with insights from the new public governance literature, we suggest that a partnership including the public employment service, employers, and unions as well has several advantages due to additional resources and a stronger embeddedness in the labour market. The claim is tested by means of an embedded case study of a Scandinavian RPL project called ‘Yggdrasil’. The Danish part of Yggdrasil applied three different partnership setups with varying compositions of staff from the collaborating organisations. The data consisted of observations of the RPL process within each setup, including a series of interviews with the Yggdrasil partners. We found that staff from unions, labour market authorities, and employers provided perspectives to the RPL process that can help workers identify themselves as having acquired competencies throughout their working lives. However, the presence of the latter two also creates an asymmetrical power relationship that can be counter-productive to the transformative dimension.

Совєцькі дисонанси конотацій та денотацій на початку 1920-х рр. в Україні: соціоісторичний дискурс за матеріалами V конференції КП(б) У. Частина І.

Introduction. In the article, the authors analyzed the reports of the Bolshevik leaders on the5th conference of the Communist Party (Bolsheviks) of Ukraine, in particular, the examples of the lexemes theyused and their interpretations which gave them an additional meaning, new expressive coloration. New semanticcategorical units “connotation” and “denotations” were introduced into the language of the language ofcontemporary historical research. A range of the documents from the Central State Archives of Public Unions wereintroduced into the scientifi c use for the fi rst time for the objective analysis, realization of the aim and performingthe tasks.Methodology of the study is based onto civilizational and anthropological social and cultural approaches,and principles of historicism. The authors also used problematic chronological, historical typological, historicalcomparative, and other methods.The purpose of our study is to analyze, characterize, generalize the deformations of the consciousness, content,social infl uences of the Communist ideology, latent components of the language code and textual interactions, thatwere strongly rooted in the language of communication and thinking, participated in the formation of culturalcodes and infl uenced the choice of historical path.Conclusions. After analyzing some reports of Bolshevik leaders at the Vth Conference of the Communist Partyof Ukraine (Bolsheviks), it was found out that leaders often distorted the meaning of the words and phrases theyused, especially those which possessed political features (e.g. “Ukrainian nationalists”, “independence-carriers”,“beggar” etc.). Taking into account the declared approaches, new semantic categorical units «connotation»,«denotation» were introduced into the narrative of modern historical research. For the fi rst time, the transcript ofthe Vth Conference of the Communist Party of Ukraine (Bolsheviks) without editorial changes was introduced intoscientifi c fi eld as a document that refl ects the beliefs of the then Communist leaders.

ЗАКОНАДАВЧІ УМОВИ РОЗВИТКУ ВІТЧИЗНЯНИХ МАШИНОБУДІВНИХ КВАЗІІНТЕГРАЦІЙНИХ СТРУКТУР

У статі наведено розширений аналіз нормативно-правових положень України щодо об’єднань підприємств. Досліджено законодавчі документи, що акцентують увагу на створенні кластерів. Пояснено Закон України «Про індустріальні парки». Актуалізовано необхідність створення квазіінтеграційних структур, зокрема на основі вітчизняних машинобудівних підприємств. Зроблено спробу виявити наявні машинобудівні квазіінтеграційні структури в Україні. Встановлено, що наявні квазіінтеграційні структури працюють у формі одинадцяти кластерів, серед яких чотири ініційовані Державним концерном «Укроборонпром». Надано характеристику українських машинобудівних кластерів, встановлено їх учасників. Досліджено передумови формування та основні цілі машинобудівних кластерів. Розглянуто ініціації Асоціації підприємств промислової автоматизації України в напрямі кластероутворення у сфері машинобудівної промисловості.

Collective Bargaining during Times of Crisis: Recommendations from the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The COVID‐19 pandemic dramatically changed employment across sectors in 2020. This Viewpoint essay examines public sector labor relations during the pandemic and describes the impact bargaining process that is used to protect public employees. The authors draw on their own experience with impact bargaining negotiations and the public labor relations, conflict management, and civil service reform literatures to develop recommendations for public union labor leaders during times of crisis. They suggest that public unions have an important role in crisis management but must act strategically to develop good working relationships with leadership and successfully negotiate employee protections in uncertain times.

Bankruptcy of a Tourism Company: Money Back Mechanism in Russian Federation

The main aim of this paper is to analyze possible ways for tourists to return money in case of travel company’s bankruptcy. Russian Federation doesn’t have a civilized legal mechanism for real tourist’s protection. There are many government agencies, professional and public unions, laws etc., but in real life all of them can only declare the tourist’s rights. In fact, even the State itself can’t get money from a bankrupt travel company. According to key findings, on Russian travel market the money back situation is very complicated. The article proposes a mechanism for full money back. Practically, the only option is chargeback.

ALTERNATIVE STRATEGIES FOR CONSTRUCTION OF THE ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE OF MANAGEMENT OF THE MARINE INDUSTRY CLUSTER IN UKRAINE

The purpose of the paper is to to elucidate the authors' attitude to the nature of clusters that have become widespread in marine economic activity, find out the motives that lead to their initiation, to demonstrate the variants of their organizational structure of management and the sources of funds needed to perform the delegated functions, in the context of current Ukrainian legislation. Methodology. Towards this goal the authors collected, systematized and analyzed a number of facts obtained from numerous publications in writing and electronic domestic and foreign publications. Results. Commodity diversity, which is so welcomed by consumers in developed countries, is the result of a strenuous competitive battle between suppliers at the market of alternative products and services. It is carried out not only among consumer goods producers, but also covers shipbuilding corporations and many related firms, among which there are medium and small ones in value creation chains. Often, they are concentrated in specific regions and in one way or another determine its industrial specialization. Competition does not bypass any country, although sometimes there is a sense that only those who keep marching the thorny paths of economic, political and social reforms are affected. For this reason, everyone is constantly looking for tools to reinforce their strengths over opponents in the fight for solvent purchasers. Clusters occupy a valid place among such tools, and it is generally recognized. In the countries of the European Union, clusterization has been raised to the level of public policy, strategies of behavior of entire industries and certain enterprises. In domestic areas, it is often that not everybody can clearly understand even the nature of clusters. Practical implications. The word "cluster" is etymologically derived from English and means "association" or "union". The Ukrainian legislator, while building the institutional basis for economic development, does not use this term, but outlines its varieties and formalizes procedures for starting unions. For this reason, domestic clusters are single and are rather examples of an initiative of the territorial communities. One of such initiatives can be considered an offer from a number of enterprises, organizations and authorities created in the Mykolaiv region. It is formalized in the form of the Mykolaiv maritime service cluster. Value/originality. Observing the first steps of the initiators shows that the enthusiasm of the pioneers is unlikely to be enough to solve all the tasks that have already been set up, and even more the tasks for the cluster to be solved in the future. Thus, there is nothing to do without creating at least a small administration. Since the top of the cluster is an unprofitable organization, according to the current legislation, it is most viewed by such organizational and legal forms as a cooperative (servicing) or a public union. If you consider them, you have an opportunity to create a budget and use the funds received for the implementation of approved plans, programs and projects.

Friedrichs and the Move Toward Private Ordering of Wages and Benefits in the Public Sector

In its recent Harris v. Quinn opinion the U.S. Supreme Court (in particular Justice Alito) seemed to welcome a future opportunity to reconsider the 1977 landmark Abood decision in which public sector closed shop employees were not required to join a union but could be subject to fees that cover the costs of “collective bargaining, contract administration, and grievance adjustment purposes.” Supporters of the Abood approach argue that it is a reasonable compromise that prevents non-members from free riding on the union’s efforts (i.e. enjoying the wages and benefits negotiated by the union without sharing the costs incurred.) Detractors and the plaintiffs in Friedrichs argue that free riding concerns are insufficient to overcome serious First Amendment objections. The central idea is that all bargaining in the public sector is inherently political. Public sector pay, tenure and benefits (especially expensive retiree health care and pension promises), it is claimed, now profoundly affect the ability of state and local governments to function in many jurisdictions. This article briefly reviews the major claim in Friedrichs -- that public sector agency agreements violate the First Amendment -- and considers the implications of a decision that, but for Justice Scalia’s unexpected death almost certainly would have overturned Abood. What would this mean for financially strapped state and local governments? To understand what a victory for the Friedrichs plaintiffs would mean, this paper looks at recent data from Wisconsin which dramatically constrained public sector agency agreements a few years ago and has seen public union membership, union revenue and political power plunge as a result. If Friedrichs had overturned Abood during the 2016 term, we would now expect to see national patterns similar to those observed in Wisconsin. In many places around the country a drop in public sector union political power would be expected to translate into a climate more supportive of reduced future expenditures on public pensions and health care.

Institutional Safeguarding of Functional Expanding of Regional Scientific Centers of NAS of Ukraine and MES of Ukraine in the Context of Smart Specialisation (on the Example of the Prydniprovskyi Economic Area)

With the signing of the Association Agreement bet­ween Ukraine and the EU, the amendment of the Constitution of Ukraine regarding the implementation of Ukraine’s strategic course towards gaining full membership in the EU, approvement the National Security Strategy of Ukraine, in which European integration is recognized as the main direction of development of the Ukrainian state, Ukraine made the civilisational choice. The implementation of this civilizational choice obliges Ukraine to follow the path of the implementation of European integration reforms, to adopt the rules, norms and practices of the EU for successful integration into the European space and the system of formal institutions of the EU. This, among other things, concerns the need to implement the European approach to territorial division and regional policy, the introduce the smart specialisation approach into the system of strategic planning for regional development. The development of regional innovation ecosystems and the building of effective relationships between all their actors play a decisive role in the successful implementation of smart specialisation strategies. The system of interrelationships between the actors of the regional innovation ecosystem of the Prydniprovskyi economic area is analysed for their presence and intensity in comparison with other regions and Ukraine as a whole. It has been determined that both national and regional innovation ecosystems of Ukraine (including the Prydniprovskyi economic area) lack effective relationships between their key actors. The scientific and institutional provisions and recommendations for the formation of regional innovation ecosystems at the level of economic regions of Ukraine that meet the requirements of the European classification NUTS 1, in the context of the implementation of the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the EU and the smart specialisation approach, have been substantiated. They are the following: to empower of Regional Scientific Centers of NAS of Ukraine and MES of Ukraine with additional powers to coordinate relations between actors of regional innovation ecosystems within the areas of their action, as well as to amend and supplement of the Law of Ukraine «On Scientific and Scientific and Technology Activities» to expand the functions and powers of Regional Scientific Centers, turning them into effective interregional focal points for innovative development. An approach to the formation of the Podillya regional innovation ecosystem within the Podillya economic area has been proposed. On the basis of the Prydniprovskyi Scientific Center of NAS of Ukraine and MES of Ukraine, it has been proposed to implement several experiments, firstly, on the formation of the Prydniprovskyi regional innovation ecosystem; secondly, on the creation of interregional public union «Platform for innovative development «Pridneprovie»», which can become a «factory of thought» on ways and means of restarting relations between actors of the regional innovation ecosystem and neo-industrial revival of the Prydniprovskyi economic area.