Western Political Science Research Articles

Политическое лидерство в условиях глобального кризиса: от запроса обществ к парадоксам методологии и уровней осуществления

A new growth of interest in political leadership, dictated by the fusion of social and scientific reactions to the onset of a global crisis, requires both individuals adequate to overcome it, and bold, honest theoretical work to rethink the tools describing the subject field of leadership. Its paradoxes outlined in the article, both using examples of them in methodology and those that reflect the state of the phenomenon at the current stage, indicate a revision of the role of a number of categories that came to us from Western (American) political science. The paradoxes of leadership in combination with the principles of its modern integrative understanding, leading to the acceleration of the process of unification of Russian society and the state, confirm the priority of the sociological interpretation of the nature of political leadership. It makes it possible to achieve greater verifiability of conclusions about its legitimacy and effectiveness, the logic of actions/relationships of transformational leaders.

ОБОСНОВАНИЕ ЦЕННОСТИ ПУБЛИЧНОГО ДИСКУРСА В ТЕОРИЯХ СОВЕЩАТЕЛЬНОЙ ДЕМОКРАТИИ: ОСНОВНЫЕ СТРАТЕГИИ И ИХ КРИТИКА

The article considers the most common ways in which supporters of the deliberative model of democracy justify the key element of this model – deliberation (public discourse) – as well as the most common ways in which these justifications are criticized. The author proposes a new classification of the existing arguments "for" and "against" deliberative democracy, clarifying the nature of the theoretical debates in Western political science in recent decades and presenting the normative attractiveness of the model under consideration. The article presents two types of mainly instrumental justification (epistemic and non-epistemic). Furthermore, the author distinguishes three main lines of criticism, within the framework of which the justification of deliberation is disputed in the modern Western scientific literature. All of these criticisms are more practical than theoretical. The author concludes that the "deliberative turn" in Western democratic theory has not discredited elitist and participatory approaches to understanding democracy, but has merely supplemented them with normative considerations, according to which not only the quantity but also the quality of individual preferences and political participation ("input data") are important, as well as not only an individual but also a social perspective.

Do Turkish Political Parties Pledge In Line With Their Party Family Ideologies? A Quantitative Analysis of Turkish Political Parties’ Manifesto Documents

In the Western political science literature, modern political parties are grouped into party families, i.e., social democrat, socialist, communist, Christian democrat, liberal, radical, conservative, farmer-peasant, right-wing extremist, regional-ethnic parties and environmental movements. Categorizing a large number of political parties into a small number of party families is important not only for scientific reasons but also for practical ones. A correct categorization would help voters to better evaluate political parties and make more conscious voting decisions. Nevertheless, despite its central importance, the party family is one of the least empirically researched topics in the political science literature. More specifically, the literature on party family particularly lacks sufficient empirical investigations into the link between parties’ issue positions and their family locations. Moreover, to my knowledge, no previous study has investigated to what extent the Western party family phenomenon able to group political parties in a non-Western country. In order to fill this gap, this study aims to answer the following research question: Do Turkish political parties’ issue positions, as revealed in their manifesto documents, align with their expected party family locations? Answering this research question I hypothesize that Turkish political parties’ issue positions do not correspond to their expected party family locations. Results of the empirical analysis of the Manifesto Project data largely supported this hypothesis and one can now safely argue that Turkish political parties do not pledge in line with values suggested by the Western party family categorization.

The Post-Soviet as Post-Colonial: A New Paradigm for Understanding Constitutional Dynamics in the Former Soviet Empire by William Partlett and Herbert Küpper (review)

Reviewed by: The Post-Soviet as Post-Colonial: A New Paradigm for Understanding Constitutional Dynamics in the Former Soviet Empire by William Partlett and Herbert Küpper W. E. Butler Partlett, William and Küpper, Herbert. The Post-Soviet as Post-Colonial: A New Paradigm for Understanding Constitutional Dynamics in the Former Soviet Empire. Elgar Monographs in Constitutional and Administrative Law. Edward Elgar, Cheltenham and Northampton, MA, 2022. xii + 269 pp. Notes. Bibliography. Index. £95.00. Unlike the American experience where the Constitution has remained in force since 1789 with infrequent amendments, the first ten coming rather quickly, Russia in the twentieth century experienced several generations of constitutions between 1905 and 1993, all linked expressly or otherwise to fundamental changes in societal development and held out as a model for other state systems to emulate. Western political science and comparative constitutional law have found it instructive to view such constitution-making through the prism of 'authoritarian' models as juxtaposed with 'democratic', usually acknowledging that pure versions of either did not exist. The present volume offers an alternative reading to the authoritarian/post-authoritarian perspectives that have dominated comparative constitutional discourse by [End Page 187] suggesting a post-colonial lens be superimposed on constitutional-making processes. The category of 'post-colonial' is seen as an additional, not a replacement, perspective which the authors hope will improve our perceptions of 'constitutional dynamics'. The (former?) colonial power is Russia in their analysis, which acquired 'colonies' that fell into two groups: the former Soviet republics within the USSR, the 'inner Empire'; and the satellite States, formally independent but under Soviet domination (Central Europe, Mongolia and the Baltic States), here styled as the 'outer Empire'. Hungary is singled out as a case study of constitution-formation and given a separate chapter. Omitted from consideration are areas where the Soviet authorities exercised 'soft power' — Yugoslavia, Albania, China, North Korea, Vietnam, Kampuchea, Laos, Cuba — and others once classified as countries 'of a socialist orientation'. From the outset the authors avoid the key issue of what differentiates a 'post-authoritarian' and a 'post-colonial' jurisdiction as being beyond their scope. They do suggest that 'post-authoritarian' implies a progressive transition towards liberal democratic constitutionalism, a limited State, a strong judiciary, and an emphasis on individual, rather than collective, rights. One immediate problem is that 'colonial' is a pejorative term that engages multiple (two or more) subjects of international law, whereas 'authoritarian' is a domestic law term confined to a single jurisdiction. There is no definition of 'colonial' in international law; usually it is explained by examples. On a broad reading, every historical situation in which a state exercises, or claims to exercise, influence or authority over a people, nation, or state outside its boundaries is eligible for possible classification as a 'colony'; often the term is associated with flows of migration and settlement. Self-awareness may also be a factor. Russia until 1917 declared itself to be an empire and from at least Petrine times forward was widely so regarded — a self-perception that some would regard as automatically making Russia a colonial power. The authors concentrate on the dissolution of the former Soviet Union but do not really address the Russian Federation as a colonial or post-colonial entity. Modern Russia is said to contain one hundred or so ethnic groups, some more or less concentrated geographically, others dispersed throughout the land. The Russian Constitution recognizes, as of October 2022, eighty-nine subjects of the Federation (or should some or all be designated as 'colonies'). All eighty-nine have a constitution or equivalent constitutive document and are bound together by international treaty. An authoritarian paradigm treats Russia as a single entity for these purposes; a colonial paradigm, if applicable, would take a different perspective. Within the limited scope of this study, the authors work with a very broad brush. They are no doubt correct that the colonial/post-colonial paradigm [End Page 188] offers insights into constitution-formation and collateral issues not readily observable through alternative paradigms. All of which enriches the discipline of comparative law. Omitted from their study and virtually all others in this field is a consideration of the twenty-one-volume verbatim...

Incorporated by the Mainstream: Constructivism in the Theory of International Relations

he article contains a critical surveying of social constructivism in the theory of international relations with the aim of clarifying the essence, peculiarities and contradictions of the constructivist approach to the analysis of world politics, to find out how social constructivism copes with the main functions of social science theory, to evaluate the productivity and further prospects of the sociologization of theorizing in the science of international relations. It is substantiated that the popularity of social constructivism in Western political science at the beginning of the 21st century is not so much related to the convinced reinterpretation of the dominant theoretical doctrines by its representatives, as to the sharp changes in world politics after the end of the Cold War, which were not predicted and convincingly explained by mainstream paradigms. The main concepts used by social constructivism are considered. Accor-ding to constructivists, the way to understanding changes, actions and behavior of actors in the international arena lies through understanding the intersubjectivity of key elements of global politics, as well as state identities and social norms, the combination of which forms interests. The main contribution of constructivism to international analysis is the theorizing around the structure–agency dichotomy, which leads to the conclusion that international anarchy is not inevitable or immutable. The practical development of the military-political doctrines of the leading actors of global politics takes into account those aspects of international relations that social constructivism is concerned with. In particular, traditional strategic deterrence is tried to reducing a competitor’s perception of the benefits of aggression relative to restraint, as well as to forming the opponent’s proper perception of the combat reliability of the actor and partners; their perceptions of their own ability to control the risk of escalation. Having managed to assert itself, social constructivism, for the sake of re-cognition among researchers and practitioners of international relations, was forced to somewhat moderate its original ontological radicalism. It is emphasized that after abandoning its own epistemology, the set of basic theses of canonical constructivism lacks originality, and it usually fails as a basis for an empirical research program. Concrete examples show that the conclusions of constructivists, as a rule, confirm or duplicate the conclusions of representatives of other paradigms, mostly (neo)liberalistic by origin. This refers to state-centrism, the conceptualization of international reality not as a system, but as a society, the analogy of state behavior with the behavior of an individual, making common cause in fact with soft power concept etc. Social constructivism with an emphasis on the sociologization of analysis has considerable heuristic potential, which the initiators of the renewal of constructivism hope for, but it is too early to talk about constructivism as an independent theory and one of the three main pillars of the science of international relations.

Contributors

Previous article FreeContributorsPDFPDF PLUSFull Text Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditEmailQR Code SectionsMoreShadi Bartsch is the Helen A. Regenstein Professor of Classics at the University of Chicago and Director of the Institute on the Formation of Knowledge. She has written or edited some twelve books on classical antiquity and, recently, several essays on the Chinese reception of the Western classical tradition. Her new translation of Vergil’s Aeneid came out in 2022 and her new study, Plato Goes to China, was published by Princeton University Press in January 2022.Jue Hou is a PhD Candidate in Social Thought and Comparative Literature at the University of Chicago. His research interests include translation studies, East Asian and European literary modernisms, and Chinese and Japanese intellectual history.Huang Yang is Professor and Chair of the History Department, Fudan University, and President of the Chinese Society for the Study of Ancient World History. His research interest is Greek history. Among the books he published are Studies in Politics and Society in Ancient Greece (2014); A Study on Land Tenure in Ancient Greece (1995); and An Introductory Guide to Research in Greek History (co-authored with Yan Shaoxiang, 2nd ed., 2021), all in Chinese. His latest publications also include “The Prehistory of Western Political Science: Political Thought in Greece in the Fifth Century BC” (2020, in Chinese) and “The Invention of the ‘Barbarian’ and Ethnic Identity in Early Greece and China” (2021, in English). His current project is a comparative study of Greek and Chinese ideas of the “barbarian.”Nie Minli is Professor of Philosophy, Renmin University of China. Professor Nie’s research interests focus on ancient Greek philosophy, especially Plato and Aristotle. He was a visiting scholar at the University of Crete, Greece, during 2005–6. His important works include Being and Substance: A Study of Aristotle’s Metaphysics Zeta (Z 1–9) (2011); Substance and Form: A Study of Aristotle’s Metaphysics Zeta (Z 10–17) (2016); and The Origins of Western Thought (2017), all published in Chinese and by Chinese publishing companies.Leihua Weng is Chinese Endowed Assistant Professor of Chinese Language and Literature at Kalamazoo College. She is interested in traditions, including the formations, transformation, and transmission of traditions, as well as their modern receptions in China and in the West. She is finishing a book project on reading Plato and Leo Strauss in China.Zhang Longxi is Chair Professor of Comparative Literature and Translation at City University of Hong Kong and an Honorary President of the International Comparative Literature Association. A leading scholar in East-West cross-cultural studies, he has published more than twenty books and many articles in English and Chinese, and his major book publications in English include The Tao and the Logos: Literary Hermeneutics, East and West (1992); Mighty Opposites: From Dichotomies to Differences in the Comparative Study of China (1998); Allegoresis: Reading Canonical Literature East and West (2005); Unexpected Affinities: Reading across Cultures (2007); From Comparison to World Literature (2016); and, most recently, A History of Chinese Literature (2023).Yiqun Zhou is Associate Professor of East Asian Languages and Cultures and, by courtesy, of Classics, at Stanford University. Her research interests include the comparative study of ancient societies and the reception of classical antiquity in modern China. She is the author of Festivals, Feasts, and Gender Relations in Ancient China and Greece, published by Cambridge University Press. Previous article DetailsFiguresReferencesCited by KNOW: A Journal on the Formation of Knowledge Volume 6, Number 2Fall 2022The Complexities of Inheritance: Contemporary Chinese Readings of Antiquity East and West Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/723567 © 2022 The University of Chicago. All rights reserved.PDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.

The evolution of the concept of information warfare in the modern information society of the post-truth era

ObjectivesCompare selected concepts of information warfare and show the evolution of the Western concept of WI,resulting from the development of the information society, social-media and the resources by which information warfare is conducted.MethodsThe research method used is a systematic review of Western political science literature, as well as military literature, publications on international relations, international politics, security and cyber security from the perspective of information warfare. Techniques such as analysis of background material, causal analysis and scientific and self-observation in this area were used, taking into account the dynamics of technological and geopolitical changes occurring in the modern information society.ResultsThe analysis made it possible to show the evolution of the Western concept of information warfare and outline the main differences from the concept of information warfare adopted by the Russian Federation. The study also points out the threats to the information society posed by the realities of modern information warfare.ConclusionsThe Western conception of WI differs from that of the Russian Federation, placing the emphasis on WI as technological warfare, while the Russian Federation and the People's Republic of China (PRC) place the emphasis on psychological warfare first. This discrepancy could pose a significant threat to the information environment of Western democracies, since the weakest link in the security of not only an information system, but also an information system, is the human being. This is well known not only to hackers, cyber criminals, but also to hostile state or non-state forces that conduct WI against Western countries.

Пандемия COVID-19: конспирология и антиконспирология

Today the world faces not only a biogenic challenge, but also a challenge in the media sphere, which has a direct impact on the situation with the spread of the COVID-19. Despite the fact that conspiracy became one of the most discussed topics in the public discourse long before 2020, conspiracy as a phenomenon in the humanities and social sciences is studied primarily in anthropology, sociology and psychology. Meanwhile, the COVID-19 pandemic clearly demonstrates that conspiracy theory (CT) has become one of the main political factor. Western political science discourse reacted to the request faster. At the turn of the 2010s–2020s, there was an intensification in this direction, the research field of conspiracy in political science began to form. Russian research discourse about it is still small and fragmented. The aim of the paper is to fill this gap. The text attempts to answer the research question: why have COVID conspiracy theories managed to gain such popularity and how do they prolong the pandemic by influencing political processes? For this purpose, the author analyzes conspiracy prerequisites (evolutionary atavism, information storm, non-transparent policy, epistemological limitations of human being, popular culture); gives the typology of CT (1. Does the virus really exist? 2. COVID-19 is no more dangerous than the flu. 3. Who is guilty? 4. Who is the beneficiary of the pandemic? 5. Is vaccination a microchipping?); and proposes measures to neutralize the harmful effects of CT on public consciousness. At the same time, the author opposes prohibitive measures as the least effective ways to combat conspiracy.

Revisiting Chinese Political Culture: The Historical Politics Approach

Western Political science cannot adequately address China’s development in the twenty-first century. The inadequacy is due to a general neglect of historical methods and an obsession with progressive views in the discipline. As a result, the study of China’s political culture is torn away from Chinese history and loses itself to become another version of modernization thesis. This article calls for the application of a historical politics approach and a poly-chronic view of history to the study of China’s political culture. The article examines four potential core value components of China’s political culture, namely the quest for great unification, the preference for political order, the orientation towards substance, and the deference to authority and hierarchy. Results show that those values have historical continuity and China-specificity thereby demonstrating the value of the historical politics perspective.

The Phenomenon of State Policy: The Essence and Types

The article is devoted to the phenomenon of state policy and its conceptual reflection in domestic and foreign literature. The author draws attention to the cultural and civilizational differences in interpreting the concept of state policy. In Western political science, the term “public policy” (public policy), identified with state policy, has become widespread. The term “state policy” is traditionally used in Russian social science thought. The author revealed state policy’s main features and properties and justified the differentiation of “state policy” and “public administration” concepts. The main theoretical and methodological approaches to the definition of the essence of state policy are summarized. The author expressed his definition from the position of the socio-philosophical approach. Further, the author presented the classification of types of state policy on various grounds. Finally, the author justified the necessity of closer interconnection for specific kinds of state policy of the Russian Federation with each other, taking into account the requirements of a systematic approach.

Meta Concept Of Horizon Ilmu And Its Application On Islamic Political Thought Department Of UIN Mataram

This article will analyze the concept of scientific integration-interconnection and internalization or the “Horizon Ilmu” in the Islamic State University of Mataram. This study formulates the implementation model on the curriculum of PPI Department. This article aims to combine Karl Popper's falsification theory, and the theory of paradigm revolution by Tomas Kuhn, with Ian Barbour's theory about the integration between religion and science. As an additional theory on this subject, author use amin abdullah's theory of integration-interconnection. This study uses interpretive approach, that Focuses on the ideas and the spirit and the implementation method that construct the political theory. This study describes conclusions. First, the PPI' s model of Horizon Ilmu, consist two fundamental discourses: the Islamic political thought represented by al-Madinah al-Fadhilah, and the western political science represented by democracy. Second, These two fundamentals then emulsified with the classical islamic scientific tradition. Third, PPI’s characteristic of Horizon Ilmu can be actualized through the reciprocal relation between these two fundamentals discourses in order to build the new academic traditions in the Islamic political thought department.

Медіація у «сірій зоні»

Based on the gray zone concept the potential of mediation as an alternative conflict management and dispute resolution is assessed. Based on color, the "gray zone" metaphor is a conceptual framework for exploring the complex nature of contemporary conflicts, which outwardly resemble a "neither war nor peace" situation. It has been clarified that the gray zone concept, common in Western political science, comes from US intelligence documents and is used to describe conflicts in general, phases of conflict, operational environments or tactics resorted to by participants in various types of conflicts (conventional, hybrid, etc.). To test the hypothesis of the ineffectiveness of mediation in the "gray zone," we chose the conflict in eastern Ukraine, which, although it crossed the threshold of the "black zone" in 2014, remains a fragment of the "gray zone" in relations between Russia and the West. The existence of a "gray zone" in the conflict in Donbass has been proven based on criteria formed by other researchers, mainly concerning the composition of participants and tactics of struggle. It has been established that the gray zone creates unfavorable conditions for mediation. It shows how participants, and their proxies can use mediation to control the actions of their adversaries and thus fuel the conflict without crossing the threshold of war. The assessment of the potential of mediation in the "grey zone" includes the behavior of the conflict participant (the Russian Federation), which positions itself as a "mediator"; the characteristics of the regional international organization (OSCE) as mediator; the structure (Normandy format, TKG) and mediation tools; the negotiating positions of participants in the negotiation process and the status of implementation the agreements reached on the settlement. It is proved that the resolution of the "grey zone" conflicts depends on bilateral or multilateral negotiations between the "great states" which have sponsored non-state actors responsible for the main grey zone activities at the tactical level.  

Istota totalitaryzmu. Wokół teorii Zbigniewa Brzezińskiego i Carla Friedricha

The aim of this text is a contemporary estimation of the thesis formed in a famous book by Zbigniew Brzeziński and Carl Friedrich, Totalitarian Dictatorship and Autocracy (1956). This is a classic text of Western political science about totalitarianism, simultaneously scientific and political. Scientific, because it presents the idea of three types of political regimes in the 20th century: totalitarian, authoritarian, and liberal-democratic. Political, because the term “totalitarianism” was very useful in the time of the Cold War. This term presents the old (Nazi Germany) and new (Stalinist Russia) totalitarian states as equal political enemies of the USA, equal in their hostility to political and individual freedom, i.e. America’s creed. By using this term, the Americans can create a horrible picture of Russian communism as totalitarian, the same as Hitler’s regime, while presenting old enemies (West Germany, Italy, and Japan) as good friends of both the USA and freedom, because in this moment these states are democratic and liberal. The new term ended the old line of the delimitation between fascist or pro fascist and antifascist states and legitimates the new alliance between the USA and Franco’s Spain. The author analyses the definition of totalitarianism by Brzeziński and Friedrich as well as the political and ideological accusations made against this book by leftist critics.

Political Participation and Request for Change: The Role of Education

The article tests the hypothesis, based on the concept of post-industrial society that people with higher education will be more politically active, especially in the manifestation of the demand for change. For this purpose, the materials of the All-Russian poll, organized in March 2021 by the Institute of Sociology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, are used to analyze the sociopolitical characteristics associated with political activism and the formation of a demand for change among different educational groups of Russians. The conclusion is made that, first, education in modern Russia does directly affect an individual's preparedness for political action: more educated Russians are more interested in the political life of the country and are more aware of their ability to influence the "rules of the game". Second, education does directly affect actual involvement in social and political activism. However, concerning conscious political participation, this effect relates not so much to everyday, regular, as to its extreme protest forms. Third, the education of Russians has no discernible correlation with the presence/absence of a liberal demand for change. In terms of meeting the minimum requirements for political participation, Russian educational groups currently correspond to the Western political science mainstream theory and the practices of developed countries. Nevertheless, the highlighted features of the political characteristics of Russians with higher and post-higher education (not all of the examined indicators are stable in dynamics, not all differences between educational groups are clearly expressed, and, in general, the participation of highly educated Russians in the political life of the country is rather formal) lead to the need for a more careful study of the findings not only of the Western scientific mainstream but also of alternative concepts of Third World researchers. In addition, it has been suggested that the emancipation of a group of highly educated Russians from the state is incomplete. Consequently, they are aware of their objectively central place and leading role in political life.

НАУКОВІ ПІДХОДИ ЩОДО КОНЦЕПЦІЇ ГРОМАДЯНСЬКОЇ НЕПОКОРИ У СУЧАСНІЙ ЗАХІДНІЙ ПОЛІТОЛОГІЇ

This article is devoted to the study of the concept of civil disobedience in Western political science. On the most widely accepted interpretation, civil disobedience is a public, non-violent and conscientious breach of law undertaken with the aim of bringing about a change in laws or government policies. There is a tendency to change traditional attitudes of civil disobedience in modern western political science. Of course, this reflects the changes that are taking place in developments in political life during recent decades. There are developed and democratic nations in that citizens can take part in political life without any discrimination and other restrictions. But there are still acts of civil disobedience. Methods include coordinating protests and nonviolent civil disobedience actions, including sit-ins, lock downs and banner hangings. Sometimes it involves direct action and confrontations on the streets. Modern scientists argue that civil disobedience is, in general, a more defensible act than the acts of private disobedience that are often referred to as ‘conscientious objection’. For example, “Rosa Parks” sitting in the whites-only section of a bus was a more conscientious sort of act than a civil registrar quietly refusing to register same-sex civil partnerships. In researching explores, the ways in which the law should recognize and protect civil disobedience, and related conduct. In modern political science argues that the legal justification for disobedience to the law caused by convictions must be recognized. This exculpatory defense is based on respect for personal autonomy and psychological integrity. Given the communicative nature of true conviction, which is not evaded, this legal justification applies to civil disobedience rather than personal disobedience. Recognizing protection would allow society to respect the links between autonomy, psychological integrity and honesty, without requiring us to give always priority to the law over our deep obligations, or always remain covert and selfcensored in our efforts to distance ourselves from the laws we oppose. Many modern political scientists expand the meaning of the concept of civil disobedience in their research. This allows for serious violations of the law during rallies, and selfish motives of participants, and non-recognition of the legitimacy of the political and legal system. That means, factors those in previous ages of research excluded possibilities of these kinds of direct action. Some aspects remain unchanged. So, almost all researchers are inclined to believe that participants in civil disobedience should be clearly aware of their actions and motives, and have a principled position and serious intentions.

On the Political Aspects of Development of the System of State and Municipal Management in Ukraine

The article examines the history of the formation and reform of the system of state and municipal administration in Ukraine. In the conditions when the socio-political space of Ukraine is characterized by pronounced regionalism, and the issue of transition to a federal state system is excluded from the real political agenda, the nature of the development of the system of state and municipal administration can serve as a reflection of the ratio of centrifugal and centripetal trends in the internal political development of Ukraine. The article presents an analysis of the factors of internal political development of Ukraine that most influenced the formation of a centralized system of territorial administration in the country in the post- Soviet period and predetermined the weakness of local self-government, as well as the reasons for the failure of several attempts at reforms. Special attention is paid to the implementation of the decentralization policy after 2014. The article reveals the connection of the concept of modern administrative-territorial reform in Ukraine with the settlement process in the Donbas, as well as with the approaches in Western political science, according to which decentralization is considered as a tool for neutralizing the political potential of regionalism and countering regional separatism. The results and political orientation of decentralization in the context of the acute socio- economic crisis in Ukraine are evaluated.

The Paradigm Shift of Political Science from Being \u201cChange-oriented\u201d to \u201cGovernance-oriented:\u201d A Perspective on History of Political Science

The history of political philosophy serves as a valuable resource for the current research paradigms in political science. In comparative terms, the paradigm of Western research is essentially “change-oriented” and tends to shift constantly with its evolving thoughts. Due to the influence of bourgeois revolutions around the world, contemporary politics has transpired as the synopsis of governance of the established order. As the “governing strategies” of the established order encounter multiple social crises, the Marxist political science or Marxism has emerged as the naturally preferred alternative research paradigm. During the Cold War period, such governing strategies were adopted as universal values in Western political science, effectuating the prediction of “the end of the history.” After the launch of the reform and opening-up campaign, “change-oriented” liberal democracy became an instrumental paradigm for Chinese political science. However, as the contemporary world order disfavored this paradigm, Chinese scholars shifted their research focus to developing an independent discourse power in democracy and governance, as well as prioritizing state governance as their primary research paradigm and methodology. Thus, political science is expected to resume its common sense nearly after a century of political chaos.

Особливості світової політики щодо ракетно-ядерних озброєнь

The article describes the main trends in world politics in nuclear missile weapons in the field of international and national security, assesses the importance of nuclear missile programs in modern international political security relations. The article uses various methods of political science research, which made it possible to formulate reliable results of the analysis. In particular, the methodology of comparative analysis is one of the main directions in modern world political science and has been used to compare various scientific approaches to assessing the specifics of world policy in relation to nuclear missile weapons. A wide range of attraction of scientific and methodological tools, first of all, is due to the fact that in domestic political science, such concepts as the method of comparative analysis, comparative political science, and comparative comparison are practically not developed. At the same time, in Western political science, this area of science has been studied quite thoroughly, which made it possible to apply the methods of Western research. The scientific and theoretical comparison used in the article acts as a special method, and as an experimental methodological strategy, covering the political aspects of nuclear missile programs, their initial conceptual structure, formulated research hypotheses, the measurement tools under study, as well as the analysis of empirical material, the scientific result. It has been proved that the states that implement nuclear missile programs pursue this policy in two directions: preparation and implementation of nuclear missile programs in order to establish political control and prevent violation of the nuclear missile balance in the world and development of nuclear missile programs in order to implement the function ensuring national security and obtaining political autonomy in international relations. It is shown that political institutions to curb the proliferation of nuclear missiles in modern international relations are designed to ensure the continuity of the arms reduction process in the context of the obvious change in the paradigm of international relations and the prospects for political polarization of the world order.

Дискуссия о коллективных благах в контексте современных вопросов глобального управления

This article is dedicated to three interconnected concepts – “collective goods”, “free rider” and “hegemony” in the context of modern politics. We analyze three theoretical approaches to the problem of provision of collective goods by hegemonic states. These approaches are: neoliberal, (neo) realist and World-System Theory. Basing on these theoretical premises, we analyze the debate about free-ridng in the Western political discourse (especially among US allies) and we point out that particular interests of US can be disguised as “collective goods”. Basing on this, we analyze discussions about free-riding both in the Western world (among NATO and EU members) and among US allies in the Pacific region (Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand). We point out that in fact US can use the concept of collective goods to push their own agenda. Than we move to popular in western political science idea that China is a global free rider – for instance in the sphere of sea lane security and global energy security. Basing on A. Kennedy works, we demonstrate that China in fact does not wish to make western powers pay the costs of collective goods. China is rather afraid that western powers will exploit his resources. This idea is supported with the evidence, gathered during in-depth interview with Chinese diplomats and foreign policy experts. Having said that, paper points out that mentioned cases mark the importance of the concept of trust. Trust is well-studied in the field of behavioral economics, but IR theory doesn`t usually takes the concept of trust into account. Also this paper raises a question about including historical and cultural topics in the theory of international relations. Basing on analysis of different ways to incorporate economic arguments in IR theory, authors point out that modern IR theory lacks economic argumentation. Paper concludes with the idea that IR theory should capitalize on behavioral economics. Acknowledgements. This paper is a part of MGIMO University research program no. 1921-01-02.

Теоретичний вимір політичної опозиції як сучасного феномену

Substantiation of the modern phenomenon of «opposition», its forms, types of manifestation and functioning is an important theoretical and methodological problem, the solution of which is necessary not only and not so much political science as political practice.The relevance of the chosen topic lies in the need to define political institutions, practices and processes that outline the parameters of efficiency and institutionalization of the political opposition in the political and legal context in its theoretical justification and measurement.Political science in the context of political opposition has become much more heterogeneous since the 90s of the twentieth century, because it was at this time that it began to focus on the phenomenon under study analytically, comparatively and on the example of a growing number of cases.In the context of the Visegrad countries, this was especially relevant, because, on the one hand, they have now acquired the format of the process and inter-institutional relations, which has expanded understanding of the nature and types, forms and indicators, and the general structure of political opposition, including at the expense of the Visegrad countries. This course of events has also played a huge role in the development of regional studies on the political opposition, even though they are still relatively underrepresented and unsystematized. The fact is that the fact of democratization of the region was a kind of divide between studies of the proto-opposition (including resistance, dissent and socio-political movements and organizations) or political opposition (including systemic, especially parliamentary and anti-systemic) in conditions, respectively, autocratic and democratic political regimes.It should be noted that a similar situation, especially against the background of Western political science, is typical of Ukrainian political science, in which the issue of political opposition is still mainly theoretical and descriptive, but very little analytical and comparative, and therefore not multifaceted. In view of this, it is justified that further progress should be made on the understanding, structuring and typology of the political opposition, both theoretically and methodologically and practically empirically.