Articles

The article presents the results of a comparative study of BRICS countries’ science diplomacy conceptual foundations. Science diplomacy is a system of interactions in building foreign policy, solving regional and global problems, establishing international scientific ties for the development of joint activities of the world scientific community aimed at increasing knowledge, and promoting the constructive international dialogue. This phenomenon is analysed in the article primarily as an instrument of foreign policy. As a result of operationalising the conceptual foundations identified by the qualitative content analysis, instrumental characteristics were formulated in each case to establish which approach to defining science diplomacy a state adheres to. These approaches were correlated with the roots of science diplomacy and considered in the context of contemporary conceptualisation of BRICS countries’ foreign policies.

The article analyses two opposing approaches to the study of modern Russian diplomacy. In foreign literature diplomacy is seen as an instrument of foreign policy, traditionally belonging to the international relations theory. As a result, most of the works are reduced to the study of different schools (neorealism, neoliberalism, constructivism, etc.) in order to construct models applicable to describing diplomatic activity (for example, the ‘two-level game model’). At the same time, such models do not take into account the narrow professional specifics of diplomatic institutions and, consequently, can be used on limited historical material. At the same time, Soviet and Russian researchers tend to favour empirical works of practicing diplomats who considered applied aspects of foreign policy through the lens of their professional experience. This paradigm is suitable for analysing specific country situations, but cannot be the basis for developing universal theoretical models that can be applied in foreign policy planning. In this regard, it is necessary to develop a comprehensive vision of Russian diplomacy by combining the international experience of fundamental research with the domestic school of applied analysis.

The science of international relations is one of the young sciences, there is a different theoretical interpretation of international processes. The modern phase of world development is characterized by a turning point, which is reflected in theories. Science has already accumulated enough empirical material that needs to be structured, to reveal the evolution of international relations, and the factors that determine it. Attempts to replace international relations with world politics have no objective grounds. The Russian science of international relations, which is gradually forming and is in a state of self-realization in modern geopolitical, geoeconomic, and intercivilisational conditions, is increasing the potential of scientific research and is able to make a worthy contribution to the global science of international relations.

The main purpose of this article is to study the specifics of the 2025 presidential campaign in the Republic of Poland from the perspective of foreign policy analyses and strategies contained in the programs of the registered candidates. The author uses the method of comparative analysis of political programs in combination with the methods of qualitative political analysis. An analysis of the platform discussions in the 2025 presidential campaign leads to the following conclusions: candidates are approaching the publication of their fundamental views as a necessary attribute of the election campaign, relying primarily on political communication tools, targeted advertising on social media, and political debates. In the 2025 campaign, foreign policy discussions are absent from the election platforms of the two leading presidential candidates. However, some candidates facing an unsuccessful bid have focused on foreign policy issues, including proposing a reconsideration of Poland’s relations with the European Union and its neighbors.

The article examines various approaches to defining the concept of a ‘minor party’ and its characteristics within the current configuration of the party system in the Russian Federation. The author proposes a set of criteria for classifying a political party as a minor party and provides a historical overview of the functioning of minor parties in the Russian Federation’s party system, tracking changes in their number and configuration. Within the broader category of minor political parties, the author suggests a clustering approach based on the historical and genetic features of their emergence. Additionally, the article analyzes the survival and operational strategies of minor parties, as well as their forms of electoral participation. In conclusion, the author argues that minor political parties can become long-term and, in their own way, effective political projects, provided they achieve localized successes within their niche segments of the electoral landscape.

The article presents the conceptualization of contemporary electoral practices in the subject field of modern political science. The author considers the practice of introducing remote electronic voting as the most recent form of expression of citizens’ will and a direct element of the development of e-government in the Russian Federation in the context of large-scale digitalization of socio-political life. The main research areas of Russian authors are determined, key trends in the development of digital technologies in the political process and the electoral sphere are analyzed. The author also raises the issue of ensuring citizens’ trust in the remote electronic voting system, and examines associated risks in the context of international tension. The point about the need for the participation of Russian researchers and practitioners in conducting comprehensive interdisciplinary studies of contemporary electoral practices in order to counteract the negative effects of external information pressure is expressed.

The value of a personality, its socio-political role is a kind of indicator of the constitutional and legal status of the state as an institution that establishes and regulates a system of social relations and legal norms. Based on the analysis of a short period of Russian history, the article reveals the patterns of formation of scientific and axiological approaches of leading Russian liberal thinkers to the problem of the relationship between the individual and the state. Within the framework of the liberal discourse of Russian political thought, this topic was widely discussed in the middle of the 19th century due to its close contact with Western European culture and the introduction of liberal views and ideas into the socio-political life of the country. As is known, in classical liberalism, the rights and freedoms of an individual form the basis of legal definitions of the state and economic order, society being built on the assertion of civil liberties. Russian liberalism throughout the 19th century was characterized by a complex and sometimes contradictory understanding of individual liberty and the problem of interaction between the individual and the state: a person as a sovereign individual and at the same time as a subordinate part of the public-state space. These problems were the focus of attention of the leading thinkers and scholars of the period, united by the desire to consider an individual in his sovereign personal integrity, inscribed in the organic unity of a large sociocultural circle — the state.

The article describes the normative model of Russian statehood developed by the authors, which reflects the ideal state of the system, taking into account its historical and present content. The historical component is manifested in the fact that the model includes axiological constants of Russian statehood in their traditional meaning identified by researchers of socio-political thought. The part corresponding to the present is based on the current value orientations of mass consciousness, as well as the values declared at the moment in regulatory legal acts. The essence of normativity is largely embedded in its orientation to the future, since this is where a certain ideal state of statehood is located. The model is presented in the form of a triangular pyramid, at the base of which are values rooted in philosophy, religion and psychology of people: life, faith, knowledge, traditions. The top of the pyramid is a social ideal, represented by the value of silence / peace. The inner space of the pyramid is the value orientations of Russian society, and the edges represent instrumental values regulating relations at the political, social and personal levels. The proposed model expands the possibilities of conceptual understanding of the traditional axiological foundations of Russian statehood and modern political processes.

The article focuses on two important problems for contemporary Russian political science: the problem of understanding the concept of ‘statehood’ and the problem of building a model of Russian statehood. In the first case, the various points of view existing in Russian social and humanitarian knowledge are considered in detail, and on the basis of the Russian traditionalist conservative methodology, an original understanding of statehood as a stable axiological complex of spiritual and political principles is proposed. In the second case, based on the axiological nature of statehood, the research potential and limitations of possible modeling of statehood in general and Russian statehood in particular are clearly shown. At the same time, new methodological approaches have been developed that seem to allow continuing work on the development of normative and historical models of Russian statehood.

Political transformations, institutional changes in higher education, paradigm shifts, changes in disciplinary matrices, scientific networks, space and language of science contributed to the non-linear development of political science in Russia and prevented the formation of a metanarrative about the history of Russian political science. As shown by the conducted study, as well as the study of the history of
political science in other countries, such a metanarrative can only be created on the basis of the principles of historicism and contextualism. A significant contribution to the successive development of this discipline was made by scholarly and educational institutions specializing in the production of political knowledge and training professionals in this field. The corresponding infrastructure began to form in Russia at the turn of the 17th–18th centuries. At the same time, a key role was played by universities serving the production and transfer of political knowledge, academization of political research, professionalization of political specialties. Using the example of Moscow University, several lines of development of political education are traced in the article: the evolution of disciplinary forms of political science, educational infrastructure and processes of circulation of political knowledge. The institutionalization of political science led to the establishment in 2008 of the Faculty of Political Science at Lomonosov Moscow State University, which continues to play an important role in ensuring continuity in the field of political studies and political education in Russia.