Articles

The article analyses problems of identification and analysis of latent mechanisms of state policy in conditions of expanding public sphere as a product of contemporary tendencies of openness and accountability. State policy-making and policy-implementation as elements of the broader process of decision-making that requires specific approaches to collecting, processing and disseminating information, are challenged by growing demands from the civil society for a more public and open responsiveness of state authorities. This expanding public debate, however, is increasingly instrumentalized by political actors to achieve their own latent goals, not always in line with national interests. As a consequence, by expanding the space for political communication contemporary digital technologies not only enlarge the field for social interaction, but also make it more sophisticated filling it with more forms and content, thus increasing incidental sounds and communication barriers. Indeed, the apparent development of the public sphere lays the foundation for the transformation of latent political mechanisms, which by relying on new communicational opportunities become more flexible and efficient.

On November 20, 2020, a scientific conference “State policy in the context of global challenges of our time” was held at Lomonosov Moscow State University. It coincided with the 10th anniversary of the Department of Public Policy of the Faculty of Political Science of Moscow University. During the conference, attended by both, domestic specialists and foreign researchers from the USA, Bulgaria and Kazakhstan, participants had a meaningful and fruitful discussion concerning cogent issues of public policy and challenges faced by the contemporary structures of public authority. The article overviews key materials presented during the panel “State Policy in the Context of Contemporary Globalization and National Political Transformations” bringing together research of scholars from Moscow State University, St. Petersburg State University, Bashkir State University and other Russian academic institutions.

The article provides a detailed account of research concerning the issues of the existing architecture of world politics and international relations, the vulnerability of state sovereignty at the present stage of social development, political stability and regime transformations, as well as the topic of academic specialized support to public policy. Finally, the authors indicate the most important remarks and fundamental issues of the current dynamics of public administration.

The article discusses the influence of contemporary Russian YouTube bloggers on the political views of school students. Based on the analysis of quantitative (survey of adolescents, N=500) and qualitative (257 in-depth interviews) data, the article identifies the authors of the most popular YouTube channels as well as analyses the reasons for their popularity, including the key factor based on their tactics of building trustful relationship with their audience. The second part of the article examines the content of popular videos taking into account its political context. Although most of the videos popular among pupils contain entertaining and comic content, bloggers repeatedly appeal to political topics in their comments and remarks. All the political content can be categorized as follows: reaction to the current political context, the image of modern Russia and its problems, as well as the views on patriotic education. The videos of YouTube bloggers cause a strong emotional response among young people for several reasons: they address adolescents’ issues of concern and appeal to values shared by teenagers: accessible education, fight against corruption, ecology, pacifism.

The image of Russia is one of the key components for determining self-identity of the population, the growth of trust in the government, and understanding the current political and economic directions of the country. The purpose of this study is to identify the image of Russia in Russian political and non-political print-based media for the period of 2017–2020. The research methodology includes content analysis and case studies of publications in the leading Russian print media. From a theoretical standing point, the image of a country consists of a spatial image, an image of a population, an image of power, and an image of the leader. The investigation is based on the analysis of the following main topics: conflicts in Ukraine and Syria, sanctions against Russia, presidential elections in the Russian Federation and the United States, issues and topics raised by non-systemic opposition and the Covid-19 pandemic. The article finds that the image constructed by print media refers to Russia as a strong, cognitively complex, and dynamic country. Most of the messages are positive, as they are aimed at the domestic audience. Negative characteristics refer specifically to one component of the image — the image of power. Finally, the study reveals that newspapers, as a technical means of transmitting information in the framework of the Lasswell’s communication model, appear as inferior in speed if compared to other channels of mass communication. As such, print media discovered a new niche of interaction with the reader through high-quality expert analysis.

The article analyses the use of video games with a historical plot to develop or erode the ingroup favoritism of the Russian population and its national and state identity. The methodology of the work is based on a combination of elements of comparative and structural analysis with the analysis of the secondary sociological research literature. Collecting and analysing data from recent opinion polls, the author proves that in the current situation the image of the present, the future and “significant others” do not represent the source of the development of ingroup favoritism among Russian youth, a fact that in the long run threatens the stability of identity of citizens of the Russian Federation. Although the results of the opinion polls indicate the possibility of exploiting the image of the past in order to develop ingroup favoritism, the younger generation demonstrates a rejection of traditional forms of narratives of memories. Accordingly, video games seem to be the most promising resource for constructing the image of the past. However, from a commercial point of view, the implementation of these projects is fraught with high risks, indicating the need for state intervention and support. The article suggests that in intervening in this sector the state should take into account the shortcomings identified in the system of state sponsorship of commercial filmmaking industry, as one of the closest sectors capable of forming a positive national-state identity.

The article analyses the use of video games with a historical plot to develop or erode the ingroup favoritism of the Russian population and its national and state identity. The methodology of the work is based on a combination of elements of comparative and structural analysis with the analysis of the secondary sociological research literature. Collecting and analysing data from recent opinion polls, the author proves that in the current situation the image of the present, the future and “significant others” do not represent the source of the development of ingroup favoritism among Russian youth, a fact that in the long run threatens the stability of identity of citizens of the Russian Federation. Although the results of the opinion polls indicate the possibility of exploiting the image of the past in order to develop ingroup favoritism, the younger generation demonstrates a rejection of traditional forms of narratives of memories. Accordingly, video games seem to be the most promising resource for constructing the image of the past. However, from a commercial point of view, the implementation of these projects is fraught with high risks, indicating the need for state intervention and support. The article suggests that in intervening in this sector the state should take into account the shortcomings identified in the system of state sponsorship of commercial filmmaking industry, as one of the closest sectors capable of forming a positive national-state identity.

The article analyses the mechanisms for coping with historical trauma. The author demonstrates the possibility of the methodological combination of two main approaches to the study of this phenomenon in social and political science: psychoanalytic and sociological. The article suggests that the mechanism for overcoming a historical trauma includes two stages of traumatic transformation: interpretation and representation, as well as a number of other mechanisms moving from the level of an individual subject to the level of a collective subject. The first phase involves the analysis of the empirical materials containing direct (historical evidence) or indirect (artistic materials) trauma evidence, and their decoding in order to identify the actual trauma origins. The second phase involves the representation of the information about the traumatic event collected from the victim and previously decoded and the implementation of the traumatic construction in the collective identity.

The article analyses the consolidation of public relations and dialogue between Rosatom State Corporation and civil society in the sphere of security concerns and high level of radiological anxiety of the population. The aim of Rosatom is to comply with the current legislation and fulfill the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) recommendations designated to inform the population and reduce the degree of radiological anxiety. The article first overviews the objectives and interests of the parties as well as their legislative and regulatory background hand in hand with the significance of the nuclear industry for the Russian Federation. Then the analysis takes into consideration major challenges faced by the nuclear industry and the whole civilization more broadly - namely the environmental pollution and global warming - identifying key topics of the dialogue between the State Corporation and the general public. Finally, the article demonstrates the mechanism of influence of the civil society on the decision-making process drawing on the example of two Federal target-oriented programs, “Ensuring nuclear and radiation safety for 2008 and for the period up to 2015” and “Ensuring nuclear and radiation safety for 2016–2020 and for the period up to 2030”, hand in hand with the experience of public dialogue with public organizations in the field of radioactive waste handling.

The article reviews the recent monograph published by professor N.M. Rakityansky, Mental Studies of Global Political Worlds (Moscow: Moscow University Press, 2020). The book describes the experience of researching various ‘mentalities’ of modern political worlds; the theoretical and methodological potential of this concept and its operational capabilities. In his research, the author draws on methodological assumptions from several disciplines, especially political psychology, conducting an in-depth systematic analysis of the phenomenon of ‘political mentality’. The author's model for the study of ‘political mentality’ represents a novel approach in Russian political science. The core of the mental model is dogma — the primary system of knowledge about the structure of the universe and the meaning of human existence. Dogma determines the nature of the political power in the country, the peculiarities of the legal system, its economic structure and spirituality. It also sets the direction not only for people's lives and destinies, but also for the countries’ political elites. The book is filled with humanistic content which draws on the author’s approach to human nature and cognitive potential of nations. Thus, the author's reasoning about the future of mankind admits the possibility of peaceful coexistence between bearers of different ‘mentalities’.

The effective supply of regional public goods is the fundamental driving force for the sustainable development of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). After the expansion of the SCO, member states have increasingly diversified demands for regional common goods. The article analyses the supply of the regional public goods in three different fields: security, economy and cultural cooperation. Although currently the SCO regional public goods supply appears at its peak, several problems and constraints remain, such as the disequilibrium between supply and demand, shortage of funds, lack of effective organizational and procedural mechanisms, and a degree of regional overlap. These issues seriously constrained the SCO regional activities such as the effective supply of public goods that requires integration of the development of new and old members. As one of the important SCO member states, China should actively promote the optimization of regional public goods supply through several steps. First, based on the “Shanghai spirit” China should promote the SCO’s community building, political mutual trust, enhance the political cooperation between member states and consolidate the regional environment facilitating the public goods supply. Second, the design of the SCO system should be improved through the innovation of the mechanisms of regional public goods supply able to increase its efficiency. Third, Russia and China should coordinate their activities more closely in order to create a harmonious environment in which both countries play the leading role in regional public goods supply. Fourth, the SCO should strengthen the cooperation with “One Belt and One Road” initiative to promote a rapid regional economic development. Finally, mechanisms of cooperation with other regional organizations such as the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) and the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) should be also strengthened in order to create an integrated and complementary supply system.