SECURITY PROBLEMS
PEACE OR WAR? THE ALTERNATIVES OF 1939
Ivanov A.G. С. 6–29
Key words: the policy of appeasement, guarantees, talks, European crisis, government.
Abstract: In the article prehistory of the Second World War is being analysed. The author focuses attention on the European crisis of 1939 and diplomatic initiatives caused by it: Anglo-French guaranteesto the countries of Eastern Europe, diplomatic talks between the USSR, Great Britain and France, Soviet — German non-aggression Pact. The guarantees turned out to be a reaction of the governments of Chamberlain and Daladier to destruction of Czechoslovakia by Germany and Hitler's challenging actions towards Poland and Romania that followed. As archival documents show they lacked real content and were aimed at restraining Hitler and calming down the public. Soon Anglo-French-Soviet talks followed, which under certain conditions might lead to forming of a grand anti-German alliance, but due to a number of reasons the talks ended with no result. One of the reasons of the talks failure was the unwillingness of Great Britain and France to agree to a close military-political collaboration with the USSR and wish to come to terms with Germany at the sake of Poland, using the policy of appeasement. The author, using archival documents, tries to give an answer to the question, why it turned out unsuccessful to create a grand anti-German alliance with participation of the great powers in it. Its creation would make it possible to stop the aggressor — Nazi Germany and to avoid global catastrophe.
One of the most disputable problems of prehistory of the war is the Soviet-German non-aggression Pact. The analysis of documents and recent publications make it possible for the author to come to a conclusion that the initiative of entering intothe Pact, as well as of drawing up the secret additional protocol to it, was from the German side. What concerns the USSR, Stalin was hesitating and up to the middle of August 1939 did not make a final decision. Another conclusion, which is made by the author on the basis of analysis of the alternatives of 1939 is that the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact did not influence decisively Hitler's decision to attack Poland and unleash the Second World War.
"HUMAN SECURITY": CONCEPTUAL APPROACHES AND LOCAL MEASUREMENTS (ON EXAMPLE OF ARMENIA )
Atanesyan A. V. С. 30–44
Key words: human security, human development, security studies, securitization, institutes of political power, migration
Abstract: Human Security is one of those broad terms brought about by the policy-making disputes over the need to create an explanation, or a universal basis for treating people and issues of human nature and with human participation in the context of respecting human rights and human dignity. Among numerous modern terms concerning security (a part of which is more political and populist than scientific) the term Human Security tends to have both of the meanings – scientific one represented by a large number of modern publications devoted to its explanation and analysis since the early 1990th, and the political one, used in terms of political motivation, and/or justification to help people, to protect human rights, to stop violence, poverty, etc.
But, as it appears to be today, the content of the term could not be unbiased while having links to the more policy-directed and appropriately more biased brands of military conflict and war, intervention, terrorism, trafficking, etc.
The article is devoted to discussion of the currently used varieties of the term “Human security” within academic and political discourse, as well as applications of the term and its meanings to the various domestic issues, examined on case of the current situation in Armenia.
PUBLIC POLICY
SYSTEMIC CORRUPTION AS PROBLEM OF COLLECTIVE ACTION: A LITERATURE REVIEW AND RESEARCH AGENDA
Nistotskaya M. S. С. 45–56
Key words: corruption, principal-agent model, theory of collective action problem.
Abstract: Over the last several decades the principal-agent (PA) theory has dominated the research on causes and consequences of corruption and informed much of the content of anti-corruption reforms in countries around the world. However, with almost universal evaluation of those reforms as rather a failure than a success, researchers began to question the applicability of the principal-agent theory to the phenomenon of corruption. The article discusses the tenets of the emerging theoretical characterization of corruption as a collection action problem. Specifically, the new theory suggests that people's behavior depends not on the extent of the monitoring and severity of the punishment set up by the principal, but what most people think about the most likely behavior of other members of the society when it comes to corruption practices. Only when the overwhelming majority of citizens hold that others do not give and accept bribes, a new low-corruption equilibrium is achieved. It is argued that in other to achieve such a "tipping point", anti-corruption reforms must be revolutionary in their character and conducted within a relatively short period of time. New research avenues opened up by the collective action theory of corruption are briefly discussed.
POLITICAL MANAGEMENT
THE INSTITUTIONAL EFFECTS OF REGIONAL CENTERS’ GOVERNMENT SYSTEMS TRANSFORMATION IN THE CONTEXT OF MUNICIPAL REFORM (AS EXEMPLIFIED IN CENTRAL BLACK EARTH REGION)
Slatinov V. B., Merkulova K. G. С. 57–74
Key words: local government, political regimes, institutions, municipal autonomy, political control.
Abstract: On the basis of the neoinstitutional analysis method the article has inquired the peculiarities of the institutional transformation of the city administration systems of the Russian Central Black Earth regional capitals. It has been found that local government reform, carried out within the frameworks of the Federal law no. 131 "On the general principles of organization of local government in the Russian Federation", adopted in 2003, provided the institutional choice to be made between three alternatives of local authorities' organization in cities. This institutional choice was determined by different factors, including federal political processes influence, regional political regime character, regional and local stakeholders' interests, ideological preferences and strategies. It resulted in establishment of two alternatives of government system organization in different regional centers of Black Earth — with "a strong mayor", elected at the municipal elections and heading the local administration, and with "a city manager", heading the administration and hired by elected members of the city representative body. Herewith the city manager alternative fits the processes of political power centralization in Russia more adequately and also represents an important institutional instrument of tightening political control, carried out by regional executive bodies and governors over local authority's activities. It was noted that currently the core trend in political changes at the federal, regional and local levels is the enhancement of political control of higher-level authorities over lower-level ones, including accretion of regional government powers to project institutional design and to define the scope of local government powers in accordance with the federal legislation.
NETWORK STRUCTURE “GOVERNANCE” AS A METHOD OF SYMMETRICAL POLITICAL COMMUNICATION
Abramenko А. V., Podshibyakina Т. А. С. 75–87
Key words: network approach, governance, symmetrical/asymmetrical political communication.
Abstract: The article is focused on the symmetry/asymmetry of the political communication in the conditions of the network interaction of the actors in the system of the political administration. The role of the structure "governance" for the formation of the symmetrical political communication is analyzed.
Governance appears as communication of a special type, being a mechanism of keeping freedom and equality as well as implementing dialogue and cooperation which organize the political process following the model of political subjects interaction symmetry. The symmetrical communication of the governance type is not hierarchic by its nature. It is entirely built according to the communication patterns, produced by the actors. Communicating, political subjects produce the rules of conduct and resource allocation within the network and create a certain context of the political interaction, consisting of a set of reasonable conduct strategies and actions of the participants. The symmetrical nature of governance furthers the appearance of a special network ethos, in which the mutual responsibility for the accomplishment of political purposes and the continuity of the knowledge development play the key role.
Studying the network structure "governance", the authors identify the factors, influencing the development of the asymmetrical political communication, e.g., the level of the actors interaction, nature of the administration form in a state, the peculiarities of the political discourse, and the prescribed hierarchy of the administration system. The significant attention is focused on the mechanisms of the functioning of the political communication as a system, particularly, communicative recursion and reversion, and information and communication technologies, especially, e-governance, strategic management and modelling.
The authors have concluded that the political relationship of the governance type trans-form the political communication from a channel for the information transfer into the system, producing the political elements by means of an information exchange and interaction and generating itself.
LOBBYING REGULATION IN THE EUROPEAN UNION AS A WAY TO OVERCOME DEMOCRATIC DEFICIT
Rudenkova D. E. С. 88–102
Key words: European Union, European Commission, lobbying, interest groups, democratic deficit, accountability, transparency.
Abstract: This article contributes to the discussion surrounding involvement of interest groups in the political process of the European Union. My purpose here is to inspect current political studies on democratic deficit of the EU and try to find out which mode of lobbying regulation could mostly contribute to overcoming the democratic deficit. The article is focused on the European Commissions cooperation with lobbyists and groups of interest especially taking into consideration the newly formed Commission and the first President-elect into power. The analysis is based on two major democratic notions: accountability and transparency. The issue of the democratic deficit of the European Union seems to have been there forever. Yet there is no common attitude among scholars to this problem. Bringing theoretical considerations on democratic deficit with lobbying regulation approaches, I argue that an adequate regulation of interest groups representation increases accountability and transparency and, therefore, it can be considered to be a method to deal with the problem of the democratic deficit. The results suggest that attempts of self-regulation did not bring the desired effect, which is why mandatory regulation is expected to be more effective. At the same time, I have discovered a range of limitations of mandatory regulation, and my take on it is also exposed in this article.
PERSONALITY PSYCHOLOGY
SOCIAL AND ENVIRONMENT MODULATORS OF AN ARTIST’S INVOLVEMENT INTO THE PROCESS OF CREATIVE SELF-REALIZATION
Gorskaya G. B., Egorova V. S. С. 103–117
Key words: creative self-realization, social context, macrofactors and microfactors of creative self-realization, personal resources, subjective characteristics of a personality.
Abstract: The article considers different-level components of social environment of an artists creative self-realization, their influence on achievement of personhood and creative individuality. Analysis of social environment factors of creative self-realization was carried out on the basis of theoretical concepts revealing the structure of human's lifeworld, as well as the context of professional activity, e.g. U. Bronfenbrenner's ecological framework of human development, context concepts of professional activity, A. A. Bodalev's acmeological analysis of creative self-realization.
Empirical evidence are given to prove influence of peculiarities of culture, where self-realization takes place, gender stereotypes, minority status in an organization, features of family education on creative self-realization. The article shows high relevance of such peculiarities of social context of artistic creativity as ambiguity and variability of artistic achievements evaluation, ambivalent combination of an artist's creative individuality importance and dependence of artistic achievement recognition on their compliance to aesthetic priorities of social medium; correspondence of working conditions to individual regulatory orientations; early beginning of professional development, which promotes enhanced intrinsic motivation for artistic development, on the one hand, and on the other, increased self-criticism due to the experience of continuous interpersonal comparison of the creative success.
Intrinsic motivation of professional development, readiness to accept responsibility for the choice of creative path and to overcome controversies on the way of artistic self-realization are considered as personal resources of an artist's involvement into social context of professional activity. Contradictory of attitude to social environment combining distance and suspicious-ness with aspiration to be understood and accepted appears to be the barrier preventing assimilation of social context of an artist's creative self-realization.
LABOUR PSYCHOLOGY
PSYCHOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE CAREERS OF THE YOUTH IN THE FIRST YEAR AFTER GRADUATION FROM THE BACHELOR’S DEGREE PROGRAMME
Diomin A. N., Sedykh A. B. С. 118–131
Key words: career, career self-identification, line of the career development, variants of the career development, bachelor's (degree) programme, master's (degree) programme, labour market.
Abstract: The longitudinal survey studied the following hypotheses: 1) career self-identification by means of continuation of studies in the master's degree programme after the bachelor's programme differs in personal and psychological provision from self-identification by means of transferring to the labour market; 2) in both lines of career development there are variants with different personal and psychological provision.
At the first stage of the longitudinal survey in May-June 2012 we interviewed 142 final year bachelor students who studied different fields in several Krasnodar higher educational establishments. At the second stage in May-June 2014 the respondents were interviewed again. We managed to get in contact with 94 participants of the first poll. 58 people agreed to participate in the recurrent detailed enquiry.
Comparison of the careers of the young men who chose studying in the master degree programme as the basic line (n=33) or working (n=25) found that the following factors are important: academic performance, level of the expected social support, paid professional work experience, usage of plans at the stage of the bachelor programme graduation, aptitude to mobility (labour, territorial) in a year after bachelor programme. Comparison of four variants of career development within these two lines showed that the variants of development have different personal and psychological provision, where an important role is played by different aspects of future planning, financial aspirations, estimation of the future reliability, general self-efficacy, estimation of the degree of the employment latent functions implementation, level of the expected social support, additional skills and abilities. The set of psychological variables, differentiating lines and variants of the career development, is dominated by a block of variables which are somehow related to planning, goal setting, that proves their essential role in the career development of the youth in the first year after bachelor's programme.
SCIENTIFIC LIFE
ON THE VI-TH INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC AND PRACTICAL CONFERENCE "KNOWLEDGE ECONOMY: PROBLEMS OF MANAGEMENT OF FORMATION AND DEVELOPMENT" (25-27 SEPTEMBER, 2014, KRASNODAR, RUSSIA)
Ermolenko V. V. С. 132–136
MODERN POLITICAL REALITY AND STATE: COMPLEX RESEARCH METHODS (ON THE RESULTS OF THE XV-TH ALL-RUSSIAN SEMINAR OF THE RESEARCH COMMITTEE OF THE RUSSIAN POLITICAL SCIENCE ASSOCIATION IN COMPARATIVE POLITICAL STUDIES)
Sazantovich A. B. С. 137–145