Political Self-Identification of Russian Military Personnel in Finland in Spring 1917

The socio-psychological characteristics of the behavior of the Russian military in Finland in the initial period of the 1917 revolution were revealed, including the formation of behavioral stereotypes, new “images of the enemy”, a change in their ideas about “friends” and “foes”, and the transformation of social and moral norms. The relevance of the study is due to the need to apply a relatively new historical and anthropological approach to the study of the role of the military factor in the history of Russia and Finland. Based on the materials of the revolutionary Helsingfors and non-capital garrisons, the process of ideological and organizational self-determination of the supporters of the Socialist-Revolutionary and Bolshevik parties is considered, information about the number and the beginning of the activities of these party organizations is systematized and analyzed. The novelty of the research is seen in the fact that addressing the problem of “Revolution and man” and studying the images of “Friends”, “Foes”, “Other” in the perception of participants and eyewitnesses of events in connection with their participation in social transformations of a revolutionary time allows for the first time to get an idea of the mentality of privates and officers — the most active part of the Russian population of Finland. The author comes to the conclusion that the role of the Russian military in the events of the spring of 1917 is much more significant than was previously assumed.

Diminished Parties

Many contemporary party organizations are failing to fulfill their representational role in contemporary democracies. While political scientists tend to rely on a minimalist definition of political parties (groups of candidates that compete in elections), this volume argues that this misses how parties can differ not only in degree but also in kind. With a new typology of political parties, the authors provide a new analytical tool to address the role of political parties in democratic functioning and political representation. The empirical chapters apply the conceptual framework to analyze seventeen parties across Latin America. The authors are established scholars expert in comparative politics and in the cases included in the volume. The book sets an agenda for future research on parties and representation, and it will appeal to those concerned with the challenges of consolidating stable and programmatic party systems in developing democracies.

The Party Building Leads the Innovative Exploration of Grassroots Governance in Rural Pastoral Areas under the Concept of Co-governance

With the rapid development of society and economy, grassroots organizations in rural pastoral areas are an important part of party building, shouldering the mission of implementing party policies, and playing an important role in leading herdsmen to fight poverty and realize basic modernization in rural areas. The mission and responsibilities of grassroots party organizations in rural and pastoral areas are undergoing profound changes. Strengthening the construction of grassroots party organizations in rural and pastoral areas will help promote the relationship between the party and the masses, cadres and the masses in rural and pastoral areas, and promote the establishment of party organizations in rural and pastoral areas. At present, grassroots party building in rural pastoral areas is facing new challenges, such as insufficient party organization building, and unclear power boundaries between party organizations and villagers’ autonomous organizations. Only by accelerating the construction of infrastructure and public services in rural pastoral areas and doing a good job in the construction of rural grassroots party organizations can improve the level of party building in rural pastoral areas and promote the basic modernization of rural areas.

Institute of Sympathizers of AUCP(b) in West Siberian Territory: Revival, Functioning, Significance (February 1934 — September 1937)

The article is devoted to the creation and functioning of the institute of sympathizers of the AUCP(b) in the West Siberian Territory in February 1934 — September 1937. On the basis of a wide range of sources, including those introduced into scientific circulation for the first time, the reasons, prerequisites and circumstances of the revival of this institute are considered. Among other things, it was established that the formation of groups of sympathizers in Western Siberia began later than in other regions of the USSR, and only after their existence was officially enshrined in the Charter of the AUCP(b). The article reveals the main ways of recruiting groups of sympathizers, traces the dynamics of their number in the West Siberian region, clarifies the quantitative and qualitative composition. It is shown that the institution of sympathizers had serious potential, which, nevertheless, was not realized due to such subjective factors as the weakness of the organizational and ideological work of local party organizations. It was concluded that neither in the West Siberian Territory, nor in the USSR as a whole, the institution of sympathizers did not cope with the role assigned to it as the main personnel reserve of the AUCP(b).

ECONOMIC EFFICIENCY OF THE ACTIVITY OF TOURIST SERVICE SPHERE ENTERPRISES

The main purpose of the article is a comprehensive study of issues related to the analysis of the main components and the development of measures to ensure the economic efficiency of enterprises in the field of tourist services in modern conditions. Systematization of literature sources and approaches to solving the problem showed that the service of tourists during the trip involves various companies and organizations in the field of service. The object of the study are selected enterprises in the field of tourist services. The study period is 2015-2019. The study of the economic efficiency of service enterprises showed that in recent years there has been an increase in the number of tourists who were served by tour operators and travel agents in Ukraine 2.6 times, of which inbound tourists ‒ 5.5 times, outbound tourists ‒ 2.9 , and domestic tourists ‒ 1.3 times. The cost of sold tourist vouchers also increased (3.5 times). The study empirically confirms and theoretically proves that the main executor that ensures the implementation of the stages of accommodation and service in the hotel guest cycle, is the accommodation sector. Its representatives are also involved in the organization of leisure tourists. The number of persons in collective accommodation facilities increased 1.2 times in 2015-2019. Meeting the needs and demand for tourism implies the need to provide a large number of tourist services. Significant growth in terms of all costs incurred by tourism entities for the services of third-party organizations used in the production of tourism products. In the structure of the studied costs, the largest share is occupied by accommodation and accommodation costs ‒ 25.7%, transport services ‒ 26.9%. Thus, the analysis of economic efficiency of enterprises in the field of tourist services is of practical importance. According to its results, you can not only assess the efficiency of the enterprise, analyze the total effect of its structural units and activities, but also identify promising areas of development of the industry and the results of the resourses use. The analysis indicates a gradual increase in most of the studied indicators that characterize the work of enterprises in the field of tourist services. In the future, to successfully overcome the crisis, it is necessary to develop integration forms of enterprises in the hospitality industry and tourist services

Party organizational resources

What kinds of resources do parties have at their disposal? How are these resources distributed across the organization, and how are they deployed? Are modern British parties better or less well resourced than they used to be? This chapter attempts to answer these questions by focusing, in turn, on the three main resource assets that British parties have at their disposal: members, money, and staff. Those who argue that parties are generally in decline are inclined to suggest that this is demonstrated by, among other things, the weakening of party organizations. The evidence of this chapter, however, does not support their contention. Rather, it shows that, though frequently under pressure, parties are able to adapt to changing circumstances and exploit both the old and new resources available to them.

Of Constitutions, Campaigns and Commissions: A Century of Democratic Centralism under the CCP

Democratic centralism, a hallmark of Leninist party organizations, has played a formative role in the history of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Yet despite being hailed as an “inviolable” and “unchanging” Party principle, understandings of democratic centralism have shifted dramatically over the century of its existence. This study traces the long arc of the concept's evolution across successive Party Constitutions, focusing on three critical historical junctures: the Sixth Party Congress, which formally adopted democratic centralism into its Constitution as an organizational principle; the Seventh Party Congress, which adopted rectification as the Party's practice of democratic centralism; and the 19th Party Congress, which set a new milestone in codifying the system as a disciplinary tool. I argue that while democratic centralism exemplifies the CCP's institutional plasticity and adaptive governance and is critical to understanding Party-driven constitutionalism in contemporary China, it also highlights an irresolvable paradox inherent in Party rule. Adaptability does not necessarily impart resilience. I conclude that the CCP's normatively unconstrained extra-constitutional leadership under Xi Jinping highlights the essentially and increasingly irrationalist aspects of its illiberal governance project.

Deepening Not Departure: Xi Jinping's Governance of China's State-owned Economy

To what extent has governance of China's state-owned economy changed under Xi Jinping? Against the background of momentous shifts in the political arena since 2012, some observe a decisive departure in Xi's approach to managing state-owned enterprises (SOEs): towards tight centralized control by the Chinese Communist Party and away from gradual marketization. Analysing the main aims and methods of SOE governance over the last two decades, we find that SOE policy under Xi exhibits a deepening of pre-existing trends rather than a departure. First, the essential vision of SOE functions articulated under Xi is strikingly consistent with that of his predecessors. Second, his administration's approach to governing SOEs is not novel; it relies on established mechanisms of bureaucratic design, the cadre management system, Party organizations and campaigns. While Xi has amplified Party-centred tools of command and control, this appears to be an incremental rather than a radical shift in approach.

Why Social Media Matter

To understand how social media can contribute to political participation, research must first investigate the extent to which individuals experience political content on these platforms. Second, we need to understand whether and how these experiences and their effects differ among different types of users—such as those with different levels of political involvement and different ideological preferences. Finally, we need to know how these relationships are shaped by systemic factors that vary across countries—such as patterns of electoral competition, characteristics of media systems, and the strength of party organizations. The theoretical framework presented in this chapter overcomes three theoretical and empirical fallacies that have limited researchers’ ability to understand the relationship between social media and political participation. These fallacies inaccurately suggest that platforms’ affordances are a destiny that inevitably shapes outcomes, that the effects of social media are uniform among different groups of users rather than varying based on their specific characteristics, and that contextual features and systemic factors do not play any relevant role.