Management Efficiency Limits or 2021 Results in Public Administration

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State Procedures for Improving the Investment Climate in the Russian Federation: Prospects for Improvement

The COVID-19 pandemic interrupted many trends that had developed before it and again updated the issue of modernizing the Russian economy, restarting the mechanisms of economic growth and sustainable socio-economic development. The key to resolving these issues is to increase the investment activity of the business. The investment climate is one of the key characteristics that testify to the freedom of entrepreneurial activity, the ease of opening and conducting business, the quality of regulatory procedures in the economy, the effectiveness of business entities, and the provision of equal opportunities for the development of the private sector. A favorable investment climate reveals the potential for the development of private companies. The article considers the system of state procedures in the field of improving the national investment climate, gives a brief description of the main tools and projects to improve the investment climate, analyses the changes in the main target indicators of investment attractiveness of the Russian Federation.

The Philosophical and Political Views of M. Ya. Ostrogorsky (1854–1921) and their Modern Significance

Theoretical studies of practical political life conducted by M. Ya. Ostrogorsky allow us to call him one of the founders of Russian political science and party science. His doctrine was the first systematized theory of the emergence, functioning and development of political parties, the laws of their evolution and the technology of activity. He described the tendency to establish an oligarchic leadership of political parties and the failure of moral regulators of political processes taking place in society.

Outstanding Scientist, Researcher and Organizer of Science: To the 80th Anniversary of Valentin V. Shelokhaev

The article tells about the path to science of one of the outstanding scientists-historians of modern Russia, whose scientific works and research have become widely known and recognized not only in our country, but also far beyond its borders.

Some Comments on the Assessment of the Potential Role of Transit from China through the Baltic States

At present, with the opportunities of the previous model of world economic development exhausted, only countries building alternative models of global cooperation will have good economic prospects. In this conditions the new role of Russia, China is traced. This article examines the experience and prospects of cooperation between Beijing and the Baltic countries, including within the framework of the well-known project “One Belt — One Way”.

The Problem of Defining Local Self-Government as a Key Actor of a Unified System of Public Power and Admininstration (Analysis of the Problem Field)

The analysis of the problem field is a serious problem from the methodological and methodical point of view. The solution of this problem becomes particularly difficult in cases when the object under study is characterized by a high level of structural and process diversity, has a dynamic character, i. e. it is constantly evolving, and exists in many variants with the presence of the invariant enshrined in international acts and legislation of most states. The end of the last century was a period of rethinking of many concepts that define the complex processes of political and social interaction of various levels and elements of the system of power and public administration in Russia. The adoption of the Constitution of the Russian Federation in 1993 put forward fundamental problems that needed to be solved to move the country along the path of democratization, build a market economy and form an effective governing system. Article 12 of the first chapter establishes the autonomy of local self-government as an institution, guarantees its protection from excessive state influence. This provision reflects the global trend of consolidating the right to local self-government in democratic states. However, the European Charter of Local Self-Government includes a provision on the independence of local self-government in resolving issues of local significance only within the framework of state legislation, i. e. it establishes its subordinate nature. The latter provision automatically makes local self-government part of the unified system of public power and public administration, which is reflected in the corresponding amendment to Ch. 8 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation “Local self-government” in 2020. This makes t relevant he problem of the local authorities ‘ own powers, the division of functions between them and state authorities to achieve the fundamental goal of the modern state — to ensure an optimal uniform quality of life throughout the territory. The purpose of the article is to characterize the problem field in which the concepts of “public power” and “public administration” are defined and analysed in the context of considering local self-government as a key actor of both systems. The objectives of the research are to determine the boundaries of this problem field, its structure, as well as the difference in approaches to this problem in the works of Russian and foreign authors, including scientists from Central Asian countries.

Non-University Mass Student Public Associations: Institutional Isomorphism as a Factor of Stability

The relevance of this research is about the need to search for factors that increase the stability of youth associations, including student ones. Only stable youth associations can effectively socialize young people and form them as active actors in civil society. The project is a desk study and has a quality design.Object: non-university mass student public associations. They were created in Russia in the 60s of the twentieth century: student building brigades (SSO) and student nature protective brigades (DOP). Subject: institutional isomorphism of non-university student public associations. Purpose: to assess the impact of character and the degree of isomorphism of student public associations on their stability.Research results. It is shown that the main factor in the stability of student public associations is the level of their compliance with institutional requirements. It leads to forced isomorphism. The cause of this isomorphism is the monopoly of sources of support for the activities of these associations. In Russia, the state has such a monopoly. Student associations must take into account the institutional factors, in particular the requirements of higher-level systems and institutions. It gives them the necessary resources to continue their activities. Intra-organizational factors (level of social significance, charisma of leaders, mass character, and others) are less important for ensuring their sustainability.

Conceptual and Mathematical Models, Methods, and Technologies for the Study of the Digital Transformation of Economic and Social Systems: A Literature Review and Research Agenda (Part II)

The results of the review of the subject field on the research of the digital transformation of economic and social systems is carried out (part II). We reviewed main theoretical, mathematical tools which could allow solving unsolved problems. The review of such main theoretical tools that can become the basis for developing the “activity paradigm” of research is carried out.

On Qualification of the Phenomenon of Hybridism of the Use of Force and the Problem of Interference in Internal Affairs of a State

The purpose of this article is to eliminate methodological discrepancies in the definition of the problem of “hybrid” use of force and the possibility of using this construct when interfering in the internal affairs of states. In any conflict situation, the behavior of states in moving towards their national goals can be explained through how they do combine and synchronize (as it is often defined at the present time — «hybrid») the use of means of compellence and coercion available to them. In general, conceptually «hybrid war» can be described as “the synchronized use of multiple instruments of national power, specially selected to obtain mutually reinforcing effects on specific vulnerabilities across the entire spectrum of social processes. The substance of the modern security environment has led to an increase in the number of areas of conflict of interests of actors, the complexity and dynamism of conflicts, and the unpredictability of their outcomes. The formation of the practice of attribution of international responsibility, and the development of the international institutions supporting it, took place gradually and, ultimately, led to such a development of the international security environment, which made an appeal to «hybridity» to promote national interests in the process of political competition of social groups or individuals with divergent interests for power inevitable. The problem of terminology is one of the main obstacles to a clear understanding of the operation of the «hybridity» construct in political competition. The active use of the definition «hybrid» by propaganda in combination with the terms «war», «threats», «hostilities in the gray zone», «operations», «tactics», «competition does not turn into a state of war» political discourse, since these terms are almost never linked to the definition of the desired state of international relations by the state leadership. And if we are talking about the outcome of the collision of interests of actors in competition or conflict, then this desired result is «historically» defined by the term «victory». Thus, the definition of the substance of «victory» is a necessary initial point to onset analyzing the possibilities of turning to any of the instruments of national power in a «hybrid» confrontation.

The Transformation of Adulthood in the Digital Age

The article is devoted to the phenomenon of modern youth’s infantilization, attracting more and more attention of researchers. The view of infantilism as a kind of youth disease generated by a change in socio-cultural reality and digitalization is opposed the interpretation of infantilism as an artificially derived category (media product). The data of a pilot “image of an adult “ study (in young people perception) are presented. The thesis that in modern realities the “adult image” is at the stage of critical rethinking is proposed.