The Contours of New Social and Political Сleavages in the EU Countries

Using Lipset and Rokkan's concept of political cleavages as a base, the authors identify the contours of new social and political divisions in EU countries which have been exacerbated by a series of crises. New divisions are caused by two kinds of factors: socio-economic and value-based. The authors characterize the growing gap between the center (metropolis) and the periphery (province cities and towns). The article also examines the processes of erosion of the middle class and the formation of a new working class in European countries, which go beyond the classical opposition of employers and employees. The article outlines the impact of these splits on value orientations of EU citizens and the possible emergence of new political conflicts. The authors conclude that new divides can lead to protest mobilization in the European Union, a vivid example of which was the "yellow vest" movement and demonstrations against lockdown measures during the COVID pandemic. Another consequence of those divisions will be a change in the electorate structure and the transformation of the party landscape. The article concludes with a brief analysis of the significance of new social cleavages for further development of European integration. It is noted that during the coronavirus crisis citizens' demand for a "Social Europe" has increased.

Pandemic and long-term dynamics of media consumption

The results provide evidence that COVID-19 is a significant factor influenced the consumption of two leading media in Russia - television and the Internet. Since the pandemic is a global phenomenon, the study of the Russian media usage is conducted taking into account international media trends. The research indicates that the pandemic reinforced existing media consumption patterns or reversed them. Authors argued that technological communication innovations of the last decade have played an important role in this regard. It is shown that the trend of reducing the duration of audience viewership, which was previously inherent in television, was reversed during the 2020 pandemic. The results reported that the long term trend of increasing the duration of Internet use continued. This is especially true for online video segment. The significant increase in media consumption was observed during the first wave of morbidity and the introduction of quarantine measures. The pandemic has changed the socio-psychological atmosphere in society, influenced people’s way of life, which has led to the intensification of information processes in society. Media convergence processes gained additional momentum in the year of the pandemic. Mentioned above leads to deepening of mediatization. User screens of TVs, smartphones and other devices now form a unified space of struggle for the attention of the audience. This increases competition between traditional TV companies and global technological platforms, and has significant political, economic, and socio-cultural consequences.

Opportunities and Limitations of Socio-economic Adaptation in the Coronavirus Crisis

The article reviews the methodological assumptions and results of in-depth interviews held in May 2020. The aim of the article is to identify various aspects of the population’s socio-economic adaptation in the context of the coronavirus pandemic crisis. The author uses the tradition of phenomenological sociology, hermeneutics and narrative analysis as the methodology for the analysis of in-depth interviews contents. The content analysis of the interviews allows to identify certain similarities and differences between two groups of respondents, distinguished by the status of employment (employees and entrepreneurs) in terms of assessment of the crisis’ impact on enterprises and various businesses, specific of the socio-economic behavior, resources, and adaptation practices. A feature of socio-economic behavior common for both categories is the wait-and-see approach to find out possible prospects of the economy and the labour market. However, respondents in the status of employee are generally characterized by a more confident assessment of prospects of job preservation and income level. Active forms of adaptive behavior are particularly noticed among respondents employed in the area of information and communication technologies. Entrepreneurs tend to combine, on the one hand, a negative assessment of the impact the crisis has on their business, and on the other, the desire to look for new market opportunities, realistically assessing the threats and risks, and to rely on themselves. In the context of the ongoing crisis, the specificity of the population’s socio-economic adaptation is associated not only with the status of employment, but also with the industry specifics, an accumulated portfolio of orders, stability of the client base, and social capital.

The Impact of the District’s Magnitude on the Gender Composition of the Municipal Deputy Corps

The purpose of the study is to explain the difference in the proportion of women deputies in the representative bodies of different municipalities. The author assesses the impact of the electoral districts size on the gender composition of municipal legislative bodies (dumas). A review of theoretical and empirical works shows that more women are elected to Parliament under the proportional representation system than under the majority system with single-mandate constituencies. According to the author, the decisive factor is not the type of the electoral system, but the size of the electoral district. Two working hypotheses were formulated. According to the first, representative bodies of municipalities, whose elections are held according to a majority system with multi-member districts, will have a higher representation of women than local dumas which are formed on the basis of a majority system with single-member districts. According to the second hypothesis, higher representation of women in the deputy corps of settlements can be associated with the holding of elections under the majority system with multi-mandate districts. To test the proposed hypotheses in the context of municipalities, empirical material was collected. The study was carried out on the data from the Sverdlovsk region. The database of indicators of municipalities of Rosstat, as well as the official websites of local administrations were used as the source of information. The method of multiple linear regression is used as the main research method. The data was analyzed with the Gretl applied statistical program. Statistical calculations have revealed a positive and statistically significant impact of multi-mandate constituencies-based elections on the proportion of women in the deputy corps, which contributes to the study of gender aspects of politics. It is shown that the size of the electoral district is important for the representation of women in the city councils. The article notes that the transition to holding elections of deputies on the basis of a majority system with multi-mandate districts will help increase the proportion of women in municipal representative bodies.

Meritocracy and its Enemies: Is There an Alternative to the “Tyranny of the Merit”?

The article examines the idea of meritocracy, now increasingly criticized. It is shown that the relevance of the discourse on meritocracy is due to the objectively increased role of education and various creative and technical talents in the context of rapid technological development. At the same time, critics rightly point out that meritocracy today has become largely a myth that plutocrats turn to justify their privileges, status and wealth. The very idea of a meritocracy that focuses exclusively on the technical competencies and abilities demanded by the neoliberal economy is also criticized. Many authors talk about the need to fairly reward and respect low-skilled workers, who often (especially in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic) bring more public benefit than highly educated financiers or bankers. Nevertheless, the article shows that this criticism is a hidden apology for meritocracy. In this case, critics justify deeper inequalities associated with long-term prospects and self-realization. It leads to cementing the “secondary” status of workers of the “hand” and “heart”, whose fate in the context of automation and the development of artificial intelligence technologies may turn out to be unenviable. In the author's opinion, the only alternative to this state of affairs is the rejection of meritocracy as a normative concept. It should be recognized as an inevitable evil associated with the imperfection of social institutions and, in part, human nature. Accordingly, the author contrasts the meritocratic pursuit of status and power with the ideal of universal striving for the maximum possible and, what is remarkable, all-round development and practical application of the talents of all without exception.

Party-Political and Socio-Economic Сonsequences of Elections to the German Bundestag

The article examines the results of the last Bundestag elections. They marked the end of the Angela Merkel era and reflected the continuation of difficult party-political and socio-economic processes in the informal leader of the European Union. The main attention of the research focuses on the peculiarities of the election campaign of the leading parties and of the search for ways of further development of Germany in the face of urgent economic and political challenges. These challenges include the impact of the coronavirus crisis, the impact of the energy and digital transition to a climate-neutral economy, and the complex international situation. Based on original sources, the author analyzes the causes of the SPD victory and the CDU/CSU bloc defeat, the results of the negotiations of the Social Democrats with the Greens and Liberals, the content of the coalition agreement from the point of view of the prospects for the development of domestic and foreign policy and the economy of Russia's main partner in the west of the Eurasian continent. The conclusion is made about the absence of breakthrough ideas, the consistent continuation of the course started by the previous government for a carbon-free economy and the strengthening of the role of Germany in Europe and the world. For this course, conflicts and problems in achieving the set goals will be immanent due to the compromising nature of the coalition agreements.