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for the implementation of "color revolutions". Another feature of a "color revolution" is, according to the author, the lack of proper revolutionary ideology of the masses of protesters. This is due to the fact that the Anglo-Saxon political strategists almost always ignore the specifics of the mentality of the population in the country where the "color revolution" is conducted. In this context, it would be extremely difficult for the Anglo-Saxon strategists to organize protest activity with the large-scale mobilization of the masses due to the fact that the majority of the Russian population is accustomed to clear ideological assumptions in the protest actions. In this regard, it seems also necessary to establish a unified state political ideology and form up national mass culture so that the state ideological attitudes were a priority over external influences on mass consciousness.
Author of the abstract - V. Schensnovich
2017.02.003. ALEXANDER KOCHETKOV. SPECIFIC FEATURES OF THE FORMATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE POLITICAL CLASS OF MODERN RUSSIA // "Vlast", Moscow, 2017, № 1, P. 12-18.
Keywords: political class, political elite, bureaucracy, political consultants, political technologists, political journalists, political experts, political lobbyists, party functionaries.
Alexander Kochetkov,
Dr.Sc. (Philosophy), professor, Moscow State University
The author examines the structure of the political class of Russia and the role and influence of the main groups of the Russian political class on the modern political process. The nucleus of the political class is the political elite - a special social section, which takes the crucial strategic decisions. It wields
power and exerts influence through sub-elites of different social groups and sections (business-elite, media-elite, creative workers' elite, etc.). It is replenished by members of these elites and uses ideas created by their representatives.
Bureaucrats, professional managers, and employees of the government apparatus are playing the leading role in Russia. The Russian bureaucracy has traditionally taken an active part in the preparation and adoption of political decisions of state importance.
Bureaucracy is the foundation of the modern Russian state, preserving its significance in the Soviet and post-Soviet epoch. The post-Soviet mid-ranking bureaucracy has been formed from representatives of the Soviet nomenklatura, and this process has taken some time. Despite the fact that today the government apparatus of the Russian Federation is staffed mainly with representatives of the new generation of government officials, there is practically no regions in Russia where the bodies of power have not been formed on the basis of the cardinal renovation of the managerial bureaucracy. During the post-Soviet development the Russian bureaucracy has raised its political status. De facto it became a force consolidating the Russian elites and expressing the will of their most influential groups.
Such situation cannot be remedied with the help of traditional reorganizations of the government apparatus without changing the social nature of the government and municipal bureaucracy. In A. Kochetkov's view, the end of bureaucratic arbitrariness will only be possible if bureaucracy is mainly recruited from the "middle class" as the most capable and efficient and the less corrupt stratum, which has a law-abiding consciousness, secondly, if there is constant control of the state over the activity of government officials, and also control of the institutions of civil society, which will render difficult the use by officials of their official position for mercenary aims.
One of the components of the political class of modern Russia is party functionaries and party members working in it on
the professional basis. The specific features of the activity of modern functionaries of Russian political parties are that they, just as their parties, determine very little the state policy of the Russian Federation. Even the party functionaries of the "ruling party" - "United Russia" - have practically very little political influence. The situation may become different in the future only after introducing institutional changes and giving greater responsibility to the legislative bodies of power in the Russian political system.
Political consultants and political technologists are an important component of the modern political class of Russia. They specialize in organizing and carrying on election campaigns and provide consultations and services to those who wish to be elected to various bodies of power (for instance, public opinion polls, media reports, mail deliveries, etc.). They also consult politicians on a broad range of issues of the on-going political process. Their influence on adopting political decisions is rather high, which enables them to act practically without any control. In the conditions of modern Russia political consultants and political technologists have an opportunity to influence public sentiments without any responsibility for their actions.
A component part of the Russian political class is also political experts. In the latter half of the 20th century the expert community in the leading countries of the world transformed into a developed sphere of services, an important element of the government apparatus and business and a source of important information about socio-economic and political processes. A considerable number of researchers and professors have been drawn to this sphere, because solution or practical tasks requires a high professional skill. For the successful functioning and development of the political sphere the expert community needs demand from state power bodies, business, political parties and movements, and an adequate tax legislation with a view to enabling the government, business circles, and citizens to finance
research centers and create conditions for competition of ideas and developments.
Another segment of the political class is political journalists. In the post-Soviet period political analysts were replaced by a new professional community - journalists specializing in political subjects. The principal difference between political journalists, on the one hand, and political analysts, political consultants and political technologists, on the other, lies in that the former are in the limelight and the latter are behind the scenes. Journalists address the entire society, whereas political technologists, consultants, and the like deal with concrete political figures or parties.
The community of political journalists also includes editors-in-chief of the mass media, editors (heads) of socio-political departments and sections, observers and leading analysts and correspondents. Press-secretaries and employees of press services of various political figures, political parties and government bodies can also be referred to political journalists, although this profession is not of an open character and is closer to public relations and political technologists' sphere. Along with the development of the Internet, the blogger phenomenon made its appearance, that is, political journalists who are not only independent authors, but also independent editors and publishers using for the purpose the blogosphere, social networks and their own sites.
The political class of modern Russia also includes professional lobbyists representing the interests of corporative elites. The system of the business lobby acting in their interests has a serious influence on the life of society and the state. The formation of collective capitalism is going on in Russia very rapidly, and its foreign expansion is proceeding apace. The links between the ruling bureaucracy and the top heads of corporations become ever closer, which increases the dependence of government decisions on the interests of corporations. In contrast to many western countries, in Russia the weight of the
state and government bureaucracy is growing in the economic system, because most of the privatized corporations become natural monopolies functioning outside the framework of public control. These natural monopolies can successfully function only in a tandem with the state. Big business receives privileges and investments, openly lobbies its interests and often delegates its representatives to bodies of power, thus becoming a powerful political pillar for the state and government. Such close alliance of the governing bureaucracy and corporate business, in the view of A. Kochetkov, is a serious obstacle for the completion of the formation of a democratic society in Russia, because these segments of the political class more often than not act in their own interests, but not in the interests of society.
Author of the abstract - V. Schensnovich
2017.02.004. SAIDA SIRAZHUDINOVA. CONVERTS TO ISLAM IN THE STRUCTURE OF RADICAL ISLAM / / "Informatsionnnye voiny. Nauchno-practicheskii mezhdistsiplinarnyi jurnal", Yubileinyi, 2015, № 4 (36), P. 94-99.
Keywords: Russian neophytes, new converts, Islam, radicalism, Salafism.
Saida Sirazhudinova,
PhD (Political), doctoral student,
South-Russian Institute of Management,
Branch of the Russian Academy of National Economy
And Civil Service under the President of the Russian Federation
The author of the article focuses on Russian non-ethnic Muslims, because attention to the neophytes or new converts to Islam has increased in recent years, as a result of changes in the religion and the conditions for its radicalization, increasing threat from Islamic radicals and the emergence of the Islamic State.
