Types and stages of political processes. Political processes

home

Fire safety

The concept of “process” is used in all social sciences; various processes constantly occur in all spheres of public life, and the political sphere is no exception. Political processes indicate that the political system exists, functions and develops. In other words, they serve as a form of functioning of the political sphere (system) of society.

In a broad sense, political processes are forms of political activity of society. The diversity of this activity and the fact that each case has its own cause and purpose, varying degrees of predictability of the result and other differences make it difficult Scientific research political processes give rise to a variety of points of view on the same issues. This topic is one of the most controversial in political science. And, nevertheless, the degree of scientific development of political processes allows them to be classified quite clearly.

Political process - one of the central categories of political science. There are three main points of view in defining the concept of “political process”. Some researchers understand by the political process everything that is happening in politics, others generally identify this category with the category “politics”, and the third approach interprets the concept of “political process” as a change in the states of the political system of society. But it is generally accepted that it reflects the real interaction of the subjects of politics, which has developed not in accordance with the intentions of leaders or party programs, but as a result of the action of various external and internal factors.

The political process shows how individuals, groups, institutions with their subjective goals interact with each other and with the state, realizing specific roles and functions. And since situations and motives of human behavior are constantly changing, the political process excludes any predetermination in the development of events.

In the policy process, various policy actors and factors interact, resulting in policy changes. It reveals two forms of political will of citizens: 1) methods of presentation by an ordinary participant political process their interests (participation in elections, party membership, etc.); 2) forms of adoption and implementation of power decisions carried out by leaders and elites.

The implementation of their functions by political subjects expresses the distribution of power occurring in society, the political mobilization of citizens, decision-making and other forms of political activity of groups and individuals, including illegal ones. Therefore, in the political process there are also such forms of political activity as conspiracies, terror, and the activities of illegal parties and organizations, although they are usually on the periphery of political life.

In relation to society as a whole, the political process reveals the interaction of social and political structures, that is, it shows how society forms statehood, and the state, in turn, “conquers” society. According to political scientists V.P. Pugachev and A.N. Solovyov, the political process is a set of actions of political subjects to implement their specific functions (dysfunctions) in the sphere of power, ultimately leading to the development or decline of the political system of society.

The political process is the total activity of social communities, public organizations and groups, individuals pursuing certain political goals.

The peculiarity of political processes is that they cannot be studied as a single mass. There is a difference between processes within society and international political processes.

In the totality of political processes, two groups are distinguished - are common And private. They differ not only in the scope of social life, but also in content, forms of flow, goals and results, so they are studied separately. However, these two groups of processes are interrelated and can have a significant impact on the content, form and speed of each other.

General political process covers the entire society and leads to a change in the state of its political system. Private political processes- these are diverse and numerous forms of political activity of society, aimed at realizing political goals that do not affect the state of the political system of society as a whole (for example, not leading to a change in regime or form of government). They can occur at the national, regional, local level, within socio-demographic groups, classes, nations; V labor collectives, batches, etc.

The general political process takes place in three well-known forms: evolution, revolution, crisis. Evolution- the main and most common form, meaning gradual changes in the country’s political system: in the alignment of political forces, political regime (increasing democratic or anti-democratic tendencies), power structures, etc. Revolutionary uniform the development of the general political process means “a radical turn in the life of society, during which there is a change in state power and dominant forms of ownership.” Political revolution is associated with violence, up to and including an armed change of power. There is a rapid destruction of all political bodies, which, as a rule, is accompanied by numerous casualties and the tragedy of millions of people. Political crisis- loss of control by power structures over the development of aggravated contradictions, weakening of political institutions, poor controllability of the economy and other spheres, growing discontent in society, etc. The causes of the political crisis are mainly economic and social in nature. Unlike a revolution, political crises rarely lead to a change in the political system, but these are dramatic periods in the destinies of society.

So, the general political process reflects the dynamics of the political system of society as a whole, the change of its states and forms government system(form of government, methods of exercising power, national-territorial organization), as well as the political regime.

Structural elements private political process are the reason (or reasons) for its occurrence, object, subject and purpose. The reason for the emergence of the private political process- This appearance contradiction that needs to be resolved. For example, dissatisfaction with the tax system can initiate a legislative process to change it. Object of private political process- this is a specific political problem, which became its cause: 1) the emergence and need to realize any political interests; 2) creation of new political institutions, parties, movements, etc.; 3) reorganization of power structures, creation of a new government; 4) organizing support for existing political power. Subject of private political process- this is its initiator: some authority, party, movement or even an individual. It is necessary to determine the status of these entities, their goals, resources and strategy for their actions. The purpose of the private political process- this is what the political process begins and develops for. Knowing the goal allows you to assess the reality of its achievement by weighing the resources available to the participants in the process.

It should be noted that the private political process does not necessarily arise in political sphere. It can begin and develop in any sphere of society (economic, social, spiritual, cultural, etc.). If these areas themselves cannot resolve the contradictions that have arisen, then the problem, for example, turns from an economic one into a political one.

For a comprehensive study of the process, information is needed on a number of its characteristics: the number and composition of participants, socio-political conditions and the form of its occurrence.

All private political processes, despite their diversity, go through three stages in their development. Every private political process begins with the emergence of a problem. At the first stage, the forces interested in solving it are identified, their positions and capabilities are clarified, and ways to solve this problem are developed. The second stage is the mobilization of forces to support the intended path to solve the problem or various solutions. The process ends with the passage of the third stage - the adoption by political structures of measures to solve the problem. There is another point of view, according to which any political process can be divided into five stages: 1) formation of political priorities; 2) putting priorities at the forefront of the process; 3) making political decisions on them; 4) implementation of decisions made; 5) understanding and evaluating the results of decisions.

Typology of private political processes:

According to the scale of the private political process vary processes within society And international processes. The latter are bilateral (between two states) and multilateral (between many or even all states of the world). Private political processes within society are divided into basic and local (peripheral).

According to the nature of the relationship between society and power structures processes are divided into stable and unstable. The former develop in a stable political environment with stable mechanisms for making political decisions and political mobilization of citizens. Unstable processes arise and develop in conditions of crisis of power and the political system as a whole and reflect the conflict of interests of groups.

According to the flow form. Explicit (open) political process characterized by the fact that the interests of groups and citizens are systematically identified in their public demands on government authorities, which openly make management decisions. Shadow Process based on the activities of hidden political institutions and centers of power, as well as on the demands of citizens not expressed in official form.

Each of the political processes has its own internal rhythm, i.e. cyclical stages of interaction between subjects.

The main task of all participants in political processes is to include their demands in government decisions. Institutions of state power are the most important tool for taking into account group demands and developing the political will of society.

From the point of view of the systemic organization of political power, there are two main types of political processes: democratic, where they combine various shapes democracy, and undemocratic, determined by the presence of totalitarian or authoritarian regimes, non-democratic parties, organizations and leaders, authoritarian political culture and the mentality of citizens.

In Western political science, there are two typologies of the political process as a whole. Within the framework of the first of them, the American political scientist L. Pai, comparing political processes various countries, distinguishes two types of them - Western and “non-Western”.

The second type of classification focuses on Western political systems, distinguishing two types of political process in them: horizontal and vertical. At the core horizontal political process lies recognition of the formal equality and autonomy of its participants. Vertical political process differs in that the government strives in every possible way to maintain its authority.

With changes in the forms, methods and functions carried out by institutions government controlled, political processes are also changing. Most often, three modes of their occurrence are distinguished. The first is a mode of operation that does not take the political system beyond the established relationships between citizens and institutions of state power. The second mode of political processes is the development mode. In this case, the structures and mechanisms of power bring state policy to a level that allows it to adequately respond to the new demands of the population and the challenges of the time. The third type of mode of political processes is the mode of decline, the collapse of political integrity.

The political process is a complex multifactorial concept that has various forms and modes of occurrence. Analyzing processes in politics is a task that requires the researcher to have a broad perspective, the ability to take into account a variety of factors and points of view in order to avoid subjective assessments.

Political events in modern society occur quite often, as domestic policies change and interrelations between states increase. The chain of regular political events is called the political process. Let us briefly study the essence, types of political processes and factors influencing their development.

Development of the political process

Considering the history of mankind, we can distinguish two stages in the development of the political process.

Stage 1. Traditional society;

The political process has not yet acquired an organized and clear character; it is developing spontaneously, “from below”: the initiative comes from all people who begin to need power, to establish relations with other tribes (states).

Stage 2. Industrial and post-industrial society;

The political process is becoming more defined, purposeful, and is now developing “from above”: a layer of people is being formed for whom politics is their main occupation. Political actions are planned, tactically developed programs appear.

As a result of humanity passing through the two indicated stages, state power is formed, which is distributed between citizens and political forces (rulers, parties, government bodies).

TOP 4 articleswho are reading along with this

Classification

All types of political regimes are usually divided into several groups:

by importance for society: private and basic;
by scale: domestic and international.

Speaking about the political process, it is necessary to understand that it emerges and is regulated by its participants.

In the structure of subjects (participants) of the political process the main positions are occupied by:

initiators;
performers.

The purpose of the political process is the problem. To solve it, the following sequence of actions is built:

1. the initiators state a political problem;

2. there is a search for performers who can solve the problem (bodies, officials);

3. methods and means, as well as resources to solve the problem are selected;

4. active actions, problem solving.

Stages

Any political process goes through several stages:

formation of a political system (political forces create their program, fight for power, carry out their course);

In Russia there is a multi-party system, and different political forces offer their solutions to political problems, for example, some parties see the solution to the housing problem in providing material assistance, others in reducing interest rates on loans for purchasing real estate, and so on.

repetition, updating of established and existing policy mechanisms (regular elections, increasing or decreasing the functions of government bodies, and so on);
making decisions on pressing issues, exercising power;
exercising control over the actions of the authorities, assessing its activities (special bodies, means mass media, referendums).

What have we learned?

From the moment of its inception, human society began to form a political system, which in modern society has acquired the most developed structure. Political processes are regulated by society, especially by its representatives (bodies, parties), who are given the functions of management, solving internal problems and foreign policy tasks.

A more detailed assessment of the content of the political process is associated with the characteristics of its types and varieties. Political processes unfold both on a global scale and within the political system of society, a separate region, or a local territory. They can be classified by scale, nature of transformations, composition of participants, time duration, etc. Political processes act as global and national, national and regional (local), as interclass, intergroup, and within classes, social and other groups, outside or within political parties and movements.

We can say that political processes are divided into domestic political and foreign policy.

The internal political process takes place between political subjects (classes, other social groups, nations, parties, social movements, political leaders), the core of whose activity is the conquest, retention and use of political power. The internal political process covers various spheres of society - political, legal, economic, social, environmental, demographic, cultural, military, etc. Internal political goals can be achieved by both peaceful and violent methods.

The foreign policy process extends to relations with other states as the art of conducting international affairs. It is closely connected with the dominant economic structure, social and state system and expresses them on the world stage. At the same time, the foreign policy process has a number of features due to the existence in the world of many states with divergent interests and programs in various areas. In modern conditions, the foreign policy process is increasingly becoming the art of negotiations and achieving reasonable, mutually acceptable political compromises.

According to the importance for society of certain forms of political regulation of social relations, political processes are divided into basic and peripheral.

The basic political process is characterized by various ways of including broad social strata in relations with the state, forms of transforming the interests and demands of the population into management decisions, typical methods of forming political elites, etc. In this sense, we can talk about the processes of political participation in public administration (in decision-making, the legislative process, etc.).

Peripheral political processes reveal the dynamics of the formation of individual political associations (parties, pressure groups, etc.), the development of local self-government, and other connections and relationships in the political system that do not have a fundamental impact on the dominant forms and methods of exercising power.

Based on the nature of the participation of the masses in political life, we can distinguish democratic ones, where various forms of direct and representative democracy are combined, and non-democratic ones, the internal content of which is determined by the presence of totalitarian or authoritarian regimes; the activities of relevant political parties and public organizations and leaders, the existence of an authoritarian political culture and mentality of citizens.

In political science, there are also such types of political processes as open and hidden (shadow). An open political process is characterized primarily by the fact that the political interests of groups and citizens are systematically revealed in electoral preferences, programs of parties and movements, as well as in other forms of public claims of people to government power. On the contrary, the hidden (shadow) process is based on political institutions and centers of power that are not publicly formalized, as well as on such power claims that various reasons do not involve appeals to official authorities. The centers of power to which citizens then appeal can be prohibited, illegal and not recognized by society structures (for example, mafia clans) operating in a given political space. Control over the ruling elites is completely absent.

The nature of the transformation of power gives grounds to talk about revolutionary and evolutionary political processes.

The revolutionary type of political process develops in an environment revolutionary situation or close to it (according to V.I. Lenin: the “tops” cannot, and the “bottoms” do not want to live in the old way, high political activity of the masses). This type is characterized by a relatively rapid qualitative change in power, a complete revision of the state constitution; the use of both peaceful and violent means to overthrow the previous regime; electoral preferences give way to spontaneous ones free forms mass political movements; at all levels of government there is a lack of time for making management decisions; the declining role of advisory and expert bodies, the increasing responsibility of political leaders; increasing conflict between the traditional and new elites.

The evolutionary type of political process is characterized by a gradual resolution of accumulated contradictions and rationalization of conflicts; separation of functions and roles of various political subjects; stability of the formed decision-making mechanisms; joint activities of the elite and the electorate, mutually controlling each other and having freedom of action within the framework of their acquired statuses; legitimacy of power, unity of socio-cultural values and guidelines of managers and managed; consensus and the presence of constructive opposition; a combination of management with self-government and self-organization of political life.

From the point of view of the stability of the main forms of interrelation of social and political structures, the certainty of functions and relationships of subjects of power, stable and unstable political processes can be distinguished.

A stable political process is characterized by stable institutionalized forms of political mobilization and behavior of citizens, as well as functionally developed mechanisms for making political decisions. This process is based on a legitimate regime of government, appropriate social structure, high efficiency of legal and cultural norms prevailing in society.

An unstable political process usually arises in a crisis as a manifestation of the need to change the political course. A number of factors can lead to this: a decline in production, social conflicts caused by changed conditions of vertical and horizontal mobility, complications international relations. The instability of the political process is most clearly manifested in the sharp fluctuations in electoral preferences for development paths.

Political processes differ from each other in scale, duration, factors, nature of interaction between factors, etc. In political science, there are various types of political processes. There are several ways to typology political processes based on various criteria.

Based on the diversity of political processes, several types can be distinguished. These are, first of all, everyday political processes (“small” factors and units of measurement), which are primarily associated with processes with direct interactions of individual, group and partially institutional factors. An example is the legislative process in a parliament.

Another type of political process is the historical political process (larger factors - mainly groups and institutions). These are processes associated with the commission of a historical event. Thus, a political revolution can be presented as a process of this kind. The emergence and development of a political party can be considered the same historical process.

Finally, these are evolutionary political processes that are characterized by the participation of “large” factors (institutions, the political system), and are also measurable using large-scale time units. Such processes could be, for example, the process of turning a polis into an imperial capital, or the modernization of the political system as a result of a series of political reforms, or the transition to democracy as a result of the dismantling of authoritarian rule, the holding of constituent elections, and then their consolidation in a series of regular competitive elections.

There are other criteria for distinguishing individual types and varieties of the political process. So, A.I. Soloviev makes similar distinctions based on differences in subject areas. In addition, A.I. Soloviev distinguishes open and closed political processes. Closed political processes “mean that type of change that can be fairly clearly assessed within the framework of the criteria of better/worst, desirable/undesirable, etc. Open processes demonstrate a type of change that does not allow us to assume what character - positive or negative for the subject - the existing transformations have or which of the possible strategies in the future is more preferable... In other words, this type of process characterizes changes that occur in extremely unclear and uncertain situations, which imply increased hypotheticalness of both performed and planned actions.” Also, he distinguishes between stable and transient processes. Stable processes presuppose “stable reproduction of political relations,” while transitional processes imply the absence of “a clear predominance of certain basic properties organization of power,” which is carried out in conditions of “imbalance in the political activity of the main subjects.”

The political process is a dynamic characteristic of politics. Therefore, it can be argued that the forms of existence of the political process are political change and political development. Many researchers identify different types of political processes, understanding by them the types of political changes and political development.

Depending on the nature of the changes, evolutionary and revolutionary types of political development are distinguished. By evolutionary we mean a type that includes gradual, step-by-step qualitative changes. Revolutionary is a type of development focused on scale and transience. Despite the heuristic significance of identifying these types, one should recognize the conventions of their distinction in relation to political development. In reality, political development is evolutionary in nature, revolutions are only part of the evolutionary path. Their scale and transience are of fundamental importance only from the point of view of everyday life and history.

Quite often, stable and crisis types of development are distinguished. It is assumed that a stable type of political development is characteristic of societies where there are sufficient institutional guarantees and social consensus that prevent sudden changes in the political course and, especially, a sharp change in the political regime. At the same time, it is assumed that the basis for stable development is the ability of the system to adequately respond to environmental challenges. This contributes to the gradual and smooth nature of the changes.

The crisis type of development is characteristic of societies where there are no such the necessary conditions and the system is unable to provide adequate responses to external changes. Then political development takes place in the form of a crisis, which can affect both individual aspects of political life and the entire system. The development of a full-scale crisis leads to an unstable state of the system or even to its collapse.

The distinction between these two types of political development should also be considered conditional. In fact, stable or crisis development is very often understood not as the evolutionary dynamics of a political system, but as a characteristic of everyday and historical political processes occurring within its framework. However, reports, for example, about a government crisis do not at all indicate the crisis nature of the political development of a given political system.

It should also be noted that in practice, the impetus and, in a certain sense, the engine of development of any political system are systemic crises. Crises arise as a result of inconsistency between structures and methods of communication between elements of the system and emerging needs. Their resolution requires qualitative changes in the system or its individual parts. In practice, we can usually observe an alternation of crises and periods of relative stability. Thus, the crisis nature of changes should be considered and political stability not as characteristics of political development as a whole, but as features of its individual moments.

Types of political development are also distinguished based on its content. Among them, globalization deserves special mention. Other types of political development are political modernization and democratization.

discipline: "Political Science"

"Characteristics of political processes"

Moscow 2012

Introduction

1. The concept of the political process

Features of political processes

Types of political processes

Analysis of political processes. Sociological approach to the analysis of political processes

Conclusion

Introduction

At the end of the 20th and beginning of the 21st centuries. The influence of politics, political instruments and processes on the destinies of individuals and entire nations became even more clearly visible. Russia finds itself at the epicenter of world political events. At present, apparently, there is no other country where the paradoxes of socio-political life would be clearly and simultaneously manifested: the politicization of large sections of the population, the media and the apolitical passivity of the same population; the emergence of a mass of new tools and forms of political participation and the lack of experience and knowledge of democratic participation in the management of state affairs.

The political process in Russia is characterized by its unpredictability. The autocrat makes all decisions on socio-political issues personally.

During the era of the USSR, all power in the state was concentrated in the CPSU, which regulated all aspects of life Soviet Union.

At the present time, when Russia has declared itself a democratic state, when Russians have the right to free choice, when the political process is expressed in a real separation of powers, in political pluralism; when there is a clash of different ideologies, which social democracy is called upon to unite. So far, this ideology has a small number of supporters in Russia.

It is against this background of the socio-political life of the state that it seems appropriate to us to highlight and make an attempt to analyze some of the features and peculiarities of the Russian political process. Having identified these features, we will indicate the tendencies of his further development.

1.Concept of political process

political process

Under processin general (from Lat. Processo - advancement) is understood the course of any phenomenon, the sequential change of its states, stages of development, as well as the totality consistent actions to achieve some result.

The process approach in science makes it possible to study phenomena and facts in dynamics, development, and movement and influence these changes or use the information obtained for other purposes. This is achieved by determining changes over time, clarifying the stages, direction, intensity, trends of these changes, making certain decisions and operations.

The interaction of political subjects regarding state power, as a dynamic phenomenon, presupposes a procedural approach that allows us to explore the causes of certain political problems, the process of developing and making political decisions, the creation of new management structures, that is we're talking about about political practice, concrete management, exchange of information between subjects of the political process and much more. All this constitutes the essence of the political process, which reflects political reality and is the result of the struggle of interests of various political forces, social groups and citizens, and their influence on power structures. The result of the interaction of various subjects is the creation stable connections and relationships, the emergence of new rules and norms, the creation or reproduction of political institutions.

The most significant difference in the procedural interpretation of the world of politics is that it reveals the constant variability of various features and characteristics of political phenomena. In this context, we are talking about a dynamic characteristic associated with changes in the behavior and relationships of subjects regarding power interests, a characteristic that unfolds in time and space.

The political process is understood as the dynamic dimension of political life, which consists in the reproduction of the components of the political system of society, as well as in changing its state; the activity of political subjects associated with the struggle for power and influencing power structures.

In political science, as a rule, processes are considered at the macro, meso and micro levels. The macro level is associated with the reproduction of the political system as a whole, its main institutions, such as the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of government at the federal or national level. Reproduction in this context means not only the elections or re-elections of these institutions, but also the continuity of their work during a certain cycle, the resumption of activities daily, weekly, after each vacation. The meso-level of the political process includes meso-subprocesses of the regional level: political events in the regions, interaction of central and local authorities with regional authorities in developing policy for a particular region, reproduction of regional elites and political systems. The micro-level of the political process includes a set of micro-subprocesses that make up the local political sub-process. It can also be represented as the resultant of the actions (actions) of various local political actors.

The political process as a whole acts as a result of the addition and interaction of macro-, meso- and micro-level subprocesses, as a result of the influence of interest groups at all levels on government bodies, which leads to the adoption of decisions that take into account local, regional and central interests.

The political process is considered as one of the social processes, along with economic, ideological, legal; and also as a form of functioning of the political system of society, evolving in time and space. Thus, A. Degtyarev considers the political process as “a social macro-process, firstly, characterizing the temporal sequence of integral states of communication between people regarding power in the space of its legitimate maintenance; secondly, expressing the equinoctial result of individual and group micro-actions, that is, the total political activity of a given community; thirdly, including the ways of interaction between the state and society, institutions and groups, the political system and social environment, government and citizen; and, fourthly, simultaneously reproducing and changing the structural-functional and institutional matrix (hierarchy of rules and forms) of the political order (system).”

The content of the political process in modern Russia constitutes the implementation of the Constitution adopted in 1993, which involves the construction of a democratic legal social secular state, respecting human rights and freedoms, and civil society interacting with this state. More specifically, the meaning of the latest reforms means strengthening and increasing the efficiency of the executive branch, reforming the state apparatus, developing market relations, establishing transparency in the actions of government bodies, parties, public organizations, developing political pluralism and constructive opposition to government.

The content of the political process is influenced by the state of the political system, all political institutions and political relations, namely: the degree of separation and balance of legislative, executive and judicial powers; level of centralization (decentralization) of power; interaction of party and government structures that directly or indirectly influence the process of political decision-making; ways of making and implementing political decisions; the relationship between the rights and prerogatives of central, regional and local authorities; relationships within the ruling stratum (relations between the ruling and opposition elites, level of corruption, degree of bureaucratization of the bureaucracy). The state of the political process in a given country is also influenced by global trends.

One of the most widespread modern global trends is democratization. Domestic political scientist V. Nikonov, determining the direction of the political process in modern Russia, believes that in order to give it a democratic direction, it is necessary to observe two principles. The first of these states that “the political process must operate and develop according to rules and procedures that are beyond the control of one person, even the most powerful,” on the basis that political leaders should not determine the rules by which they will play. The second principle is that “the existing reality, the conflicts that the era gives rise to, should not dictate the process of creating a political system, should not find their immediate resolution at the moment when a new democratic state is created. Because the desire to reconcile the interests of all participants in the political game at the stage of creating a new constitution threatens future conflicts, the nature of which cannot be fully predicted.”

Some researchers define the structure of the political process as a set of interactions between factors, as well as their logical sequence. Others include the following elements in the structure: subjects, objects, means, methods, resources.

Temporal and spatial units of measurement of the political process, as well as factors influencing political changes, norms regulating relations between its participants, are called parameters of the political process. Changes in the parameters of the political process depend on a combination of factors, both internal and external to it. TO internal factors include the characteristics of the subjects, the relationships between them, the distribution of power resources, and the logic of the political process. External factors are socio-economic, socio-cultural conditions existing in a given society, world trends that form an environment interacting with the political process. The external environment has a certain corrective effect on the political process and supports its progress within the framework of certain norms and rules. The absence of these two types of influences (the situation in a given country and international relations) on the political process leads to its conservation and stagnation of all social relations.

The leading subjects or factors of the political process are political institutions, the main of which are the state and civil society, as well as political parties, public organizations, interest groups, individual citizens. From numerous actions (actions) and interactions (interactions) of various factors, the overall course and results of the macroprocess are formed, which, in turn, consists of microprocesses or subprocesses. It should be borne in mind that the activity of a political institution lies not only in its ability to accept effective solutions, but also in the interaction of various pressure groups promoting their interests through this institution, in the implementation of the personal plans of various citizens within the framework of this institution. Therefore, the analysis takes into account both macro-results and the micro-processes that form them.

Activity political factors characterized by such indicators as: potential, type of action, methods of interaction.

The potential depends on their composition (individual or group), the degree of organization, mobilization of the subject, and the amount of resources.

The type of action is a function of the means, forms and methods of political struggle. It can be formed by parliamentary forms associated with the work of representative authorities, or by a street meeting; violent or nonviolent types of political activity; official or unofficial influence of subjects regarding access to resources and levers of power.

The methods of interaction are determined by the types of relationships between factors. Available various options political interactions: confrontation, neutrality, compromise, alliance, consensus. This division is based on the principle of correlation social interests and political positions of the subjects coming into contact.

Confrontation presupposes open confrontation between political subjects. Neutrality promotes the subject’s temporary withdrawal from the field of active interactions. Compromise is based on mutual concessions, the purpose of which is to maintain a stable status quo in relations between subjects. A union is a closer, perhaps even friendly, form of political interaction when there is objective overlap of interests and some overlap of positions. Consensus is achieved through agreement on all key positions with almost complete coincidence in everyone’s understanding of their interests.

The resources of the factors of the political process may include knowledge, science, technical and financial means, information system, organization, ideology, mood of the masses, public opinion etc. The object of the political process is, as a rule, society, consisting of various classes and social groups, as well as individuals. The means include both non-violent, communicative actions and means of state pressure.

The method of exercising power, the method of functioning of the political system, is the political regime, which determines the form of the political process (democratic or authoritarian) and influences its content.

The most common point of view is that the structure of the political process is viewed through the prism of interaction between the state and civil society, public administration and political participation, the political system and its social environment, as well as from the perspective of the activities of social actors and the functioning of political institutions that make up the content of the holistic macro process .

Interactions between ruling group, performing management functions, and other groups of society influencing the ruling elite, collaborating or competing with each other, form general content political process, understood as a transition from one structure of the balance of power to another.

.Features of political processes

Coinciding in scale with the entire political space, the political process extends not only to conventional (contractual, normative) changes that characterize behavioral actions, relationships and mechanisms of competition for state power that meet the accepted norms and rules of the political game in society. Along with this, political processes also involve those changes that indicate a violation by subjects of their role functions recorded in regulatory framework, exceeding their powers, going beyond their political niches. Thus, the content of the political process also includes changes that take place in the activities of subjects who do not share generally accepted standards in relations with government authorities, for example, the activities of illegal parties, terrorism, criminal acts of politicians in the sphere of power, etc.

Reflecting actually existing, and not just planned changes, political processes have a pronounced non-normative character, which is explained by the presence in the political space of various types of movement (wave, cyclical, linear, inversion, i.e. return, etc.), which have their own forms and ways of transforming political phenomena, the combination of which deprives the latter of strict certainty and stability. From this point of view, the political process is a set of relatively independent, local transformations of the political activity of subjects (relations, institutions), which arise at the intersection of a wide variety of factors and the parameters of which cannot be accurately determined, much less predicted. At the same time, the political process is characterized by discrete changes or the possibility of modifying some parameters of a phenomenon and at the same time maintaining unchanged its other features and characteristics (for example, a change in the composition of the government can be combined with maintaining the previous political course). The uniqueness and discrete nature of changes excludes the possibility of extrapolation (transferring the values of modern facts to the future) of certain assessments of the political process, complicates political forecasting, and sets limits to predicting political prospects.

At the same time, each type of political change has its own rhythm (cyclicality, repetition), a combination of stages and interactions of subjects, structures, and institutions. For example, the electoral process is formed in connection with election cycles, so the political activity of the population develops in accordance with the phases of the nomination of candidates for legislative or executive bodies power, discussion of their candidacies, election and control over their activities. The decisions of the ruling parties can set their own rhythm for political processes. During periods of qualitative reformation public relations decisive influence on the nature of functioning government agencies and the methods of political participation of the population do not provide solutions higher authorities management, but individual political events that change the alignment and balance of political forces. Such a “ragged” rhythm can be set in the political process by military coups, international crises, natural disasters, etc.

Reflecting real, practically established changes in political phenomena, the political process certainly includes in its content the corresponding technologies and procedures of action. In other words, the political process demonstrates the nature of changes that are associated with the activities of a specific subject using, at one time or another and in one place or another, the methods and methods of activity familiar to him. Therefore the application different technologies solving even homogeneous problems involves changes of different nature. Thus, without this technocratic link, political changes acquire an abstract character, losing their specificity and concrete historical design.

.Types of political processes

Finally, these are evolutionary political processes that are characterized by participation large factors (institutions, political system), and can also be measured using large-scale time units. Such processes could be, for example, the process of turning a polis into an imperial capital, or the modernization of the political system as a result of a series of political reforms, or the transition to democracy as a result of the dismantling of authoritarian rule, the holding of constituent elections, and then their consolidation in a series of regular competitive elections.

There are other criteria for distinguishing individual types and varieties of the political process. So, A.I. Soloviev makes similar distinctions based on differences in subject areas. In addition, A.I. Soloviev distinguishes open and closed political processes. Closed political processes “mean that type of change that can be fairly clearly assessed within the framework of the criteria of better/worst, desirable/undesirable, etc. Open processes demonstrate a type of change that does not allow us to assume what character - positive or negative for the subject - the existing transformations have or which of the possible strategies in the future is more preferable... In other words, this type of process characterizes changes that occur in extremely unclear and uncertain situations, which imply increased hypotheticalness of both performed and planned actions.” Also, he distinguishes between stable and transient processes. Stable processes presuppose “stable reproduction of political relations,” while transitional ones imply the absence of “a clear predominance of certain basic properties of the organization of power,” which is carried out in conditions of “imbalance in the political activity of the main subjects.”

The political process is a dynamic characteristic of politics. Therefore, it can be argued that the forms of existence of the political process are political change and political development. Many researchers identify different types of political processes, understanding by them types of political changes and political development.

A crisis type of development is characteristic of societies where such necessary conditions are absent and the system is unable to provide adequate responses to external changes. Then political development takes place in the form of a crisis, which can affect both individual aspects of political life and the entire system. The development of a full-scale crisis leads to an unstable state of the system or even to its collapse.

It should also be noted that in practice, the impetus and, in a certain sense, the engine of development of any political system are systemic crises. Crises arise as a result of inconsistency between structures and methods of communication between elements of the system and emerging needs. Their resolution requires qualitative changes in the system or its individual parts. In practice, we can usually observe an alternation of crises and periods of relative stability. Thus, the crisis nature of changes and political stability should be considered not as characteristics of political development as a whole, but as features of its individual moments.

.Analysis of political processes

Sociological approach to the analysis of political processes.

Analysis of political processes includes identifying its main subjects, their resources, methods and conditions of their interaction, as well as the very logical sequence of this interaction. In addition, as parameters of the political process, one can distinguish the factors of the political process, the level of equilibrium, the space and time of its occurrence.

An important point analysis of the political process is to identify its static and dynamic characteristics, generalized in terms political situation And political change.

If the concept of analysis of political change characterizes the specifics of the dynamics of the political process, then the analysis of the political situation provides a “photograph” of the political process at a specific point in time. The analysis of the situation is characterized by a static idea of the parameters of the political process. In the course of such an analysis, a system of connections and relationships between the main elements of the political process that has developed at this particular moment is revealed. In this way, a basis is created for comparison of several political situations that differ over time. In other words, a basis is created for identifying the dynamics of the political process (features of political change).

Russian political scientist A.Yu. Shutov proposes the following algorithm for analyzing the political situation:

)determination of the degree of information support, verification of data accepted for study, determination of their reliability, degree of completeness of information, its quality;

)primary selection of information, exclusion of useless information about political events that are not of fundamental importance for the analysis of a given political situation;

)a description of the political infrastructure with an emphasis on those components that are directly involved in political change;

)description of the content of the actions of the dominant political subject;

)description of the state and political behavior of other entities;

)description of impact external factors influencing political change;

)interpretation of the motives of the actions of the dominant political subject, its goals, and the means of their implementation;

)analysis of the motivation for the behavior of other political subjects, the degree of their acceptance (non-acceptance) of political change, possibilities, nature, forms and methods of counteraction;

)analysis of the capabilities of external factors to correct the result of the actions of the dominant political entity;

)analysis of “the ideology of political change, its adequacy to the achieved (achieved) goals and objectives.”

To identify the dynamic characteristics of the political process, it is very important to analyze its plot. Such an analysis can be carried out using tools developed within the framework of such scientific approach, as an analysis of political discourse. In addition, the use of formal modeling methods, game theory, and theories of political decision-making provides quite interesting results for representing the dynamics of the process.

The combination of static and dynamic principles of analysis can be compared to the process of producing and viewing videotape. Each individual frame characterizes a particular situation. Based on viewing each individual frame, we can to some extent characterize the main factors, the nature and conditions of their interaction, etc. However, this analysis will be incomplete: it will be similar to a photograph, devoid of dynamics and, in many respects, context. Only by watching a series of rapidly changing frames can we get a complete picture of the film’s plot, dynamics, as well as the main parameters of the ongoing process.

An important element studying the static and dynamic characteristics of the political process is the analysis of its external environment, which includes social, economic, cultural factors influencing the political process, as well as political changes more high level.

One of the approaches to the study of political processes that pays significant attention to environmental analysis is the sociological approach. It involves analyzing the impact of social and sociocultural factors.

The influence of social and sociocultural factors can manifest itself not only in the characteristics of individual or group political factors in the form of interests, political attitudes, motives, modes of behavior, etc. This influence can also manifest itself in the form of the specifics of the “division” of labor in politics, the distribution of power resources, as well as the characteristics of individual political institutions. Social and sociocultural factors can also influence structural characteristics political system. The social and sociocultural context largely determines the meanings (“meanings”) of certain actions, as well as the specifics of the plot of the political process. Therefore, the analysis of these factors is an integral part of the study of the political process.

As a rule, such analysis is carried out within the framework of a subdiscipline such as political sociology. This subdiscipline is younger than political science and sociology, at the junction of which it appeared: its official recognition happened in the 50s. Often, prominent political scientists are also sociologists. Among them are such names as S. Lipset, H. Linz, J. Sartori, M. Kaase, R. Aron and many others.

The specificity of this subdiscipline lies in the fact that it is, in the apt expression of J. Sartori, an “interdisciplinary hybrid” that uses social and political independent variables to explain political phenomena.

Conclusion

Political life Russian society characterized today by high participation of citizens in politics. There is a struggle between people for their interests. Their involvement in election campaigns is unusual. Some are supporters of reforms and modernization of society, others are opponents of the renewal of the country and the entire system of socio-political relations.

The characteristics of political life as a set of actions carried out by its subjects are reflected in the concept of political process. In a meaningful sense, it can be considered as the production and reproduction of the political system, the means of political power, the ways of presenting the interests of class, socio-ethnic and other social groups in institutions of power, the forms of adoption and implementation of government (managerial) decisions, political participation, types of political culture, etc. .d.

The concept of the political process captures the relationship “society - political system”. Individual people social groups strive to realize their own interests, relying on recognized ethical and legal norms, party ideology, and government bodies. All this is a process of will-formation and expression of will, various ways“presenting” one’s interests (elections, referendums, party membership, etc.). To the extent that interest groups try to impose their will on society, the state imposes its own will through coercion or compromise, carried out by political leaders and elites.

The political process is revealed as the relationship “society - power” in three main functions: formation, change of the political system, its support or opposition to it; articulation as a process of formation of interests by individuals and groups and the activity of interest groups and associations; aggregation as the activities of parties, political course and recruitment of political personnel. The fulfillment of these universal functions forms certain structures and modes of behavior in each political system. This applies to interest groups, pressure groups, political parties and elections, which together constitute the political process, the process of political will-formation.

In modern communication, the political and bureaucratic elite (elected politicians and appointed managers) that directly support the political process are constantly being reproduced and updated. This kind of “central political system”, as a set of bodies for managing the political process and its coordination (parliament, government, administration), has as its task the transformation of the needs, interests and demands of the public into political decisions. The claims of organizations to competently resolve an increasing number of problems at the level of a formalized decision-making structure will be complemented by the actions of informal organizations and individuals who have the trust of the authorities.

Discovering mechanisms for nominating people to government positions and identifying sources of centralization and decentralization of political decision-making processes - the central link of the political process - is an urgent task of political science.

List of used literature

1.Belov A.A., Eliseev S.M. Political processes and institutions in modern Russia: Educational and methodological manual. St. Petersburg, 2006.

2.Degtyarev A.A. Fundamentals of political theory. M., 1998.

.Eliseev S.M. Political relations and the modern political process in Russia: Lecture notes. St. Petersburg, 2000.

.Smolin O.N. Political process in modern Russia: textbook. allowance. M., 2006.

.Soloviev A.I. Political science. Political theory. Political technologies. M., 2000. P. 293.

.Shutov A.Yu. Political process. M., 1994

.Political process: main aspects and methods of analysis: Collection of educational materials / ed. E.Yu. Meleshkina. M., 2001.

.Political science on the Russian background / Under. ed. V.V. Ryabova. M., 1993. 480 p.

.Political Science in Questions and Answers / Under. ed. SOUTH. Volkova. M 1999. p. 347-390.

.Modern political process in Russia. M., 1998.

.Modern Russian politics: Course of lectures/Ed. V. Nikonova. M., 2003.

Tutoring

Need help studying a topic?

Our specialists will advise or provide tutoring services on topics that interest you.
Submit your application indicating the topic right now to find out about the possibility of obtaining a consultation.

Sections