Articles

The article analyzes the reasons and results of the management reform of Soviet football in 1959. Attention is focused on specific organizational measures for reforming the national championship. The use of econometric models based on the experience of Soviet football in 1960–1990 showed that the innovations were mostly positive and became one of the reasons for the success of the USSR national team in the first half of the 1960s, as well as a rollback from the principles of reform — the failures of the Soviet team in the 1970s. The use of artificial intelligence methods confirmed the conclusions of econometric analysis, and made it possible to reliably assess the international results of Soviet football in the second half of the 1950s, leading to the need for reform.

The article is an overview of the speeches of the interregional scientificpractical conference “The Conflict Field of Public Policy: Experience and Prospects of Russian Society” held as part of the implementation of scientific activities for the development of the interdisciplinary scientific school of Moscow State University in the direction of “Conflictology”, as well as timed to the anniversary of two professors of the oldest national political science department — political analysis of Moscow State University named after M.V. Lomonosov, head of the department A.I. Soloviev and Professor G.V. Pushkareva. The paper presents abstracts of reports by authoritative domestic political scientists, both employees of the Department of Political Analysis and invited researchers - representatives of leading Moscow and regional political and administrative schools and departments.

The publication provides an overview of the section “Theories and Practices of Public Administration” of the annual scientific conference “Lomonosov Readings” held at the Lomonosov Moscow State University School of Public Administration. There is a list of the main reports with short theses and the main results of the work of subsections organized by the departments of the School of Public Administration. The conference was cross-disciplinary, the questions touched upon many urgent problems in public and municipal administration. An important trend in the development of the economy and other spheres of life is a pandemic, an increase in the cost of resources, restrictions imposed by foreign partners, and acceleration in the pace of digitalization. Trends determine the search for alternative opportunities for the effective development of our country. Within the framework of the section “Theories and practice of public administration” of the conference “Lomonosov Readings”, various points of view on the prospects for the development of public administration in Russia and abroad were presented. In the context of modern internal and external challenges, specific proposals were formed to improve the economic, political and legal aspects of management based on the results of the discussions. Presented recommendations of new opportunities of management relations associated with the rapid development of science and technology.

The article is dedicated to the relations between the Holy See and the Italian government at the final stage of the process of Italian unification. The author considers the seizure of Rome on September 20, 1870, to be a significant milestone. After this event the sides faced a need to continue the dialogue in brand new circumstances. The article examines both steps taken by the Italian government in order to achieve a compromise with Pius IX and those aimed at the incorporation of Rome and provinces of the Papal States into the Italian Kingdom. Special attention is given to the reaction of the Holy See on the actions of the Italian side, as well as the Pontiff ’s efforts to maintain temporal power as a guarantee of respect for his rights of the Head of the Church.

The article is devoted to the Wales’s devolution process. The author comments well-known statement that devolution is a “process, not event”. He traces its main stages — administrative and two legislative. The author based mainly on official documents — laws and related “command” documents. Attention is drawn to British tradition of independent commissions. The work of the Richard, Holtham and Silk’s commissions analyzed. Indicated that the rights of Wales are less than those in Northern Ireland and Scotland. Wales is more integrated with England, in legal terms it was a single space “England and Wales”. Therefore, devolution’s support was here initially low. In the 1997 referendum, it was supported by only 50,3% of those who voted, with a turnout of 51%. Consequently, the idea’s support was by only a quarter of the inhabitants. However, the support is gradually expanding. This is the basis of the gradual expansion of the region’s rights. The devolution’s consequences are contradictory. Does it strengthen the kingdom, as its initiators believed, or lead to its collapse?

Public administration reform issues have always been topical in Russia. Therefore, public administration reforms are constantly being carried out in Russia. However, the quality of “administrative reforms” and their results are unsatisfactory. This undoubtedly became a prerequisite for all kinds of updates in 2020, including when developing amendments to the Constitution of the Russian Federation. The article briefly analyzes the preconditions for public administration reforms in Russia. Conclusions are made about the current state of the public administration system. The following directions of reforming public authorities, undertaken in 2020, are analyzed: the emergence of federal territories as a special kind of political-territorial units and the practice of their establishment on the example of the federal territory “Sirius; changes in the legal status of the highest authorities (primarily in terms of the redistribution of powers between the branches of government); anti-corruption novelties in the constitutional text. Special attention is paid to the digitalization of public administration: it’s current state and plans for digital transformation for the coming years.

The submitted article is focused on the potential use of history as an instrument of political governance. The author gives a review of the evolution of historical politics as a socio-political phenomenon and its theoretical understanding in modern political science. The key topic of the submitted paper is the ethnic aspects of historical politics. The author reveals the content of the main narratives of historical politics, which are often addressed by various ethnic groups in the process of nation-building. The speech is about the inquiry about the “golden age” of the history, the sacralization of the national suffering, the linking of the history with ancient civilizations, etc. Finally, it is put wise of the ways of raising the level of politicization of ethnicity caused by a variety of historical narratives.

The author presents the Kazakhstan’s experience in the development of agricultural insurance and suggests crucial ways to improve its effectiveness. Kazakhstan has made a transition from the mandatory form of agricultural insurance with state subsidization of insurance payments to the voluntary form based on the index method with state subsidization of insurance premiums. The author notes that in the conditions of digital transformation of economies, new directions are opening up for managing the development of insurance relations in agriculture. The possibilities of accumulating, storing, transmitting and processing statistical information arrays with low costs can be used to improve insurance products for agricultural producers and increase the efficiency of spending budget funds aimed at supporting the development of insurance in the industry. Due to the agriculture specifics insurance relations cannot develop effectively without state participation. Close cooperation between the state and business in the field of risk management in agriculture is necessary.

The subject of the research is the process of developing government decisions in Russia in the 1870s, based on the case of the development of the Charter on military service. The objectives of this article include identifying an algorithm for discussing a proposed government decision and indicating the characteristic features of the chosen method of solving issues of state importance. The basic method in solving these problems is the textual analysis of the document, conventionally designated by the publishers as “A.A. Shcherbatov on the issues of the terms of military service”. The result was the definition of four phases in the process of preparing and making government decisions. Each phase has a specific load. For the first phase — the formation of ideas of army professionals about the needs of the troops, in the transition to a new principle of their formation. For the second phase — the approbation of these ideas in society and the correction of the outlined plans. For the third phase — clarification of the developed provisions in polemics with representatives of “interest groups” that developed at that time in the management elite. For the fourth phase — the consolidation of the reform elements formed during the discussion process at the state level.

The article concerns the study of the process of reorganization of regional and local government in the Soviet Union on the basis of the principle of production branch. This problem is not only of scientific, but also practical interest, since it makes it possible to take into account the experience of failed reforms in improving the system of regional and municipal government. Based on the analysis of decisions made by the highest party bodies, regulatory documents, press, archival sources, the content of the reform, its implementation and results are considered. The reform of the CPSU committees, councils and their executive committees at the regional and local levels significantly destabilized the situation in many spheres of the country’s life: party and state administration in the center and localities, management of economic sectors and led to a reduction in the pace of development, a decrease in the standard of living of the population and contributed to a change of establishment of the USSR.