Articles

The research is aimed at studying the role of social guarantees in stimulating the work of public civil servants. Social guarantees of state civil servants are the most important incentives for officials. Researchers give ambiguous assessments of state social guarantees in terms of labor incentives. Therefore, the purpose of the work is to evaluate the stimulating impact of state social guarantees on the activities of civil servants and suggest measures to improve the application of social guarantees. The research used methods of system analysis and general scientific methods. To achieve this goal, the article substantiates the importance of social guarantees in the system of motivation of civil servants, analyzes the state social guarantees, and assesses the effectiveness of their application in the civil service. Based on the results of the study, the authors assess the stimulating influence of state social guarantees on the activities of state civil servants. It is established that some social guarantees, which are long-term in nature and aimed at forming long-term service relationships, have a weak connection with service experience, which reduces their stimulating influence. Based on the author’s analysis of the identified problems of the impact of state social guarantees on the activities of civil servants, the need to strengthen the stimulating role of social guarantees related to seniority, including: a monthly Supplement to the official salary, the provision of housing subsidies, state awards and other guarantees, by further differentiating the length of service and the amount of guarantees. As a perspective for the study of social guarantees, it seems appropriate to develop a methodology for evaluating the effectiveness of their application in the state civil service of the Russian Federation.

The article is devoted to the preparation and realization of strategically important documents concerning country’s regional policy and its spatial development. One of the problems with these documents is their insufficient scientific validity, which prevents forecasting future events as well as the conditions for their occurrence. The article states that ensuring the scientific validity of the documents grants the appearance of suitable conditions for crafting an accurate, state-of-the-art document that would not only satisfy the legal requirements in this area of public relations but also would contain regulations that would provide smooth practical implementation.

The article provides a comprehensive analysis of the potential benefits and risks arising in the process of university-business cooperation (UBC) from the perspective of three key actors — universities, commercial companies and the state. Advantages and limitations are grouped into four categories: financial and economic (gaining or losing additional income and other financial benefits / losses from cooperation), organizational or administrative (changes in the organizational structure, business processes, use of human potential), related to the main activity of organizations (the quality of the organization’s mission implementation), as well as image-building (the organization’s position in ratings, brand recognition, goodwill). The analysis showed that a competent assessment of the resources available to organizations, understanding of differences in corporate culture, studying best practices of similar projects’ implementation, and also legal support of these relationships, which will help to avoid many risks and negative consequences in the future, are of great importance for the success of university-business cooperation.

The article is devoted to a review of modern practice of implementing state policy on career guidance for youth. It is indicated that the choice by young people of the future sphere of professional activity is mainly situational-factorial, and not predictive-conscious in nature. A list of the main groups of factors motivating the choice of the future profession by modern Russian youth is given. The purpose of the article is to prove the need to strengthen the role of the state in the professional orientation of youth. On the basis of the study, the need was identified to intensify the strategic approach within the framework of this state policy, to build on a systematic basis holistic work on the formation of labor resources and career guidance for youth in accordance with the current situation and prospects for the development of the labor market, the synthesis of ongoing career counseling measures at all levels of youth education, strengthening collaboration of a wide range of participants (state and non-state institutions, federal and regional actors of state policy). As a measure to strengthen the state policy on career guidance for youth, it is proposed to switch from a tactical career guidance model to a career management model based on an analysis of the current state and a forecast analysis of future labor market transformations.

The article is devoted to the key factors determined pattern and scale of Red Army and German Army losses during the operation to Kalinin city liberation in December, 1941. Author studied the conditions of the beginning of the Great Patriotic War in the context of their influence on the losses of the warring sides. The difficulties of the Soviet and German armed forces on the tactical and operational levels are revealed. The personal dimension of the decision making process predetermined the course and the results of the battle is considered.

Shcherbatov’ literary utopia can be considered as a treatise on the methods of public administration. It contains a description of three methods: “spatial management”, “feedback” and “personal behavior management.” They constitute a unity that allows preserving, developing and enhancing communication between the authorities and the population of the country. Each of these mechanisms is described in territorial, temporary and mental space of the “ideal” state. Shcherbatov saw the potential use of these mechanisms in modern Russia. But he understood that there were no conditions for their implementation in the management system The mechanisms proposed by him were not invented by him. Separate elements of each of them existed in the socio-political thought of European education. It was due to Scherbatov, that he discerned the possibilities of using this kind of mechanism, which was much ahead of his time.

The article is devoted to the problem of adopting the law “On Political Parties” in the second half of the 1990s. Based on a study of various sources, the author attempts to finalize this law after it was rejected by the Federation Council in early 1996. The adoption of this law was dictated by the need to exclude numerous non-political organizations from the electoral process. The total participation of these organizations in the 1995 parliamentary elections led to conflicting results and cast doubt on the effectiveness of the majorityproportional electoral system. Howevear, despite the intentions of the deputies, who, it would seem, were interested in the speedy adoption of this normative act, work on the document had stalled. The reasons that did not allow the adoption of this document again were in several factors. This is, firstly, an extremely difficult political situation in which the Duma of the second convocation acted, constantly standing on the verge of dissolution. Secondly, a significant amount of legislative work was influenced, which the opposition Duma was forced to carry out under constant time pressure. Thirdly, deputies feared that this law would be used against opposition parties. However, the decisive factor, which for decades did not allow achieving results, was the absence in Russia of strong parties and a developed party system. On the other hand, the refusal to fix the special rights and obligations of political parties in a special law can be considered as a feature of the Russian constitutional law of the 1990s. The then legislation allowed not only ideological, but also organizational pluralism for numerous socio-political associations.

The article addresses an acute issue of forming a modern pension system in the Republic of Kazakhstan in conditions of emerging market economy and aging population. The article examines the development and implementation of the national pension system in Kazakhstan in the 1990’s and 2000’s with the transition from state Pay-As-You-Goto a predominantly accumulative pension system, at the same time maintaining minimum social guarantees and increasing the official retirement age in the country. It also traces the transition from a decentralized system of mandatory funded pension insurance based on non-state pension funds to a centralized system represented by a Single accumulative pension Fund, with a gradual leveling of retirement age of men and women to 63 years. Drawing on SWOT analysis, the article identifies the priority directions for the development of the pension system in Kazakhstan with the formation of a multi-level model designed to ensure an increase in pensioners’ standard of living. The final part of the article presents the authors’ analysis of the national pension system and its place within the rating of the countries participating in the Global retirement index MMGPI and its sub-indices. The authors suggest certain measures for its improvement, such as raising the minimum retirement security, introducing additional compulsory insurance of employers’ contributions, tax incentives for voluntary pension savings, diversification of investment strategies including the right of citizens to choose a managing company.

Rapid absolution of skills and knowledge determines the need for constant retraining, advanced training and mastering new technologies. Nevertheless, the volume and complexity of the material learned are no longer consider being the main value of the learning process. Development of the range of cognitive abilities, which can be combined under the general concept of «learning to learn», comes to the forefront.

The article analyzes the “learning to learn” concept in the context of various approaches that differs both in the content of this skill and in the interpretation of its formation conditions. Within the first approach, “learning to learn” skill is developed through the disclosure of the skill’s structure to students. Within the second approach, the skill is developed by solving practical or research problems. The third approach to the “learning to learn” formation provides changes in the content of training and develops educational cooperation between the teacher and the students. Until now, no studies have been conducted to prove constant advantage of a particular method in the context of “learning to learn” formation.

In this paper “learning to learn” is considered to be a symbiosis of self-discipline, perseverance, motivation, information literacy, speed reading, critical thinking and reflection. Considerable attention is paid to the conceptual and terminological apparatus of the «learning to learn».

For almost two hundred years, the Arab Orthodox population of Syria and Lebanon, which constituted the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch, was under the ecclesiastical authority of the Greeks. The growth of the national consciousness of the Middle Eastern Arabs caused a desire to free themselves from this power, which at the end of the 19th century led to a protracted churchpolitical conflict in the Orthodox world. For the first time in Russian science, the article examines an important episode in the struggle of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch for its independence  — the patriarchal elections of 1906. The paper is based on the reports of the Russian consuls in Damascus and Beirut, which contain valuable information about the course of the struggle for the patriarchal throne, its participants, as well as the subsequent struggle for the recognition of the new patriarch by the Greek Churches.