Articles

The autumn of 1986 was marked by the sixth session of the USSR Supreme Soviet (the eleventh convocation). There the issue of the activities of the People’s Control Committee (PCC) of the USSR was discussed. It caused a lively debate among the participants of the meeting. The purpose of this study is to determine the role of the USSR People’s Control Committee’s report in the context of the perestroika reforms. To achieve this goal, historical-systemic and historical-genetic methods were used. The article shows that the Committee’s report at the meeting of the USSR Supreme Soviet became the starting point for the shaping of control reform in the country. The author analyzes the activities involved in preparing the report of the PCC, the speech of A. Shkolnikov (the Chairman of the PCC), and main participants’ criticisms directed at the Committee, as well as the Plan for follow-up actions to the USSR Supreme Soviet Resolution “On the activities of the People’s Control Committee of the USSR”. The USSR PCC and the USSR Ministry of Finance have prepared practical recommendations for a public administration large-scale reform, which essence consisted of managerial and legal transformations in order to centralize both departmental and interdepartmental control. The aim of the reform was to improve coordination between regulatory bodies significantly and to refine regulations in the area of control. Nevertheless, the proposals were not implemented due to a change in the control reform concept by M. Gorbachev and the CPSU.

The concept of “cancel culture” in politics can be used to denote the mechanisms used in political communication to deprive one or another political actor of the opportunity to use state power to achieve their own goals. As an act of communication, “cancel culture” is in a complex relationship with the activity of physical elimination of political actors or repressive policies. The objective of this article is to identify in the history of the Russian state in the 18th–19th centuries the mechanisms of “cancellation” of the heir to the throne, used to replace one heir with another or to change the principles of succession; to identify typologically close elements in the application of these mechanisms. The result of the study was the identification of one common feature of the two “cancellation” processes — an extremely significant role played by the personal qualities of the heir to the throne. The identified specific features of each of the cases of cancellation consisted in the fact that in the first quarter of the 18th century the mechanism of demonstrative cancellation was used, and in the first quarter of the 19th century — hidden cancellation.

The second part of the study covers the period of formation and development of the environmental policy of the Russian Federation (since 1991). The article analyzes the process of formation of new legal framework for nature management in the transition period (1991–2000), characterized by a radical transformation of the institutional structure of environmental management and adaptation to market regulatory mechanisms. The article considers the stage of institutionalization of environmental policy in the systemic period (2000–2022), including the creation of a federal vertical of environmental management, the development of a regulatory framework and the integration of environmental priorities into strategic documents of state planning. Particular attention is paid to the analysis of the current stage of transformation of Russia’s environmental policy in the context of external restrictions (since 2022), characterized by the need to ensure environmental security in the context of geopolitical challenges and import substitution. The study reveals trends in the development of Russian environmental policy and determines promising areas for its improvement in modern conditions.

The article is devoted to an analysis of the Greek Orthodox cemetery in the Şişli district of Istanbul as a complex historical source for the history of the Russian presence and emigration on the Bosphorus fr om the nineteenth to the early twenty-first century. The focus is on one of the largest and best-preserved Orthodox necropolises in the city, wh ere over the course of one and a half centuries the presence of people from Russia has been recorded — from pilgrims, diplomats, and clergy of the pre-revolutionary period to refugees of the first wave of emigration and their descendants.

The study is based on materials from cemetery registers and parish metric books of the Şişli Orthodox cemetery, as well as archival documents preserved in the archives of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. It is shown that, in conditions of fragmentation, loss, and lack of description of state, consular, and émigré archives, necropolis-related and church documents in many cases constitute the only sources recording the fact of residence, death, and burial places of subjects of the Russian Empire in Constantinople-Istanbul during the Ottoman and Republican periods.

Special attention is given to the source-study specificity of the necropolis complex, including the combination of material sources (tombstones and epitaphs) and documentary materials, issues of preservation, transliteration and linguistic distortions, as well as practices of reuse of burial sites. The article concludes that the Greek Orthodox cemetery in Şişli has high scholarly value, making it possible to reconstruct migration, demographic, and socio-legal aspects of the history of the Russian abroad and to expand the chronological and territorial framework of research on Russian emigration in the Ottoman Empire and the Republic of Turkey.

The Soviet Information Bureau, along with the Telegraph Agency of the Soviet Union, was the largest information agency of the USSR. Despite its widespread popularity, some aspects of the activities of the Sovinformburo are still poorly understood. In the article this news agency is considered as a mechanism for forming a positive image of the USSR abroad. The chronological framework covers not only the period of the Great Patriotic War, but also the post-war period up to the closure of the organization in early 1961. The research focuses on the functioning of the Sovinformburo the evolution of the agency’s activities, the reasons for the reorientation to the foreign policy information front, mechanisms of interaction with foreign mass media and public organizations. The article attempts to assess the effectiveness of the work of the Sovinformburo abroad, identifies the factors that contributed to the agency’s achievement of its goals, and identifies the reasons for the difficulties that the leadership of the Soviet Information Bureau faced when working abroad. The author concludes that throughout its twenty-year existence the Sovinformburo has successfully served as a tool for shaping a positive image of the Soviet Union abroad.

The article examines the role of Soviet housing cooperation in implementing the cultural revolution policy through measures to create a “new life”. The relevance of this research lies in the need to expand the traditional understanding of state policy in the Soviet Union, which was only achieved through the efforts of the party apparatus, but also through public institutions. Based on social history methodology, the authors analyzed a significant number of sources, including official materials from the All-Union Housing Cooperative Council, the Central Housing Union of the RSFSR, grassroots cooperative organizations, legal regulations, and theoretical works by RCP(B) — VKP(B) leaders, as well as central and branch periodicals and fictional works. Based on the above, it can be concluded that the housing cooperative did not effectively advocate for the “new life” policy. This was primarily due to the lack of a strong material base for the cooperative network. Despite some successes, they did not significantly impact the overall situation within the system. Ultimately, the inability of housing cooperatives to effectively implement government policy led to their dissolution in 1937.

This article provides a comprehensive analysis of conceptual distinctions between administrative management and state governance in the context of transformation of the Chinese system of power. The study justifies its relevance through the prism of a paradigmatic shift in the philosophy of power, reflected in the semantic transition from 行政管理 (xíng zhèng guǎn lǐ) to 国家治理 (guó jiā zhì lǐ). The research methodology is based on historical-genetic and comparative analysis of Western theories of public administration (traditional administration, NPM, NPS, Good Governance) and their Chinese reception. The results reveal fundamental ontological divergences between Western liberal-democratic conceptions and the Chinese approach to governance modernization under the leadership of the Communist Party of China. Key parameters of transformation are identified: the expansion of governance actors, diversification of regulatory methods, and shifts in efficiency criteria and foundations of legitimacy. The conclusion underscores the distinctiveness of China’s trajectory, which represents an approach to governance modernization characterized by Chinese specificity and driven by technological and managerial innovations.

This article discusses the preparation and adoption of the law on the organization of municipal government in Paris in April 1834. It examines the draft law and its amendments, as well as the discussions on the reform in the Chamber of Deputies. The article reveals that there were two different approaches to the Paris government structure, which emerged during the parliamentary debates. These approaches were based on two models of relations between the government and the capital city of Paris. The legislators involved in developing the reform adhered to these models. The article also discusses the conflict between these approaches in the context of a clash between the interests of the city authorities and the national government over control of the city. This article attempts to reconstruct the history of the 1834 reform, which has not been thoroughly explored.

The article presents a study of the role of the press as the primary tool for organizational development and ideological consolidation of the Action Party (Partito d’Azione, PdA) in Italy during its formative period (1942–1944).

The first part details the party's historical origins, its organizational formation within the left wing of the anti-fascist movement, and the creation of its official printed organ—the newspaper “L’Italia Libera” (January 1943). The article analyzes the key functions of the party press (informational, mobilizational, ideological, organizational-coordinating, and consolidating) and the methods of underground publishing that allowed it to adapt to the conditions of secrecy, repression, war, and resource scarcity: a decentralized network of printing houses, “safe houses,” a strict secrecy regime, and a specialized editorial team. Based on archival materials, the PD's programmatic statements, memoirs, and underground publications, the authors demonstrate how “L’Italia Libera” shaped the party's ideological image, heroized its fighters, debunked the myths of the fascist regime, and proposed an alternative for Italy's post-war political structure. The research emphasizes that the printed organ became the main tool for the PD's organizational development, contributing to its transformation into one of the leading forces of the Italian Resistance.

The article is devoted to the issues of adapting modern education system to rapid technological development, especially in light of the emergence and rapid spread of artificial intelligence services. The author emphasizes the need for rethinking traditional approaches to education and proposes a concept of an educational ecosystem aimed at enhancing individualized learning approach for the new generation (digital natives). Requirements are considered for developing new professional competencies both among future specialists in public administration and teachers, including the ability to effectively interact with neural networks. The idea of forming “neurocompetence” among educators is substantiated, which will contribute to creating comfortable conditions for quality education in the era of emerging advanced technologies. An example is given of implementing the intelligent digital assistant “La France grammaticale” into teaching French language at Faculty of Public Administration.