Moscow University Public Administration Bulletin. 2021. 4.

The article examines the role of state information systems as a regulator of public relations. The author proceeds from the premise that the rules and requirements laid down in the algorithms of such systems, under certain circumstances, have all the signs of a legal norm and actually act in their capacity, and the state information systems themselves de facto become a source of law. Using the method of analysis, the author highlights the existing problems associated with the use of state information systems in such a role: the uncertainty of legal consequences, the heterogeneity of law enforcement practice, the conflict of legality and legitimacy. The principal solution to these problems, according to the author’s conclusion, is the recognition of state and municipal information systems as a form (source) of law de jure, their integration into the legal system and the extension of the principles and stages of the lawmaking process to their creation.

The article analyzes the concept and elements of the innovation infrastructure created in the subjects of the Russian Federation over the past thirty years. The author evaluates the evolution of the use of such innovative infrastructure facilities as business incubators, techno parks, clusters, SEZs in the regions of our country, and comes to the conclusion that the results of their use in recent years are quite modest and do not lead to a significant increase in the production of innovative products. At the same time, the author uses the example of a number of subjects of the Siberian Federal District (Krasnoyarsk Krai, Novosibirsk and Tomsk Regions, the Republic of Yakutia) to determine the advantages of using such innovative development institutions as research support funds, venture and guarantee funds, as well as regional development corporations by the subjects of the Russian Federation. The article suggests linking federal priorities for the development of science and innovation support with regional priorities, defining subjects and criteria for providing assistance at the expense of regional budgets in the relevant regional law on innovation, as well as building a clear system for providing types of subsidies in regional state programs for the development of innovation. In addition, the article proposes to legislatively regulate the activities of existing regional institutions of regional innovative development (science support funds, development corporations, innovation support funds).

The article reveals the current state of participatory governance practices on the example of the implementation of urban development projects in terms of improvement, key barriers and boundaries of civic participation in addressing the development of urban environment. The problems are considered through the concepts of political governance, trust within the existing regulatory framework and actual participatory practices in the regional context of 85 subjects of the Russian Federation, as well as taking into account the specifics of the current political landscape. The necessity of modifying the existing paradigm of interaction between the authorities and society in terms of improving the quality and intensity of such interaction is elaborated and substantiated, and successful cases from the regions of the Russian Federation with positive results and confirming the effectiveness of the active inclusion of society in the dialogue with the state are presented.

The article is devoted to the interpretation of conceptual approaches (market and resource) to the formation of competitive advantages of companies. The key features of the classic business environment and the prerequisites on which the market and resource approaches are based are formulated. The differences were revealed between two opposite approaches to competition (according to Porter) — “to be the best” or “to be unique”. The limitedness of the “being the best” approach is shown, and it is proved that strategy is responsible for the uniqueness (of a product or method), and uniqueness is achieved through innovation. Attention is drawn to the fact that companies make strategic choices simultaneously in the space of results and in the space of risks, so this can lead to both success and failure (this is the essence of the strategic paradox). And the conclusion was made that the more extreme (extreme) strategies the company adheres to, the greater the strategic risk it takes upon itself, and this can lead to both obtaining large profits and ending in bankruptcy. Michael Raynor’s rationale is given that companies seeking to avoid risk (implementing hybrid strategies) make a choice in favor of lower profits (in favor of mediocrity), but this statement in some cases does not find confirmation in reality. It has been proven in practice that if a company manages to quickly move from one wave of competitive advantage to another, then it can maintain a sustainable competitive advantage for a long time; an algorithm for such a transition is presented.

This article focused on the development of the management system and organization structure of the soviet oil industry in 1920s-1930s. In the article were analized changes in the structure of government bodies since abolition NEP to the moment of creation of People’s Commissariat of the Oil Industry (Narkomneft). Affected reforms resulted in increased centralization and the growth of bureaucracy. But thanks to these changes, the overall performance of the industry has increased, expressed in an increase in oil production, oil refining and a significant expansion of prospecting geological works. Creation of the Narkomneft became the last stage of the pre-war reforms in the management of the soviet oil industry. The People’s Commissariat of the Oil Industry retained leading government structure over the oil industry until 1946, when it was divided into two People’s Commissars (later ministries) of the oil industry.

For almost two centuries, the ancient Patriarchate of Antioch, domestic Church for orthodox population of Syria and Lebanon, was under the control of the Greek patriarchs. At the beginning of the 20th century it regained its independence. Though it was not only a benefit, but also a real challenge, including internal crises. One of the first was the crisis of 1913. At the beginning of the year, Patriarch Gregory IV of Antioch visited Russia, and soon after his return, a sharp conflict broke out inside the patriarchate. On the basis of Russian diplomatic documents, the article analyzes the causes and development of the crisis in the Patriarchate of Antioch, clarifies the role of Russian diplomacy in resolving the conflict between the patriarch and the synodal opposition, and determines the impact that the patriarch’s trip to Russia had on the progress of the crisis.

The article is devoted to the analysis of the state electoral policy of the 1990s, it is shown that the results of the study of the political experience of the 1999 parliamentary elections in Russia can be used for a deeper understanding of modern electoral technologies. The purpose of this article is, based on the complex use of various sources (laws, press materials, electronic resources), to consider the election campaign in the Third Duma because of a contradictory, but at the same time, integral state electoral policy aimed at realizing the electoral rights of citizens and their associations. This research is based on the diachronic, systemic, comparative, and formal legal method. The author identifies the following subjects of electoral policy in the Russian Federation in the late 1990s: The President, the Federal Assembly represented by the State Duma, the highest courts, and the Central Election Commission. At the same time, the field of Russian electoral politics was a diversified and competitive environment, where none of the actors had an absolute advantage. Only close interaction of all branches of government, each of which tried to contribute to the improvement of the electoral model, contributed to the implementation of the Russian electoral policy to ensure the electoral rights of citizens.

I. von Ribbentrop’s letter to W. Churchill with information about his last conversation with Hitler is of some interest not only for historians, but also for the general public, since the problems of the origin and development of the Second World War raised in it are at the center of the ongoing ideological struggle and psychological warfare.

In his letter, I. Ribbentrop tried to present Hitler’s Germany’s policy towards England as friendly, as well as to justify his and Hitler’s non-involvement in the outbreak of World War II. He offered his own version of the origin of this war: as a consequence of the strengthening of communist propaganda in Germany, after the signing of the Non-Aggression Pact with the USSR, which threatened the unity of the German people, which caused the radicalization of National Socialism.. This version made it possible to remove or reduce Germany’s responsibility for the outbreak of World War II. Being stated, it remained unfounded, contradicting the estimates and thoughts of Hitler reported by Ribbentrop himself. Trying to justify himself, Ribbentrop talked about his disagreements with Hitler, about his negative attitude to the repressions that took place in Germany, hoping that this could ease both the situation of the defeated Germany and his own position in the new world.

An analysis of the contents of this document leads to the conclusion: the main thing that could have been positively assessed by W. Churchill in this letter and could have eased Ribbentrop’s situation was the version of the emergence of the Second World War through the fault of communist ideology and the Soviet Union. Therefore, W. Churchill’s acquaintance of I.V. Stalin with I. Ribbentrop’s letter could have some political significance as one of the arguments in favor of the version about the responsibility of the USSR for the complication of its relations with England.