The article analyzes the UNESCO activities in the implementation of the research project “Methods in political science” in the first years after the end of World War II. The project realization resulted in recognizing political science as an independent discipline by the world academic community. One of the key events during the work on the project was the holding of the international conference on “Methods in political science” in September 1948 in Paris. The participants of this conference reached a fundamental agreement on the content of the scope of the emerging discipline, while noting, however, that the list of subjects does not claim to be exhaustive completeness or strict logic. As shown by the reference to archival documents copies posted on the UNESCO website, subsequently the above list underwent certain adjustments, but, nevertheless, it became the basis for further fruitful cooperation between scientists and specialists from different countries involved in the study of various aspects of social and political reality. The conference also formed a Preparatory Committee to convene and organize the work of the Founding Conference of the International Political Science Association (IPSA), which took place exactly a year later, in September 1949.

March 2023 has marked thirty years since the decision was made by the Academic Council of the RSUH to open a department of political science at the Institute of History and Archives of the RSUH. Over the years, a long way has been passed in the formation and development of educational programs in political science and scientific and pedagogical schools in the field of political science. The article analyzes the institutional and scientific grounds for the emergence and formation of political science programs at the Russian State University for the Humanities, the main directions of scientific research on the basis of documents of the Academic Council, archival documents and interviews. The specifics of the scientific and educational project genesis in the field of political science at RSUH in comparison with other universities, the main stages of its development, personnel composition, features of curricula, scientific and pedagogical personnel training, fields of graduates’ activity are determined.

It is shown that the emergence of political science programs at RSUH was defined by the uniqueness of the conditions developed in the scientific and educational sphere in the early 1990s: during that period, Soviet norms in the field of education and science were no longer in effect, and new ones had not yet been formed. It gave the opportunity to launch experiments that allowed the university in general and political science programs in particular to acquire their face. The ideas of the founders of political science and political science education at RSUH, which were laid down in the early 1990s, have not lost their potential and relevance today, when the Russian higher school has once again entered the path of serious transformation.

The fact that the evolution of the “political world” occurs together with the transformation of its conceptual and categorical apparatus does not cause serious doubts. Today, the process of irreversible changes in the area has affected the concept of sovereignty as basic for the social sciences. The article found that alternative views on the bilateral structure of sovereignty make the content of that concept more voluminous and require the use of additional tools to facilitate its understanding. One of the evidences of such state of affairs is the classification of sovereignty by S. Krasner, which is common in political science. A critical analysis of S. Krasner’s typology, however, could not secure for the typology of the famous scientist the adherence to the basic scientific principle – objectivity. Overcoming the author’s subjectivity which stimulated the selective deactivation of one of the two sides of sovereignty it was decided to theoretically construct special approaches to understanding sovereignty. A more rigorous matrix, known in political science by the phrase “The Great Debates”, was used to identify supporters/opponents of each of the formed approaches, as well as to describe the difference in their research positions. The use of the matrix of Great Debates in accordance with the axiomatic method became an example of a not unsuccessful attempt to implement methodological triangulation, which updated the versatile “vision” of sovereignty and stimulated a more comprehensive view of it.

The article is about studying the role of Italy in the process of Croatia’s accession to the Euro-Atlantic institutions. The purpose of the work is to determine the role of European countries in the process of European integration of post-socialist states and their entry into NATO, using the example of Italian-Croatian relations. The study considered in detail the works and statements of leading Italian scientists and politicians regarding the assessment of the place of the Balkan region in Italy’s foreign policy. The subsequent detailed analysis of the bilateral cooperation of the states helped to identify the key areas their interaction that influenced the rapprochement of Zagreb with the European Union and the North Atlantic Alliance. Ultimately, it was concluded that Italy played a significant role in the integration processes of Croatia, taking several major steps within the framework of Italian-Croatian relations that accelerated the entry of the Western Balkan republic into the EU and NATO. Each of the above points of interstate interaction was considered in detail in order to more accurately identify the specifics of relations between the two countries in the context of expanding Euro-Atlantic institutions. Based on the results of the study, a universal model of cooperation was determined, which can later be used to study other similar cases.

The article considers those elements of federal statehood that in the early 1960s went to the newly independent Nigeria from the outgoing British colonialists. It follows from the analysis undertaken by the author that this legacy was twofold. On the one hand, thanks to the federal scheme developed and implemented by the ex-metropolis, it is still possible to maintain the integrity of the once conditional socio-political space, now called Nigeria; on the other hand, the federation created by London turned out to be national-territorial, that is, initially burdened with a lot of congenital defects and potential risks. By endowing each of the three dominant ethnic groups in Nigeria – Hausa-Fulani, Yoruba, and Igbo – with their own federating entity in the face of the Northern, Western and Eastern regions and thereby fusing together the ethnos and territory, the former metropolis built into the foundations of the federal building being built prerequisites for a powerful ethnic conflict. After independence, which took place in 1960, this conflict broke to the surface; it destabilized Nigeria throughout the existence of the First Republic of 1960- 1966, almost destroying the federation, provoking the secession of Biafra and the bloody civil war that followed. To the full extent, the consequences of the British federal experiment of Nigeria have not been overcome so far; that is why their study is important.

The article is about analyzing the issue of risk management in the sphere of world politics, the importance of which is increasing in the conditions of the modern geopolitical crisis. The purpose of the study is to consider the issue of risk perception in a political perspective; substantiation of the application of the cognitive-narratological approach to its study; description of risk-reception technologies as a mechanism for the formation of one of the types of strategic narratives; assessment of the prospects for the use of certain technologies for manipulating the perception of risks in the field of international relations. The analysis of scientific publications on the issues of risk perception is carried out, a number of interdisciplinary areas of value for political science are identified. The application of cognitive-narratological methodology and the concept of strategic narratives in the study of risk perception issues issubstantiated. The operationalization of risk perception management concepts in the practice of international communication is carried out using the example of strategic planning technologies of the RAND Corporation, an American analytical center for the study of global politics. The principles of risk reception technologies (risk perception management technologies) are described, it is shown that the mechanism of their application includes the impact on the cognition of “perception” or “reception”. By the example of one of the types of strategic narratives, an assessment of the prospects for the use of certain technologies for manipulating risk perception in the field of international relations is given.

The article considers online forms of civic participation of young people in the digital space, aimed at protecting their rights, expressing political positions, demonstrating attitude to decisions made by authorities. Oftentimes the civic activity of young people goes beyond social tasks and issues (volunteering, participation in social projects, etc.), becomes politicized due to the dependence of many decisions on the authorities. Therefore, the article considers civic participation in relation to the political activity of young people. It is proved that excessive freedom of action and lack of control in social media, the availability of various information channels, a decrease in trust and loyalty to official sources of information, create a zone of socio-political risks of the manifestation of the protest civic activity of young people, which falls under the influence of manipulators (influencers) and intensifies both online and offline formats. During the expert survey, it was found that as a result of online communication, content, communicational, electronic and ideological sociopolitical risks manifest themselves. The risks may produce consequences which may be destructive actions on the part of young citizens in social networks (criticism, condemnation, bullying, disinformation, aggression, etc.) against the political system. Due to the adoption of timely institutional measures, it is possible to manage the digital space, and in particular, the socio-political risks of civic participation of young people in modern Russia.

The institution of parliamentary dissolution is necessary to resolve the conflict between the parliament and the government. The dissolution of parliament results from a vote no confidence to the government, as well as it happens in cases prescribed by law. One of the most common options is the dissolution at the initiative of the prime minister to create advantages for the ruling party in early elections. The article highlights new trends in the development of the institution of parliament dissolution. One of them is the rarer use of dissolution to overcome the crisis in the relationship between the branches of government. The author argues that parliament dissolution is gradually turning from an institution of subjective discretion of the prime minister and government into a legal way to resolve deadlocks in the political process. This goal is served by the constitutional and legal restrictions on dissolution, which are widespread in the legislation of many parliamentary countries. The author notes that today there is a constitutionalization of the dissolution institute with the simultaneous depoliticization of that institution, namely, the narrowing of the freedom of choice of actors, primarily the prime minister. At the same time, in contemporary parliamentary systems, there is a different amount of dissolution legislative restrictions. The author analyzes such a kind of restriction on dissolution as the introduction of a fixed date for elections to the parliaments of Great Britain and Canada. The article claims that in practice this restriction does not lead to the weakening of the prime minister’s power of dissolution. It is concluded that despite innovations in the development of the parliamentary dissolution institution, the parliamentary system remains flexible, making it possible to use dissolution as a mechanism for resolving political differences.

The article analyzes the phenomenon of religious parties in the post-Soviet space. It is shown that they were formed either in the formats of Islamic parties or Christian-democratic. There are States that impose a ban on the creation of parties on religious grounds, and those that allow their existence. The prerequisites for the appearance of such restrictions are shown. The article especially analyzes the case of Tadjikistan, where approaches to the possibilities of the legal existence of religious parties have fundamentally changed. Other criteria related to the religious sphere and limiting the activities of parties (propaganda of religious discord and enmity, financing of parties by religious structures, etc.) are also analyzed. The results of the analysis are presented in the summary table 1. The article shows that Islamic and Christian Democratic parties manifest themselves in the post-Soviet space as oppositional. There is an analysis of the prerequisites and factors, the value bases of such a situation. It is shown that Islamic proto-parties and movements offering an alternative project of statehood can exist only in an illegal format, and Christian Democratic parties acquiring national-state specifics can be both oppositional and supporting the current government, depending on its political course. The author also analyzes the reasons for the institutional weakness of religious parties. The conclusion is made about the negative result of projects to create religious parties in the post-Soviet space.

The article is analyzing the political projection of the image of Russia’s future as an instrument of public policy and its potential to maintain the country’s socio-political stability. The essence of political projection is investigated; the substantiation of the influence of the image of the future on socio-political stability is given; the possibility and features of projection of the image of Russia’s future are considered; the significance of the project of the image of the future is illustrated, taking the public opinion of Russians into account. The results of the study demonstrate that in the Russians’ mass consciousness, the image of the future is of hybrid character. It is characterized by partial fragmentation and indefiniteness in certain spheres of life, which increases the risks of socio-political destabilization. Based on empirical sociological information, the authors come to the conclusion that the image of the future formed in Russian society consists of a core and a periphery. Value orientation of citizens is its most stable and the least changeable element. They form the core of the image of the future. Depending on the influence of external and internal factors, changeability is characteristic of the peripheral components. These include citizens’ prediction of their financial situation, the level of anxiety about the future, the society’s relations with the authorities, fixing the society’s socio-psychological sentiment and states, and others. The Russians’ opinion that such concepts as “justice”, “peace”, “order”, “law” and “human rights” must be the basis for the revival of the future Russia is quite stable. The authorities can design an optimal model of the image of Russia’s future, based on attitudes and values shared and cultivated by society, by monitoring the relevant needs, interests and requests of the Russian society. Such projection should be based on the principles of science, consistency, verification and relevance in order to contribute to maintaining Russia’s socio-political stability.