The first part of the article presents achievements in the many years work of the Department of Comparative Political Studies of FCTAS RAS on the development of national institutional political science relating to the workout of the conceptual and categorical apparatus adequate to the Russian realities. The author outlines specially created ideal typical constructs “political field”, “field of domination”, “politics of modern type”, “political/emancipatory power”, “domination as a form of non-political power”. Their theoretical and methodological justification is given, their analytical potential for studying the unfinished institutionalization of the political order in Russia and identifying the resources of transformative politics is revealed.

In the second part of the article, the cross-cutting theme is the possibility of expanding the horizon for research on political-power relations through the optics of the concepts on domination, which is interpreted as a social pathology in modern democracies. It specifies the political-philosophical and theoretical foundations for the present-day scientific discourse and conceptions of domination, the criteria of conceptual differentiation between the two forms of power, the experience in the concepts operationalization. In the final empirical part of the study, based on the analysis of primary data from five waves of the all-Russian surveys, the analytical tool kit of dominance concepts is proved to be productive for studying the nature of Russia’s institutional environment. The article also proves a correlation between processes of proliferation of the domination social relations and deformation of political field, decrease of resources of society and potential of political innovations in Russia.

In a comparative way the article considers the practice of quantitative analysis of large textual data in Russian and foreign political science using the example of the GDELT (Global Database of Events, Language, and Tone) database. Based on the review of scientific publications by Russian and foreign researchers, the article shows a variety of research tasks that can be solved using GDELT data. At the same time, the tasks solved by national political scientists using GDELT data are mainly descriptive in nature, while the works of foreign scientists are characterized by the incorporation of GDELT data into complex mathematical models in order to determine the nature and direction of relationships between variables. It is revealed that the variability of research is due to the wide functionality of the GDELT database. The main advantages of using GDELT are, firstly, the possibility for automated event and content analysis of large textual data, secondly, an additional option for operationalizing and validating political phenomena and processes, and thirdly, the possibility of falsifying the results of the analysis. The limitations of working with the database were identified as, firstly, the imperfections of the CAMEO ontology, secondly, the incompleteness of the data contained in the database, and thirdly, the technical limitations of working with the GDELT database. Thereby, the author concluded that GDELT data should be used with extreme caution, and that measurements should be checked for validity in each case.

Having become a popular term at the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries, populism at the same time, for a number of reasons, remains one of the most difficult socio-political phenomena to study. Skepticism in the scientific community regarding the phenomenon was so great that well-known political scientists questioned the appropriateness of its use or even suggested abandoning it. The article analyzes the path that political science has followed in the study of populism. The author considers the points of view of political scientists from different countries, summarizes their findings and concludes that by now the academic community has managed to find the key features that make it possible to form the framework of populism as a scientifically researchable phenomenon. However, it seems hardly possible to speak of a universal concept of such a deep and multisided phenomenon. Therethrough, the question of which party can be classified as populist remains equally debatable.

The claim that populism is an ideology seems, in our opinion, not entirely rational. That term is used to denote a set of certain ideas, for example, liberalism or conservatism, whereas populism, on the contrary, does not have specific ideas, representing the style of behavior described above within the framework of the party-political system.

The article considers the issues of the essence and content of the information policy of the Collective Security Treaty Organization. Based on the analysis of scientific papers, it was concluded that despite the many definitions of information policy, no definition was identified that claims to be used as a basic one. The author defines the objects, subjects, subject and goals of the CSTO information policy. In particular, he concludes that the active subject of information policy is the state/group of states, represented by its authorized institutions and organizations, which perform various management functions to achieve the public good. He also formulates the main functions of the CSTO information policy, primarily those focused on strengthening the system of collective security. The conducted research made it possible to propose the following definition as a working one: “The information policy of the Collective Security Treaty Organization is a special field of international military-political cooperation of the member states on the formation and implementation of objectives, principles, directions and forms of coordinated activities in the information sphere, aimed at strengthening and improving collective security”.

The article analyzes an issue of finding the ideological base for the Eurasian Economic Community in the context of the youth policy development of youth policy. The relevance of the topic under study is due not only to the complexity of the international situation that accompanies the formation of a new world order in the format of polycentrism, but also to the need to consolidate the efforts of the EAEU partner countries in the face of unprecedented economic and sanctions pressure on Russia and its allies. The purpose of the study is to determine the parameters of the ideological base of the EAEU, taking into account the needs of young people living in the countries of the integration association. To achieve the goal through the use of systemic and civilizational approaches and the historical-comparative method, the following research tasks were solved: the issues of ideological self-determination of the post-Soviet countries were characterized and the key elements of the common ideology of the EAEU for the younger generation – identified. Based on the results of the analysis, proposals were formulated that can be used in political practice related to the creation and improvement of the ideological base of the EAEU, as the most dynamically developing integration structure in the post-Soviet space. The key provisions of the study were tested in the course of a situational analysis implemented as part of the International Expert Session “Points of Growth – Kyrgyzstan” (Bishkek, Issyk-Kul region, Kyrgyz Republic, September 26–30, 2022).

The research article is concerned with the analysis of agri-food policy in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. With the help of historical analysis, the author found that the main problems in the agricultural sector of the country are its strong dependence on agri-food imports, disproportion in the structure of land ownership and a high level of urbanization. The author used an institutional analysis and a comparative approach to identify the advantages and disadvantages of the main government programs for the implementation of the food sovereignty strategy, which was used as a tool to remedy the crisis situation. It was found that the receipt of food aid and the availability of government-subsidized food blocked the desire of Venezuelans to work in rural areas. It was found that despite the usefulness for a certain number of citizens, government programs for the “re-peasanization” and “agrarization” of the population did not stimulate an increase in the area of cultivated land and did not provoke the desired increase in productivity of plant crops. It is proved that the shortage of domestic food products, increased food imports and demographic disproportion forced the Venezuelan government to deviate from the postulates of food sovereignty in favor of ensuring the country’s food security “by any available means”.

The 2011 Report of the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation concerning human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous peoples for the first time identified Sámi parliaments as important models of the indigenous people’s self-governance and participation in political decision-making. Moreover, in the report it was noted that other countries could take the example of the Scandinavian countries, namely Norway, Sweden, and Finland, and develop similar institutions. To understand why the Sámi parliaments are of the best modern models for indigenous people’s political representation, it is necessary to analyse the model from different angles. Thus, the article deals with the formation of representative bodies of the Sámi through elections. The article addresses the following questions: who has the right to vote, what level of turnout occurs is observed in elections, how the system of constituencies is formed, who can and does take part in elections as candidates, who is represented in the parliaments, who controls the selection of representatives, and, finally, does such an electoral system expand or limit the opportunities for political participation of the Sámi people? The author concludes that the system of elections to the Sami Parliaments contributes to increasing the political participation of the Sami due to easier access to registration in the voter register. At the same time, the system of elections to the Sami Parliament in Norway is the most effective both in terms of the level of political involvement of the Sami and in terms of the level of representativeness, which is associated with the most liberal criteria for registration in the voter register and with the special organization of the constituency system.

The article considers both the internal political situation and the interests of other countries in Kazakhstan. The author expresses an opinion that after the January events of 2022, the current president of Kazakhstan began to get rid of the political influence of the first president of the republic. Now all the power in the country is concentrated in the hands of President Tokayev. But with the new government, the political course of Kazakhstan has also changed, which is characterized by a cooling of relations with Russia.

The author also notes that Kazakhstan is an object of special interest for four civilizations at once: Russian, Western (USA), Middle Eastern (Turkey), Eastern (China). If Russia and China want to see Kazakhstan as a stable, independent and developing partner, then the United States considers Kazakhstan as a means to achieve its geopolitical goals, which in the future may well become a victim of American “democracy” in the fight against Russia. Turkey, on the other hand, seeks to unite the Turkic states under its leadership, therefore, considers Kazakhstan as a means to increase its geopolitical capabilities.

In conclusion, the assumption is made that in case of further cooling of relations with Russia, there is a danger of Kazakhstan becoming a satellite of the United States, the consequence of that may be the loss of its state sovereignty.

The article deals with issues that help assess the role of the Muslim population of France in the presidential elections held in the country in the 21st century. The author demonstrates the specific features of the participation of Muslim voters in each of the election campaigns held. A number of statistical data are brought together into one whole, which allow an objective assessment of the role of the “Islamic factor” in the electoral processes of the Fifth Republic. The author also demonstrates the dynamics in the attitude of the French people and candidates for the post of head of state to the “Muslim question”, the need to study which is closely related to the country internal policy and to the foreign one. In addition, the article draws the researchers’ attention to the ambiguity of understanding by the population of France (both ordinary people and politicians) of the concept of “secularism”, which is included in the set of basic republican values, demonstrates the main approaches to understanding its essence. In fact, the author substantiates the need for constant monitoring the attitude of the Muslim population of France to the electoral processes (mainly to the presidential elections) in the country in order to be able to predict the results of voting and, as a result, to adequately and promptly respond to the results of election campaigns.

The main idea of the article can be formulated as follows. Primary task of political science is to predict the future state of political processes based on a generalization of historical and modern data identified by a researcher. In relation to the task of analyzing political identities of modern Russian youth, it means that for a political scientist the goal of studying their current state is to predict various probable options for their future transformations and corresponding possible risks. Accuracy of the forecast is ensured by its method. The publication is proving the need to take into account, in the political science analysis of political identities, their predisposition to changes, which the authors conventionally designated as “conversions”. It’s a predisposition to the fact that within the boundaries of the concept through which a person’s consciousness determines the presence of a particular value in the motivations for their participation in socio-political life, an exchange of one meaning for another occurs. That is, to ensure that the key values, the connections between which transform civic identity into a system and tie it to other value foundations, do not lose their motivational significance for participation in politics in the conditions of radical changes in the latter. In other words, the essence of “conversion” is the transformation in the consciousness of a citizen of the previous meaning of the value foundations of political identification into a new meaning that is more adequate to the changed circumstances.

The article analyzes the process of formation of youth political leaders in our country. For the purpose of a comprehensive analysis, identifying issues and prospects in that regard, the author considers the characteristics of the younger generation, the essential aspects of the phenomenon of youth political leadership, as well as the results of research on a particular topic. The author comes to the conclusion about the need to form youth political leaders in our country, who will become a guide for young citizens to move in the socio-political space. However, during the implementation of that process it is necessary to take into account a number of factors and circumstances. Firstly, a more detailed study of the younger generation as a whole, and its individual age cohorts in particular, is required in terms of value orientations, needs and worldviews. Secondly, youth leaders, due to their age and lack of experience, need mentoring from the older cohort of elites, within which they should be perceived as independent actors on the political field. Thirdly, a study of the personalities of young leaders showed that they view politics as an area of self-realization and career growth. As a result, the task of representing young people and defending their interests fades into the background, which undoubtedly reduces the effectiveness of the process under study.

The article studies the main characteristics of grassroots civic engagement. At the moment, there are many examples of the successful influence of civil initiatives on specific decisions and actions of the authorities. The growth of civil movements and the development of Internet technologies have led to the fact that many initiatives began to be formed “from below” from citizens and public organizations. The key role in that process is played by the interaction between the grassroots actors of civil society and government representatives, as a result of which political action is taking place to address specific issues. The present work gives the definition of the concept of “grassroots civic activity” and presents the results of the study that identify the main factors and issues that affect grassroots civic activity, as well as identify prospects and trends in the development of grassroots civic initiatives in the Yaroslavl region. In addition, the technologies and elements that stimulate the development of grassroots civic engagement are highlighted. It is certain that the activation of grassroots civic initiatives manifests itself out of sync, which is explained by the specifics of a particular region and the level of socio-economic development of the territories.

The first quarter of the 21st century has demonstrated significant progress of humanity in digital technologies: from mobile and Internet communications, which have become publicly accessible from almost anywhere on Earth, to artificial intelligence technologies that can supplant the creative work of the human creator. However, digital technologies and the achievements of recent years are considered, first of all, as a means of increasing the comfort of human life or a business tool, but not as a means of creating a fundamentally new format of the political regime. New information technologies have the potential to solve issues of the political regime that seemed insoluble in the past: it becomes possible to ensure total political control over a citizen by the state using tracking tools (video cameras, social networks, digital monetary transactions) in time and space, almost complete linking of material and a person’s social well-being to the level of his loyalty to the political regime (digital currencies of central banks, basic unconditional income, social rating system), etc. Therefore, it seems relevant to analyze a number of respective concepts, practices and means in relation to the process of transformation of the political regime as a form of state.