Suchergebnisse

Problem setting. The issues of preventing social orphanhood, developing new and reforming existing social services for children and families with children have become a major focus in academia and in various structures at all levels working with children. Improving the quality of life of children is not only a matter of time, but also its need. Progressive world processes for the protection of the rights of the child, declared by the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which stimulate major changes in legislation, policies and practices for supporting and protecting children. Such targeted actions are widespread in many countries of the world. Today, Ukraine is taking the first steps towards deinstitutionalization and creating its own model of social service formation, which will become the basis for preventing social orphanage among children. The article analyzes the existing model of managing the sphere of protection of children's rights in the context of preventing social orphanage and implementing the principles of DI reform (deinstitutionalization).Today, in the context of transformational changes, Ukraine has faced significant socio-economic problems that have led to a decrease in the standard of living of Ukrainian families, the emergence of such negative phenomena as social orphanhood, child homelessness and a number of other manifestations. The resolution of these issues has also recently become more complicated due to hostilities in the East of our country conducting by the Russian Federation. In this context, it is important to focus on the problems of providing social guarantees and social protection for children of vulnerable categories, creating conditions for their adaptation in a complex social environment. Exactly in the context of these aspects arises a need for a significant improvement in the public administration system, in particular in sphere of organizing effective social work with children, as well as increasing the effectiveness of the social function of the state in total.Recent research and publications analysis. Nowadays, such scientists as V. Sobchenko, V. Moskalenko, V. Skuratovsky, O. Paliy, E. Libanova are studying and researching the problems and modern approaches to the development of the sphere of social protection of the population. Studies of reforming and improving the system of social services in general, and services for children and families with children, in particular, are engaged such Ukrainian researchers as L. Volynets, N. Komarov, O. Antonova-Turchenko, I. Ivanova, I. Pesha, A. Kapska, I. Pinchuk, S. Tolstoukhova, M. Lukashevich, I. Mygovich. Issues of implementation of institutional care and childcare reform are engaged T. Veretenko, O. Denesyuk, T. Spirina.Highlighting previously unsettled parts of the general problem. However, it should be noted that the current state of scientific development of the problem of modernization the activities of public administration bodies in the field of social work with children of vulnerable categories and families with children in Ukraine is insufficient, since today this area is in the process of reforming. The sources of conducted scientific researches were mainly concerned certain aspects of the functioning of public administration and the social security system of the population, partly work with children, namely: the history of formation and development, directions and forms of social work. Today, the issue of preventing social orphanage in the context of the implementation of the DI-reform principles is little explored and not discovered.Paper main body. Despite the rather significant interest of scientists in the problems of managing the social sphere in Ukraine, there are still insufficiently developed approaches to the activities of government bodies and local self-government, as well as non-governmental organizations in the field of social work with children of vulnerable categories and deinstitutionalization processes, their practical implementation in terms of interagency cooperation , institutional and resource support, transformation of the network of social institutions and institutions involved in problems of vulnerable categories of children. Considering this, the topic is relevant and needs a deeper study.An analysis of the legislation on the protection of the rights and interests of children shows that the concept of social protection is often interpreted as a similar to the social security concept. The concept of social protection of children is much more widely interpreted in the Law of Ukraine "On bodies and services for children and special institutions for children": it is a complex of measures and means of socio-economic and legal character for ensuring children's rights to life, development, upbringing, education, medical care, financial support.A number of scientists accentuate on the concept of the so-called hidden social orphanhood, which is associated with the deterioration of the family's living conditions and the decline of its moral foundations, resulting in a growing neglect of a huge number of children and adolescents. Hidden social orphanhood is spreading in the form of institutionalization of children whose parents for various reasons are not able to provide them with proper care and upbringing at home. Consequently, hidden social orphanhood is hiding in outwardly normal families, which in reality are dysfunctional, and parents do not cope with their basic responsibilities for raising children.Thus, social orphanhood can be defined as a social phenomenon caused by the self-willed evasion of parents from fulfilling their parental duties responsibilities for the child, which is accompanied by the breaking and loss of family relations between parents and a child, the parental indifference to the child's needs and the future fate of the child.Practical experience and international experience show that only a small number of children need specialized hospital care and approaches to education. Such care should be provided in small individual institutions that are integrated into the life of the local community with the ability to apply inclusive education components. All other children should be excluded from social isolation and brought up in a family or close to family environment and attend educational institutions in the system of inclusive education.The process of reforming the current system of institutional care (deinstitutionalization) in the field of protection of children's rights should be a long-term, well-planned and structured process of reforming the child care system based on the principle of taking into account the best interests of the child, recognizing the priority of family education over placement in the state guardianship institutions. During such reforms, the family should receive clear government standards for social services:– services and assistance that will contribute to its preservation for the purpose of full-fledged child development;– adoption or family forms of alternative care become a priority for the placement of children who have lost parental care due to orphancy, living in difficult life circumstances, violence or neglect from their parents side;– institutions are redeployed into specialist care centers (family and child support) or closed.The main problems of deinstitutionalization mechanism implementation today are:– developing a common vision and a holistic approach to reforming the current system of institutional care, education and upbringing of children, both at the national level and at the level of territorial communities;– the lack of an interdisciplinary algorithm of interaction, interdepartmental and intersectoral coordination of actions and cooperation, the lack of a training system for specialists, including heads of institutions of various departmental subordination, parental support programs, despite the fact that the basic mechanism is just beginning to be developed.Today, the development of a strategic deinstitutionalization program requires the involvement of partners from all possible areas: social, educational, healthcare, civil society institutions and the parent community. An additional advantage of attracting partners from different disciplines and industries is an increase in the availability of resources for the implementation of the deinstitutionalization program. A list of tasks should be the creation of conditions to ensure the realization of the right of every child to raise a family, to prevent the spread of social orphanhood.Achieving this goal requires resolving the following key tasks: – improving the activities of guardianship and care services for the prevention of social orphanhood, providing families with children with high-quality social services aimed at supporting the family's educational function;– involvement of enterprises, institutions, organizations, regardless of ownership and management, in the provision of social, rehabilitation services to children and families with children in difficult life circumstances, introduction of a social order mechanism in this field;– forming a tolerant attitude of society towards children and families with children who are in difficult circumstances, preventing various forms of discrimination against such children and families;– introduction of new social technologies aimed at early identification of families with children who are in difficult life circumstances, raising responsible paternity, and preventing cases of the taking of a child from parents without depriving them of their parental rights;– improving the quality of social services provided by social work entities to children and families with children who are in difficult life circumstances;– introduction of social services for parents, whose children are being brought up in boarding schools, in order to create conditions for the return of the child to parents;– introduction of social services for children to prepare them for return to the biological family after a long stay in a boarding school;– introduction of social services for families with children, in which the process of parents' divorce is ongoing, resolves the dispute between the mother and the father regarding the place of residence of the children, participation in their upbringing;– providing social support for parents who for certain reasons (due to long-term illness, disability, poverty, unemployment, etc.), are unable to properly maintain and care for the child, families with children with special needs family members, as well as social support for children whose parents are labor migrants;– providing social support for parents from whom children were taken away without depriving them of parental rights, as well as parents deprived of parental rights and intend to bring a lawsuit to renew parental rights (if their children are not adopted), in order to create conditions for restoring the educational function of the family and returning the child to parents;– provision of information to the population about the types of social services and benefits provided by the subjects of social work with families with children.Further long-term decisions for deinstitutionalization should include:– managed transitional stage with definition of clear terms for its duration;– approval of legislation requirements, services that should be provided at the local level;– approval in the legislation of the requirement on the personal responsibility of the community leader for the provision / non-provision of social services in the field of childhood protection;– redistribution of resources and introduction of an interdisciplinary approach to services at the local level;– helping families;– consultations with organizations representing the interests of persons with disabilities, children with disabilities, their parents and guardians.Conclusions of the research and prospects for further studies. Thus, Ukraine's course towards European integration and implementation of the UN Convention requires a revision of the priorities of state policy in the field of social protection of children and families with children, protection of childhood and the rights of children in general, the introduction of successful approaches from the world practice of protecting children based on ensuring the rights and best interests of the child are aimed at supporting the family, creating conditions for the upbringing and development of children in the family or environment as close as possible to the family will definitely contribute to the gradual disappearance of such phenomena as social orphanhood.Despite all efforts of the state, today in Ukraine the share of orphans and children deprived of parental care remains quite high, as well as the share of children-social orphans, which indicates the necessity of organizing measures in order to transform the child support system into a family form of education and changes in the nationwide trend of childcare. ; Розглянуто питання запобігання соціальному сирітству, розвиток нових та реформування існуючих соціальних послуг для дітей та сімей із дітьми, що стали привертати значну увагу в наукових колах та різноманітних структурах усіх рівнів, які працюють із дітьми. Зазначено, що підвищення якості життя дітей є не лише питанням часу, а його велінням. Проаналізовано прогресивні світові процеси стосовно захисту прав дітей, зумовлені Конвенцією ООН "Про права дитини", які стимулюють суттєві зміни в законах, політиці та практиці підтримки та захисту дитинства. Зауважено, що такі цілеспрямовані дії суттєво поширюються в багатьох державах світу. Доведено, що на сьогодні Україна робить перші кроки у напрямку деінституціалізації та створення власної моделі формування соціальних послуг, яка стане основою запобігання соціальному сирітству серед дітей. Проаналізовано існуючу модель управління сферою захисту прав дітей у контексті запобігання соціальному сирітству та впровадження принципів ДІ-реформи.

Problem setting. The issues of preventing social orphanhood, developing new and reforming existing social services for children and families with children have become a major focus in academia and in various structures at all levels working with children. Improving the quality of life of children is not only a matter of time, but also its need. Progressive world processes for the protection of the rights of the child, declared by the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which stimulate major changes in legislation, policies and practices for supporting and protecting children. Such targeted actions are widespread in many countries of the world. Today, Ukraine is taking the first steps towards deinstitutionalization and creating its own model of social service formation, which will become the basis for preventing social orphanage among children. The article analyzes the existing model of managing the sphere of protection of children's rights in the context of preventing social orphanage and implementing the principles of DI reform (deinstitutionalization).Today, in the context of transformational changes, Ukraine has faced significant socio-economic problems that have led to a decrease in the standard of living of Ukrainian families, the emergence of such negative phenomena as social orphanhood, child homelessness and a number of other manifestations. The resolution of these issues has also recently become more complicated due to hostilities in the East of our country conducting by the Russian Federation. In this context, it is important to focus on the problems of providing social guarantees and social protection for children of vulnerable categories, creating conditions for their adaptation in a complex social environment. Exactly in the context of these aspects arises a need for a significant improvement in the public administration system, in particular in sphere of organizing effective social work with children, as well as increasing the effectiveness of the social function of the state in total.Recent research and publications analysis. Nowadays, such scientists as V. Sobchenko, V. Moskalenko, V. Skuratovsky, O. Paliy, E. Libanova are studying and researching the problems and modern approaches to the development of the sphere of social protection of the population. Studies of reforming and improving the system of social services in general, and services for children and families with children, in particular, are engaged such Ukrainian researchers as L. Volynets, N. Komarov, O. Antonova-Turchenko, I. Ivanova, I. Pesha, A. Kapska, I. Pinchuk, S. Tolstoukhova, M. Lukashevich, I. Mygovich. Issues of implementation of institutional care and childcare reform are engaged T. Veretenko, O. Denesyuk, T. Spirina.Highlighting previously unsettled parts of the general problem. However, it should be noted that the current state of scientific development of the problem of modernization the activities of public administration bodies in the field of social work with children of vulnerable categories and families with children in Ukraine is insufficient, since today this area is in the process of reforming. The sources of conducted scientific researches were mainly concerned certain aspects of the functioning of public administration and the social security system of the population, partly work with children, namely: the history of formation and development, directions and forms of social work. Today, the issue of preventing social orphanage in the context of the implementation of the DI-reform principles is little explored and not discovered.Paper main body. Despite the rather significant interest of scientists in the problems of managing the social sphere in Ukraine, there are still insufficiently developed approaches to the activities of government bodies and local self-government, as well as non-governmental organizations in the field of social work with children of vulnerable categories and deinstitutionalization processes, their practical implementation in terms of interagency cooperation , institutional and resource support, transformation of the network of social institutions and institutions involved in problems of vulnerable categories of children. Considering this, the topic is relevant and needs a deeper study.An analysis of the legislation on the protection of the rights and interests of children shows that the concept of social protection is often interpreted as a similar to the social security concept. The concept of social protection of children is much more widely interpreted in the Law of Ukraine "On bodies and services for children and special institutions for children": it is a complex of measures and means of socio-economic and legal character for ensuring children's rights to life, development, upbringing, education, medical care, financial support.A number of scientists accentuate on the concept of the so-called hidden social orphanhood, which is associated with the deterioration of the family's living conditions and the decline of its moral foundations, resulting in a growing neglect of a huge number of children and adolescents. Hidden social orphanhood is spreading in the form of institutionalization of children whose parents for various reasons are not able to provide them with proper care and upbringing at home. Consequently, hidden social orphanhood is hiding in outwardly normal families, which in reality are dysfunctional, and parents do not cope with their basic responsibilities for raising children.Thus, social orphanhood can be defined as a social phenomenon caused by the self-willed evasion of parents from fulfilling their parental duties responsibilities for the child, which is accompanied by the breaking and loss of family relations between parents and a child, the parental indifference to the child's needs and the future fate of the child.Practical experience and international experience show that only a small number of children need specialized hospital care and approaches to education. Such care should be provided in small individual institutions that are integrated into the life of the local community with the ability to apply inclusive education components. All other children should be excluded from social isolation and brought up in a family or close to family environment and attend educational institutions in the system of inclusive education.The process of reforming the current system of institutional care (deinstitutionalization) in the field of protection of children's rights should be a long-term, well-planned and structured process of reforming the child care system based on the principle of taking into account the best interests of the child, recognizing the priority of family education over placement in the state guardianship institutions. During such reforms, the family should receive clear government standards for social services:– services and assistance that will contribute to its preservation for the purpose of full-fledged child development;– adoption or family forms of alternative care become a priority for the placement of children who have lost parental care due to orphancy, living in difficult life circumstances, violence or neglect from their parents side;– institutions are redeployed into specialist care centers (family and child support) or closed.The main problems of deinstitutionalization mechanism implementation today are:– developing a common vision and a holistic approach to reforming the current system of institutional care, education and upbringing of children, both at the national level and at the level of territorial communities;– the lack of an interdisciplinary algorithm of interaction, interdepartmental and intersectoral coordination of actions and cooperation, the lack of a training system for specialists, including heads of institutions of various departmental subordination, parental support programs, despite the fact that the basic mechanism is just beginning to be developed.Today, the development of a strategic deinstitutionalization program requires the involvement of partners from all possible areas: social, educational, healthcare, civil society institutions and the parent community. An additional advantage of attracting partners from different disciplines and industries is an increase in the availability of resources for the implementation of the deinstitutionalization program. A list of tasks should be the creation of conditions to ensure the realization of the right of every child to raise a family, to prevent the spread of social orphanhood.Achieving this goal requires resolving the following key tasks: – improving the activities of guardianship and care services for the prevention of social orphanhood, providing families with children with high-quality social services aimed at supporting the family's educational function;– involvement of enterprises, institutions, organizations, regardless of ownership and management, in the provision of social, rehabilitation services to children and families with children in difficult life circumstances, introduction of a social order mechanism in this field;– forming a tolerant attitude of society towards children and families with children who are in difficult circumstances, preventing various forms of discrimination against such children and families;– introduction of new social technologies aimed at early identification of families with children who are in difficult life circumstances, raising responsible paternity, and preventing cases of the taking of a child from parents without depriving them of their parental rights;– improving the quality of social services provided by social work entities to children and families with children who are in difficult life circumstances;– introduction of social services for parents, whose children are being brought up in boarding schools, in order to create conditions for the return of the child to parents;– introduction of social services for children to prepare them for return to the biological family after a long stay in a boarding school;– introduction of social services for families with children, in which the process of parents' divorce is ongoing, resolves the dispute between the mother and the father regarding the place of residence of the children, participation in their upbringing;– providing social support for parents who for certain reasons (due to long-term illness, disability, poverty, unemployment, etc.), are unable to properly maintain and care for the child, families with children with special needs family members, as well as social support for children whose parents are labor migrants;– providing social support for parents from whom children were taken away without depriving them of parental rights, as well as parents deprived of parental rights and intend to bring a lawsuit to renew parental rights (if their children are not adopted), in order to create conditions for restoring the educational function of the family and returning the child to parents;– provision of information to the population about the types of social services and benefits provided by the subjects of social work with families with children.Further long-term decisions for deinstitutionalization should include:– managed transitional stage with definition of clear terms for its duration;– approval of legislation requirements, services that should be provided at the local level;– approval in the legislation of the requirement on the personal responsibility of the community leader for the provision / non-provision of social services in the field of childhood protection;– redistribution of resources and introduction of an interdisciplinary approach to services at the local level;– helping families;– consultations with organizations representing the interests of persons with disabilities, children with disabilities, their parents and guardians.Conclusions of the research and prospects for further studies. Thus, Ukraine's course towards European integration and implementation of the UN Convention requires a revision of the priorities of state policy in the field of social protection of children and families with children, protection of childhood and the rights of children in general, the introduction of successful approaches from the world practice of protecting children based on ensuring the rights and best interests of the child are aimed at supporting the family, creating conditions for the upbringing and development of children in the family or environment as close as possible to the family will definitely contribute to the gradual disappearance of such phenomena as social orphanhood.Despite all efforts of the state, today in Ukraine the share of orphans and children deprived of parental care remains quite high, as well as the share of children-social orphans, which indicates the necessity of organizing measures in order to transform the child support system into a family form of education and changes in the nationwide trend of childcare. ; Розглянуто питання запобігання соціальному сирітству, розвиток нових та реформування існуючих соціальних послуг для дітей та сімей із дітьми, що стали привертати значну увагу в наукових колах та різноманітних структурах усіх рівнів, які працюють із дітьми. Зазначено, що підвищення якості життя дітей є не лише питанням часу, а його велінням. Проаналізовано прогресивні світові процеси стосовно захисту прав дітей, зумовлені Конвенцією ООН "Про права дитини", які стимулюють суттєві зміни в законах, політиці та практиці підтримки та захисту дитинства. Зауважено, що такі цілеспрямовані дії суттєво поширюються в багатьох державах світу. Доведено, що на сьогодні Україна робить перші кроки у напрямку деінституціалізації та створення власної моделі формування соціальних послуг, яка стане основою запобігання соціальному сирітству серед дітей. Проаналізовано існуючу модель управління сферою захисту прав дітей у контексті запобігання соціальному сирітству та впровадження принципів ДІ-реформи.

POLITICS BY PROVINCE: Goal-oriented rational action or value-oriented rational action in closed debate on the Wadden region and public consultation on the ecological infrastructure General This thesis is a study of political conduct, and of provincial politics in particular. It is based on three research projects. The first two research projects are empirical studies that examine, respectively, the functioning of the discussion platform for government bodies relating to the Wadden Islands area and the relationship between the regional press and provincial political organs. Each of these two projects is based on a defined problem, a theoretical framework, methodology and conclusions. Although both case studies deal with provincial politics, they are completely separate from each other. The third case study is theoretical. It seeks to clarify the rationalization theories of Max Weber and Karl Mannheim, and place the concepts of goaloriented rational action and value-oriented rational action in their theoretical context. This theoretical chapter produces a number of research questions that can be used as a 'rationality grid' to be applied to the two empirical case studies in order to determine what form of action, goal-rational or value-rational, characterizes provincial politics. Chapter One describes the background to the studies and gives a short introduction to the research themes. This chapter also presents a view of contemporary provincial politics and discusses the scientific position from which this thesis has been written, emphasizing the unique role of the sociological vision. How does the government manage the Wadden Sea? The first section examines the way in which the government manages the Wadden Sea. The study is based on an evaluation study of the functioning of the Coördinatiecollege Waddengebied (CCW) in the period 1987 to 1994. The CCW (a platform for administrative consultation between the government, the Wadden provinces and the Wadden municipalities) was set up in 1980 for the purpose of "ensuring coherent administration and an coordinated policy by the government, provinces and municipalities with regard to the Wadden region." The study is based on a bottleneck analysis; in other words, by identifying problems, concrete solutions can be proposed. The evaluation study employed a combination of two popular lines of research in organizational sociology literature – the 'whole-system approach' and the 'parties approach'. In the whole-system approach, shared values or a feeling of solidarity are what unites the organization. In the parties approach, the organization is seen as a coalition of parties with different interests and aims. The parties work together for their own benefit, or because negative sanctions force them to do so. Both approaches are integrated in the 'parties-withina-system' perspective, which focuses on the relationships between the parties and the organization as a whole. This integral approach was used to evaluate the functioning of the CCW because the CCW places great emphasis on shared values and responsibilities, which are the core elements of the whole-system approach. At the same time, however, the CCW is composed of different parties which all have their own tasks, powers and interests – the core elements of the parties approach. This perspective has been tailored to the evaluation of the CCW using the following criteria: shared values, support base, differing interests, power structure, sense of purpose, and success/failure factors. The study is based on qualitative interviews with participants in the CCW platforms, telephone interviews with councillors and members of the States General, dossier analyses and reconstructions from minutes from the CCW consultations on the following cases: enlarging the scope of the Nature Conservation Act; delegation of powers with regard to inspection and control; co-ordination of international activities, problems relating to 'traditional brown shipping'; the review of the Waddenzee II Key Planning Decision, and gas extraction in the Wadden Sea. This treatment of the original research report emphasizes a systematic description of conduct within the context of the administrative co-ordination of the Wadden region, which is usually of a closed nature. The main problem areas are the following:  a lack of shared values due to the fact that the purpose of the Wadden consultation platform is given a different interpretation depending on the interests in question;  by way of preparation for the Wadden consultations, a process of harmonization takes place within the various authorities, thereby creating an administrative support base. However, this process of preliminary consultation and feedback reveals the other side of the bureaucratic coin – this circuit is, administratively and politically speaking, strongly inward-looking;  there are no substantial conflicts of interest between the layers of government. However, mutual suspicion exists with regard to the extent to which other parties are committed to the Wadden policy. Each party suspects that the other parties will ultimately allow economic interests to prevail;  with regard to the delegation of authority, the balance of power between the government and the provinces is seen as unacceptable. The continuous lack of consensus, whether manifest or otherwise, is a barrier to discussion on a equal footing;  there are various problems relating to the sense of purpose, including the role of the Chairman and the lack of a clear definition/delegation of tasks. This analysis shows that the problems are not related to the structure of the Wadden consultative platform but rather to its culture, and more specifically to the participants' perceptions of the role and responsibilities of the platform. In addition, there appears to be a distinct lack of leadership. The main conclusions are as follows:  harmonization within the various Wadden authorities (government, provinces and municipalities) hampers harmonization between the Wadden authorities;  the representatives from the three layers of government do not present the role and purpose of the consultative platform in a consistent and uniform way;  the CCW is hampered in its work by an ongoing debate about how powers are delegated between the layers of government. Because the analysis of success and failure factors revealed that clearly defined relationships between the government authorities are essential for successful consultation, possible solutions aim to create that clarity. Recommendations have been laid down, for example, relating to the role of the Chairman, drawing up the agenda, and clearly defining the tasks of the various bodies. Although, as far back as 1995, the CCW largely acknowledged the problem areas and supported the proposals for improvement, none of the recommendations will actually be implemented before 2001. Politics and the press on the ecological infrastructure in Friesland and Drenthe Section 2 describes a study of the relationship between the regional press and northern provincial politics. The basis for the study is the political decision-making regarding the establishment of the ecological infrastructure in the provinces of Friesland and Drenthe in the period 1989 to 1996. The conclusion of a survey of the relationship between the printed press and parliamentary democracy is that the main function of the press is to provide information, criticism and comment. The role of information-provider is examined on the basis of the following:  actual report of a meeting of the Provincial Councils;  a news report giving information about matters relating to the ecological infrastructure in both provinces;  a background article describing the context, history and/or different interpretations of matters relating to the ecological infrastructure. The role of critic is examined on the basis of the following:  editorial comment;  a column in which one of the editors gives his opinion under his own name;  opinions of third parties, in which a third party, who is not an editor, is given the opportunity to express an opinion. Using four recent examples, it is then argued that the central question relating to the relationship between politics and the press is one of management – who controls political communication or, put another way, is the relationship determined by 'party logic' or by 'media logic'? The study will compare decision-making on the ecological infrastructure (as this was perceived in decision-making meetings of the provincial councils) with reporting by the regional press in both provinces. The decision-making process of the provincial councils was reconstructed for this purpose. The result is not only an analytical reconstruction of the decision-making surrounding the ecological infrastructure in Friesland and Drenthe, but also a chronicle of provincial political customs and morals. A quantitative and qualitative analysis subsequently shows how the regional press fulfils its role as information provider and critic. The quantitative analysis addresses the question of how often the press fulfils its role as information provider and critic with regard to decision-making on the ecological infrastructure. The qualitative analysis addresses the question of how the press fulfils those roles. It is argued that the quality of the information provided is determined by the degree of objectivity, but that the best measure of quality is a clear standpoint. These conclusions were used to formulate an 'ideal' against which the quality of informative and critical articles can be measured. A factual report is as objective as possible when:  it deals not only with the decision itself, but also with the opinion-forming process;  it gives the opinion not only of the representatives of official bodies, but also of opponents or those outside such bodies;  the reporter does not give his own opinion. A news report or background article is as objective as possible when:  it presents more than one perspective and/or quotes more than one authority on the subject. An editorial or column makes a constructive critical contribution when:  the author adopts a clear standpoint;  the context (history, background or current event) of that standpoint is given;  the author describes how the standpoint was reached, and on which information or authorities it is based. Conclusions about the information function:  in almost half of the cases, the regional newspapers do not report on provincial council meetings relating to the ecological infrastructure. The people who live in the province, but fall outside a given environmental or agricultural target group, will not become informed about the ecological infrastructure by reading their local newspaper. Neither will they become informed about the role of the provincial government in this;  in the reports which do deal with meetings of the provincial councils, there is a lack of balance. Generally speaking, no effort is made in such reports to show the full palette of political colours represented in the provincial council;  there is only relatively wide newspaper coverage on occasions when political emotions are running high. Examples are: Friesland in 1993, when an agreement was reached with the agricultural sector, and Drenthe in 1993, when an amended programme of intent for the soil-protection areas was introduced (the agricultural lobby also played an important role in this). This attention from the press can be explained by incident politics. Political groups hold widely different opinions; they make no effort to hide their differences and journalists are keen to pick up on this. Another possible explanation is that, in these cases, ecological policy is heavily influenced by the farming lobby, which itself is strongly supported by influential political groups;  the news reports are usually brief and present an event from only one perspective, without a journalistic contribution from the author. This leads to the inevitable conclusion that press releases sent to the newspapers have been published without any further interpretation;  the most common simple perspective is that which opposes the ecological infrastructure;  there are very few background articles. Background articles that clarify the situation, and outline the problems confronting provincial politicians, are indispensable with regard to a far-reaching and complex plan such as the development of the ecological infrastructure of the two provinces;  it is notable that most of the background articles are only written from one perspective, with very little informative context. On the basis of these findings, it appears that the way in which the regional press fulfils its role as information provider leaves room for improvement. Scant attention is paid to council decision-making and the quality of reporting also leaves something to be desired. Little can be said about how the press fulfils the role as critic because so few articles appear in this context. The question Who controls political communication? cannot therefore be answered because the press pays too little attention to provincial politics. Goal-oriented or value-oriented rationality: which form of rationality determines political action? Section 3 examines which form of rationality (i.e. goal-oriented or value-oriented rationality) occurs most in the closed discussions between government bodies in the Wadden study, or in public discussions on the ecological infrastructure from the study of the relationship between politics and the press. For this purpose the rationalization theories from the work of Weber and Mannheim were used. Both Weber and Mannheim recognise increasing instrumental and formal rationality (Weber) and functional rationality (Mannheim) in all areas of life, and a decrease in material rationality (Weber) and substantial rationality (Mannheim). Weber and Mannheim identify the rise and influence of a specific form of instrumental rationality, particularly within economic, legal and bureaucratic institutions. Within such institutions, actions are characterized by goal-oriented rationality. This means that the prevalent institutional pattern of norms and values that more or less prescribes how people should act within the institutions (role-related behaviour) places great emphasis on goal-rational behaviour. In order to establish whether this also applies in provincial politics and administration, a study was made of the conception of rationality in the work of Weber and Mannheim. The question of whether goal-oriented or value-oriented rationality is dominant is addressed by a secondary analysis of the material. The secondary analysis takes the form of a 'rationality grid' that is applied to the material from the two empirical studies. The grid has a coarsely meshed structure that can separate out goal-oriented and value-oriented rationality. Following the study of Weber and Mannheim's concepts of rationality, goal-oriemted rational action is defined in this study as action that is geared towards finding the most appropriate means to achieve a goal that is considered as given. When action is successful in terms of the defined goal, we speak of goal-oriented rational action and formal rationality. Success or effectiveness is therefore the measure for goal-rational behaviour. The essence of this concept is expressed in the following questions:  is conduct geared towards resources and procedures within the given of administrative co-ordination or within the structured political (provincial) discussions?  are the goals open to discussion? If action is a logical extension of or derives from a higher value or ideal, we speak of 'valueoriented rational action' and 'material rationality'. The extent to which an action is valueoriented is therefore the measure for value-rationality. In this study, value-oriented rational action is defined as action that is based on the assessment of the desirability of a given goal by means of a party-political value system. The essence of the concept, as used in the present context, is expressed in the following question:  is the action geared towards assessing the desirability of a particular goal, based on a political value system? Conclusions: 1. With regard to discussion between government bodies on the subject of the Wadden region, the hypothesis was that, within the sphere of formalised and regulated administrative co-ordination in the Wadden region, actions are largely determined by goal-oriented rationality. The purpose of the discussion platform is, after all, to co-ordinate and realise goals defined elsewhere. The hypothesis is confirmed – the Wadden discussion platform is characterized by goal-oriented rational action. But this type of action is not related to the ultimate goal of the discussion platform but rather to another goal: the increasing of the influence and governance of the government layer in question. 2. With regard to the decision-making on the ecological infrastructure in Friesland and Drenthe, the hypothesis was that political decision-making debates are characterized by the discussion of values to be lived up to and aims to be realised. It is therefore to be expected that such debates are mainly characterized by value-oriented rationality. However, the findings do not confirm this hypothesis. The discussions of the provincial councils of Drenthe and Friesland are certainly not goal-rational in nature, yet neither can they be described as valuerational. Actions are indeed geared towards assessing the desirability of a particular goal, but that assessment is not based on a political value system. It is not party-political principles that determine political conduct; it would be more true to say that conduct is based on notions of consistency in terms of policy and support.

At the present stage of development of the world community, accompanied by processes of globalization, when the world is «united», on the one hand, there is a natural strengthening of ties between the countries and peoples of the world, which is manifested in a certain degree of standardization of some cultural norms and principles perceived and used in the different countries, nations, ethnic groups etc. Instead, on the other hand, there is some increasing of the cultural differentiation and disintegration in various areas of public life, which were generated by the phenomenon of «ethnic and religious revival». This phenomenon is associated with an increase of the interest of traditional, sectional, heritable forms of identity (ethnic, religious, racial) and, accordingly, the traditional social practices.These phenomena cause frequent conflicts between different ethnic and national groups in multi-ethnic states. In the early XXI century such conflicts began to cover not only the countries and societies with the unfinished national unity, but also nation-states in Europe and America, where seemingly ethnic majority and minority groups are combined into a single nation-state «body» based on shared values, ideals and goals, but which have an inherent desire to preserve its cultural diversity.Therefore, there is so important to find and explore the new concepts and theoretical models that would allow to ensure peaceful, conflict-free co-existence of ethnic minorities within a common political space on the basis of mutual respect, respect each other's rights and cultural exchanges.Given the urgency and the need for further study of the problem, the author put a goal: 1) to identify and analyze the key concepts of co-existence of minorities in today's globalizing world; 2) to find out the advantages and disadvantages of each of the concepts, identifying the best option co-existence of minorities within a common political space.The object of the study is the national and ethnic minorities as a subject of political processes, and the subject is the modern concept of minorities' co-existence in the common political space.According to the Art. 1 of UNESCO Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity, it is reflected in the uniqueness and diversity of features that are inherent in groups and communities, of which humanity is created. This phenomenon is considered to be a source of exchange, innovation and creativity, thus it is defined not less need for human existence than biodiversity for the functioning of the world of nature as a whole.However, this variety generates now some problems of co-existence of different cultures. Along with the long-standing controversies of intercultural interaction in the multi-ethnic states, which are formed on this basis, a number of new problems continues to arise. It leads to the need to seek such theoretical concepts and form a practical policies based on these concepts, that would effectively solve the existing ethno-national disputes and prevent the emergence of the some new, based on consideration of the interests of both titular nations and national minorities living within these countries.The beginning of the 70s of the XX century was a time of the emergence of fundamentally new concept of co-existence between nations and cultures within a common political space, which are known as «multiculturalism». The basis of multiculturalism was the rejection of the idea of continuous civic integration in such semantic content, in which it remained dominant until that time. Instead, the key role is assigned to the promotion and maintenance of cultural diversity, «neighborhood» of communities within a single state.In one version, the term of «multiculturalism» began to be used in academic circles from 1957 in order to determine the official policy of Switzerland, which was based on the idea of uniting the various ethnic and cultural communities into one nation. According to statements by other researchers, «multiculturalism» as a scientific concept originated in Canada in the 1960s to refer the state of Anglo-French bi-culture in terms of the threat of Quebec separatism. Multiculturalism gained the official political recognition in 1971, when it was included as one of the basic principles of the Constitution of Canada to outline the new governmental course of this country has finally admitted the defeat of assimilation policy. Among the states, which are recognized officially multiculturalism, are the USA, Australia, the United Kingdom of Great Britain, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Sweden, Finland and others.Thus, by the beginning of 80's of the XX century the key tenets of the concept of multiculturalism reached the level of the fundamental principles of political practice of most Western countries and international organizations.There are Western scholars Ch. Taylor, W. Kymlicka, Ch. Kukatas, A. Perotti etc. among the most prominent theorists of multiculturalism. There are many critics of multiculturalism, such as representative of the British egalitarian liberalism B. Berry, A. Schlesinger-Jr., A. Bloom.As one of the founders of the concept of multiculturalism Ch. Taylor said, hat this phenomenon is a form of self-assertion. Multiculturalism is not only in the struggle for the recognition of individuals, but also the requirement to recognize their originality, identity of groups, slides to the other. According to Ch. Taylor, some cultures are independent nature; any individual can exist only as part of the culture.Addressing to the problem of political equality between the minority and majority of the multi-national society, another theorist of multiculturalism W. Kymlicka focuses on the problem of the significance and status of minorities. He said that national minorities have the right to consider themselves as the cultural-distinctive communities only if they are guided by liberal principles, recognizing the rights of other communities.W. Kymlicka believes that the state cannot be separated from the problems of ethnic and ethnicity in general. He recognizes that the demands of ethnic and religious groups about financial support of some cultural activities are fair, implying those stocks that support the wealth and diversity of cultural resources. It increases the stability of society and eliminates the disparities between ethnic and religious groups. Without some financial support from the state a significant amount of national minorities may simply disappear and lose their cultural identity. The researcher supports the cultural market. However, W. Kymlicka puts on the agenda such questions: 1) the reasons why society should support cultural diversity or originality; 2) the need of researching of immigrants' and national languages; 3) the issue of citizenship, which is connected directly to the problem of tolerance.The American political scientist Ch. Kukatas, exploring multiculturalism, offers five options of the community response to cultural diversity: isolation, assimilation, soft multiculturalism, hard multiculturalism, apartheid.According to the scientist, soft multiculturalism appears as the rejection of attempts to prevent the emergence of cultural diversity through isolation. On the other hand, it is the rejection of its strengthening using a policy of assimilation of ethnic minorities. The freedom to choose the degree of assimilation according to the desires of the individual should be guaranteed in society.A common characteristic of hard multiculturalism is that society should take active steps to ensure that minorities are not only full participators in society, but also provide maximum opportunities to maintain their identity and traditions. By diversity should be treated not just tolerated, it should be consolidated, promoted and supported, not only financially, but also through the provision for cultural minorities some special rights.For Russian scientist E. Pain, who researches ethnic and cultural diversity in society, multiculturalism is a «very fresh» concept, which appeared in the scientific use until the end of 1980 and in connection with his youth has not yet severe theoretical background. But the researcher said that despite this, the popularity of multiculturalism lies in its key postulate that recognizes the value of cultural diversity of the country (region, world) and the impossibility of ranking of crops (including ethnic) on a «lower – higher», «primary – secondary» etc.The Ukrainian researcher A. Kolodiy, focusing on the study of issues of ethnicity and ethnic policy, defines multiculturalism as a principle of national ethnic, educational, cultural policy that recognizes and supports the right of citizens to preserve, promote and protect by all lawful means the (ethno)cultural features, and commitments the state to support such citizens' efforts.Given the complexity of the term of «multiculturalism» and the presence of a number of different interpretations in modern political science, the Ukrainian researcher N. Vysotska identifies five scientific approaches to understanding of multiculturalism:- demographic and descriptive: multiculturalism is as a characteristic of the state or society with cultural, ethnic, racial diversity etc.;- political program: multiculturalism is defined as a set of political programs and activities aimed at providing practical co-existence of different minorities, based on consideration of their differences and respective needs and rights with maintaining of the national unity;- ideological and normative: multiculturalism is a collection of all sorts of ideological currents, which are based on the idea of cultural diversity;- social and transformative: multiculturalism is the specific activity of governmental institutions in the country to ensure elimination of any discrimination or restriction of the rights of minorities;- historical: multiculturalism appears as a need to study the causes and conditions for the emergence of cultural diversity within a single socio-political space.Analyzing the diversity of approaches to the definition of multiculturalism, we can add to the classification of N. Vysotska some another interpretation of the term as a separate principle, which can be the basis of ethnic policy that supports diversity in society.Thus, we can define the concept of multiculturalism as an ideology and political practices of cultural inhomogeneous society to official recognition and real security of minorities' rights at the public-state level and to support the restoration and development of different cultural systems.The descriptive characteristics of multiculturalism is to recognize the possibility of co-existence in the same political space of several different cultural, ethnic or other groups that are willing and able to reproduce its identity.However, this descriptive diversity does not give the rise to characterize the society that really delivers its existence and development. It creates a need of existence of some regulatory side of multiculturalism. It lies in the use of state of specific measures to ensure the rights, dignity and welfare of its citizens regardless of their ethnicity, race, religion, language etc.However, we must admit, that in practice the policy of multiculturalism, solving some problems in the functioning of multi-ethnic states, may cause the new problems. In particular, multiculturalism, which was offered by its theorists (Ch. Taylor, W. Kymlicka, Ch. Kukatas), causes the revival of group forms of cultural identity through the inhibition of individual cultural diversity. For example, Western countries, which were actively implementing in practice the policy of multiculturalism, witnessed the fact that citizens who because of certain objective or subjective circumstances have lost their group (ethnic, religious, racial etc.) identity, returned to it influenced by multiculturalism. It was due to the fact that the privileges granted by governments to support and develop of cultural and ethnic uniqueness concerned the groups rather than individuals. In similar cases found the expression such defect of multiculturalism as a tendency to increase the isolation of ethnic communities and the creation of artificial boundaries between them.A. Schlesinger-Jr. defines multiculturalism on this occasion as an ideological concept that leads by its nature to the replacement of social ideals: «from assimilation to fragmentary, from integration to separatism». The same view is held by A. Bloom, who insists that fragmentation and separatism are alarming in multiculturalism, and the concept of multiculturalism leads to neglect of personal rights of the individuals.The Russian scientist A. Borisov understands multiculturalism as a phenomenon of ethnic and cultural fragmentation of society that opposes culture as a national movement.Therefore, we can agree with E. Pain, who identifies the following defects of the political practices of multiculturalism:- multiculturalism as an official policy actually addresses the state support to the specific groups representing the national and ethno-cultural minority in the state. In this regard, using the benefits these groups wrongly assume the role of representing the interests of their ethnic group or all religions;- stimulating the state support of groups and communities, multiculturalism promotes the community identity by suppressing of the individual identity. A similar policy deprives a person of the possibility to choose, consolidating the power of the group to which it belongs over this person;- multiculturalism creates obstacles for individual integration of different minorities to civil society;- the policy of multiculturalism creates an artificial segregation of groups, forming «a kind of voluntarily ghetto».Not only the majority of scientists and experts in the field of national and ethno-cultural policy are agree with this claim, but also the broad political circles. For example, the evidence of this fact is that in 2009 the Council of Europe issued «The White Book of Intercultural Dialogue» in which critically assessed the concept of cultural assimilation and the theory and practice of multiculturalism.As a result, in the early ХХІ century even those states, where multiculturalism was enshrined at the constitutional level, began to refuse from its use. Therefore it was necessary to find a fundamentally new concept and a political practice that takes into account the defects of previous concepts and would allow solving the problem of co-existence of different cultural and ethnic communities in the political space. One such attempt was the strategy of division of the sphere of culture. It says that in public sphere the maintenance of cultural homogeneity of representatives of all ethnic, religious, racial and other groups is encouraged. It based on the recognition and observance of formal rules that are common for all citizens of the state, and the principles of implementation, controlled by civil society. In the private sector, on the contrary, this concept gives the preference to cultural diversity. The ideological inspirers of the strategy of division of the sphere of culture emphasize that this model can be considered a compromise, because it creates the opportunities for the rights and freedoms of the individual regardless of cultural, ethnic, national, racial identity, on the one hand, and will provide unity and integrity of contemporary multicultural, multi-ethnic society, on the other hand.However, we must admit that this model of co-existence generates a question: is it possible and how to draw a line in real social life between the public and private sectors? In practice we see that the distinction between these spheres of human life and society is quite thin, because they are intertwined with each other. For example, if members of certain ethnic groups will to dress up in traditional clothing, it is an expression of his individual rights, freedom of choice with regard to the private sector. It generates a question: do they have the right to appear in this form in the streets within the state of their residence, where the titular nation is different from other by traditions in dress? It can apply to using of the language of community: does the model of division of the sphere of culture mean that minorities have the right to use their own language only at home, but in public places they must use only official language of the state in which they live? Or, for example, members of religion groups have a personal, «private» right to practice their faith and religious worship. But do they have the right to build their own churches in their places of residence, where they constitute an ethnic or religious minority? In this case, their freedom to practice their religion will go from the private sphere into the public sector, where the different doctrine can be declared as the official religion.Thus, the continuity of the public and private spheres of life points to the most obvious defect of the model of division of the sphere of culture. This defect is embedded in the title of concept. It generates the impossibility of its realization in practice and the need to find the new strategies of ethno-national cultural policy.One such model is the concept of individual freedom and cultural choice proposed by the famous philosopher and scientist, Nobel Prize in Economics A. Sen. Its main idea is the gradual weakening of group forms of identification and moving to individual choice. «Cultural liberty» is giving to individuals the right to live and exist according to their own choice, with a real opportunity to evaluate other options. A. Sen emphasizes that «the large number of existing injustices in the world remains and thrives because they turn their victims into allies, depriving them of the possibility to choose a different life and preventing their learning about the existence of another life». That's ethnic, religious and other cultural traditions of groups are not willingly, they are prescribed from birth. Therefore, the main objective of the policy of promoting cultural liberty is the weakening of traditions. The concept considers the cultural diversity as a tool for implementing of cultural freedom when «due to it the cultural range of social life and possibility of choosing are expanding». But the concept of cultural freedom hasn't become the norm in Western countries because there is a difficulty with the development of mechanisms for public policy which can break the power of traditions, customs, attitudes, mentality etc.The modern theorists and practitioners offer to combine all advantages of multiculturalism and the concept of individual freedom and cultural choice in the model of interkulturalism. Interkulturalism based on the idea of cultural diversity in the world and countries, but in contrast to multiculturalism, which offers the neighborliness between communities and cultures, it focused on the finding some ways of interaction of these different communities as members of different cultural systems. Interkulturalism requires a common interest of different nationalities and religions shared by a common sense of public responsibility for their country.Thus, we can admit multiculturalism, the concept of division of the sphere of culture, the model of individual freedom and cultural choices and interkulturalism are the key modern concepts of co-existence of ethnic and national minorities in the political space. These theories are based on the recognition and consideration of the fact of multiculturalism of globalizing world, separate states and societies. The differences between them lie mainly in the mechanisms proposed for use to assist the maintenance and development of different national, ethnic, religious, linguistic, racial and other minorities. Multiculturalism offers a policy of «neighborhood» of minorities on the principles of mutual recognition and tolerance. But it contributes to the strengthening of group and the suppression of individual identification of a person, leading sometimes to the increasing of segregation, intergroup hostility through the using of state measures to promote some individual communities. The model of division of the sphere of culture has a disadvantage: it proposes the distribution of culture to private and public sector, but doesn't include the fact that they are inseparable in real life. Hence its principles lose the ability to be realized in social and political life. The concept of individual freedom and cultural choice advocates the promoting to overcome the certainty of norms and values for members of communities, urging them to make independent choices, but does not offer some specific mechanisms to overcome the force of customs, traditions and mentality. Interkulturalism is the most optimal concept that favors to find some ways of interaction between different communities and different cultures. The common interests of citizens of different nationalities and religions are one of these ways. All citizens are united by common sense of public responsibility for their own state. ; Статья посвящена анализу современных концепций сосуществования национально-этнических меньшинств в пределах общего политического пространства. Сделана попытка определить преимущества и недостатки каждой из них, а также сделать вывод о наиболее оптимальной модели сосуществования меньшинств сегодня в глобализирующемся мире. ; Статтю присвячено аналізові сучасних концепцій співіснування національно-етнічних меншин у межах спільного політичного простору. Зроблено спробу окреслити переваги та недоліки кожної з них, а також зробити висновок про найбільш оптимальну модель співіснування меншин на сьогодні у світі, що глобалізується.