Suchergebnisse

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The article studies populist regimes, their relationship with authoritarianism and democracy and modes of their transformation. First, the approaches to conceptualizing populism are critically analyzed; second, the concepts are systematized through the maneuvering on the ladder of abstraction; third, the ways of classifying populist regimes are studied, and fourth, the influence of populism on political regime change is assessed. The authors made an attempt of radial categorization of populism having distinguished its central and peripheral features. On the basis of the minimalist definition of populism by C. Mudde "the idea" revealing itself in the antiestablishment and will of the people discourse, was taken as a central category. Such approach allowed to distinguish three species of populism including ideational, personalist and charismatic, thus making the categorization applicable for comparative research. The conceptualization of populist regimes was reviewed. It is noted that populist regime is rarely conceptualized as a separate type of political regime and is more often associated with personalist regime or as a sub-type of democratic regime. The further development of the B.G. Peters and J. Pierre's approach led to conclude that populism is a regime modification, inherent in all types if political regimes. Democratic and hybrid regimes are more inclined to such regime modification, that is why the populist regimes evolve multidirectionally. The study concludes that the establishment of populist regime in polities at different levels of political development – from consolidated democracies to premobilized authoritarian and democratic systems – leads to differentiation of functions. In the former cases populist regimes foster the redetermination of the effectiveness criteria for ruling elites and democratic governance in general, and in the latter – populist regimes support the general framework of the in-country political process by filling the institutional gaps.

The article explores the experience of power-sharing, i.e. consociational democracy, established in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) after the end of the ethnic war a quarter century ago. The authors' attention is aimed at identifying a balance between the broad autonomy of the three major ethnocultural groups (segments) and the formation of a national community and common civic identity. Knowing this balance makes it possible to determine the prospects for political stability and development. For this purpose, the system of political institutions in BiH is considered, and its specificity is highlighted. Data-based analysis allows to define a number of negative trends in the Bosnian political process, in particular, the weakening of the democratic potential of the political regime, as well as the deterioration of the quality of governance and civil society's activities. The observed rise in political participation is assessed as ineffective, since it hasn't been accompanied by an increase in authorities' responsibility and ability to solve acute political and socioeconomic problems. In particular, despite widespread support for the European perspective, party leaders haven't been able to agree on the constitutional reform that is required to obtain official EU candidate status. The BiH parties' analysis reveals their interest in promoting the ethno-nationalist discourse for keeping control over the economic and political resources of their communities. It is also noted that the role of international actors in BiH is of a dual nature: they maintain the required level of stability, but some of their decisions provoke strengthening of the nationalist forces. In the framework of the Bosnian case, the importance of the elites' consent to joint participation in power and cooperation can be viewed as the most important condition for the successful implementation of power-sharing institutions and practices in post-conflict societies.

The article focuses on the nature of sectarian conflicts in the Middle East as well as ways to resolve this and possible transformations. We assume that the rising level of ethnic confrontation stems from the disruption of governance regimes established during the Ottoman Empire. Hence, the research question states as follows: are there any ways to use the imperial practices of ethnocultural diversity management as the institutional framework for the resolution of current sectarian conflicts? By applying a structural functional approach, we identify the political space of the late Ottoman Empire, its main elements and constellation. We show that the process of statebuilding in the Middle East resulted in the decay of social ties between local communities and the increase of ethnic violence. These claims are confirmed by comparative analysis of a number of conflicts. It is found that the institutional framework for conflict resolution in Arab states should be based on political devolution and powerdividing agreements. This allows to reset inactive imperial practices in order to mitigate violence and enhance legitimacy. We point out that among the various reforms designed to achieve harmonization of formal and informal political institutions are federalization, non-territorial autonomy, consociationalism and local governance.

The article focuses on the application of process management models in industrial enterprises which best enhance their competitiveness and efficiency under the conditions of crisis development, increased risks, and uncertainty.
The presented results of the study are based on the expert survey conducted among the heads and managers of Kuzbass machine-building enterprises on process-oriented management for the period 2015-2018. By interviewing 500 respondents – the participants of the conferences, seminars, round table discussions, and trainings held within the framework of various thematic exhibitions and fairs in Kemerovo and Novokuznetsk – the opinions of the managers and the leading experts representing 70% of the enterprises of this industry were analyzed and summarized to specify their perceptions about the organizations' activities and identify the urgent management problems they face. The article raises the main problems of implementing process management in the companies identified and ranked by the authors in the questionnaire which are as follows: first, non-optimal organizational structure, the need to restructure it and adapt to the process model; second, insufficient staff skills and general knowledge of process management; third, lack of financial resources and high time consumption; fourth, unclaimed processes, weak linkages to performance and the need to reduce excessive vertical interactions in their implementation.
The possibilities to improve management in machine-building enterprises are considered from the point of view of process management. Risk-forming factors have been identified and optimal methods of risk management have been justified to ensure the efficiency of business structures in the field of production, and mechanical engineering. Conclusions have been drawn on the possibility of applying such an approach in almost any organization under the conditions of standard management, as well as the need to create up-to-date methods of process management with the specifics of machine-building enterprises, to adapt modern software to the conditions of digital economy, and to improve the skills and retraining of the managers.

In the course of the project, the authors have studied ample new latest Russian and international scientific literature on split societies; today's status of studies of post-conflict settlement of split societies, ways of political control of split societies in the context of authoritarianism and democracy, territorial organization of split societies (federalization, regionalization). The research explores the empirical experience of solving the problems of split societies in a comparative historical perspective, reviews institutional methods for resolving and preventing inter-segment conflicts. It compares processes of state and nation-building in the split conflict and post-conflict societies, examines separatist ethnic conflicts and cases of declaration of independence, secession and the emergence of de facto statehood, as well as the impact of these processes on the stability of political regimes and post-conflict institutiona­lization. The authors also focus on the challenges of globalization (migration, ethnic and religious terrorism) and the emergence of new foreign-cultural segments caused by migration in the old democracies (France, Spain and Germany).