Authors assume that in the post-Soviet time, political consciousness among the Russians has significantly changed. Causes of this not only include general depoliticization in the society, but also a modified nature of the media influence. The research purpose is to search for reasons that cause booms and falls in the interest of the Russians in politics. The methodological framework of the research included the Verba-Pye model of engagement in politics, Lipset's conclusions about citizens' engagement in political affairs; assumptions from the LipsetRokkan model of political preferences of citizens; Scott's concept of imitation of political activism, and Bryant's conclusions about specifics of media influence on public opinion. The empirical basis of the research includes data from sociological and marketing research made by Russian centers for the study of public opinion. As a result of the research, its authors have established that country residents do not mostly show high political engagement and civil activism
The current digital revolution has already led to a significant transformation of the content, methods, forms and intensity of civic participation in the socio-political life of almost all states of the world. Modern information and communication technologies have influenced the forms and mechanisms for the implementation of public policy in general, have transformed the process of political communication, creating a new virtual dimension of the public sphere. Obviously, the changes that have taken place require citizens to master new competencies that will allow them to effectively interact both with each other and with government institutions within the framework of a new social and political reality. Therefore, the problem of forming a new, civic competence is one of the key ones in the context of the current process of digitalization of politics and management. The relevance of the issues under study is determined, on the one hand, by the extraordinary acceleration of the pace of development and transformation of all spheres of society, which, in turn, dictates the need to create tools to speed up and simplify the process of adaptation, both for each specific individual and socially political institutions, to a rapidly changing reality, and on the other hand, the task of preserving and strengthening the existing political system of the Russian Federation and the foundations of the constitutional order, which is of particular importance in the context of ongoing information wars, the spread of fakes, including the activities of state authorities and state structures, global problems (such as turbulence in world politics, the COVID-19 pandemic, terrorism, climate change, lack of natural resources) and local (unemployment, separatism, poverty), as well as a number of other dangers and threats that continue to face modern states. This article is aimed at forming the conceptual foundations for optimizing the system of Russian civic education in the face of new challenges and risks. The authors pay special attention to the theoretical understanding of the «civic education» concept, identifying its features and functional characteristics. Based on a comparative approach, the authors analyze the scientific literature that touches upon the issues of civic participation, education, forms and methods of its improvement in modern conditions. In conclusion, the authors turn to concrete examples and formulate recommendations for the successful formation of a conceptual model for optimizing the Russian system of civic education.
