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The article attempts to consider the political and legal crisis that has been going on in Belarus for almost a year, in the context of the relationship between its causes and the quality of public administration. To this end, the authors identify modern approaches to understanding good governance. The indicators of management quality developed by authoritative international structures are indicated, on the basis of which it is possible not only to give an objective assessment of the quality of management in Belarus, but also to identify the most problematic positions. As shown in the paper, the main disadvantage of the quality of governance in Belarus is its authoritarian nature, which is manifested in the disregard for people's opinions and accountability. The process of gradual establishment of an authoritarian regime in the republic by means of the analysis of the chronology of the social and political events that took place in the republic during the last decades is clearly shown. In the final part of the work, the author draws attention to the factors that give stability to those regimes that can be attributed to information autocracies. In particular, it is the existence of state property and control over it as an instrument of power retention. The issue of its effectiveness (for example, state-owned enterprises) is not a priority for the country's leadership. The next factor is the presence of control over the political influence of deputies, checking the loyalty of people's deputies. In the system of government formed in Belarus, all elected officials, from village council deputies to parliament, are rigorously selected for their loyalty and lack of ambition. After that, they easily move from the vertical to the representative bodies (and back), occupying leadership positions in structures that mimic civil society. Finally, the third factor is the government's permanent desire to control the entire public sphere and the information space. The driving forces that have the potential to gradually weaken the ...

Δεν παρατίθεται περίληψη στα ελληνικά. ; Photini Danou, The words of the voiceless Did ordinary men and women in pre-modern England have an opinion about politics? What was "politics" for the common people at a time when they had not any say in choosing who would rule them? Was popular engagement in state politics only to secure subsistence? Were "knife and fork" politics of the masses so separate from issues of "high politics" of the State? Was pre-modern commoners' mentality, "pre-political" as well? This paper discusses early modern popular political awareness. I argue that commoners in Tudor England pursued their own political agenda, by exploiting the sovereign's self-image as the "protector of the poor". However, as I set out to show, in pursuing their political agenda commoners also raised issues on the content of Englishness, common good, patriotism, legitimate governance and the right of resistance. The political identity of the lower strata was not an entity fixed in its essence. On the contrary, plebeian political identity was rather shifting, changeable, and always constituting its content in particular historical contexts. The commoners' commitment to the ideal of the"nation", their loyalty to the government, their allegiance to their Queen, their obedience to her laws, or their active participation in the enforcement of state policies were not unconditional. The ways they practiced their political identity was interrelated to their superiors' behavior and draw its legitimacy from the public transcript of the English Common wealth. Common prosperity, reciprocity, solidarity and, in general, protection of the poorer and weaker members of English society were ideals that constituted the meaning of "common wealth" in the plebeian mind. Those ideals were prerequisites for their giving of devotion and loyalty to the state. Thus, the commoners' political mentality and behavior ranged from national loyalty to indifference or even animosity to state officials; from cooperation and acquiescence to covered or overt forms of opposition and active resistance.