Scientific section. Politology

Article analyzes tendency of the return of post-Soviet mass consciousness to the idea of patriotic education of citizens as a technology that provides a pre-planned result. An explanation is offeredof the reasonswhy attempts by state and public institutions to follow this idea in their public activities often lead to an unplanned result, to the spread of nationalistic sentiments in civil society.

Key interpretations of social and public diplomacy within political and scholarly discourses are considered in this article. The inference is made that both notions (i.e. social and public diplomacy) are often used interchangeably in scholarship that, in its turn, leads to inexpedient confusion over subjective and attribute features of the term while attempting to encompass answers to two main questions: who conducts diplomacy and how is it conducted?

In article scientific interpretations of the concept “social media” are considered, functions (communicative, relativistic) and tendencies of their development during a modern information era reveal. It is proved that social media give the chance of upholding of interests in public space to both ordinary citizens, and the opposition movements. The Russian network community actively carries out political dialogue by means of social media, forming a public discourse and new forms of mass communication. 

The article analyzes the impact of the institution of direct presidential elections on the form of government in the conditions of a parliamentary republic. The author identifies five models of the outcome of the introduction of popular elections, of which the parliamentary system remains in three models (Iceland, Ireland and the Czech Republic), and in the other two the transition to semi-presidential (France) and presidential systems (Turkey) occurs. Author’s assessment of the role of popular presidential elections in the parliamentary system is given