Scientific section. Politology

The article considers the mechanisms of media corporations’ infl uence on the process of designing and coordinating political protests in the USA, France, China, Belarus, and the Russian Federation in the context of digital globalization. Methodological basis of the research consists of the methods of case study and comparative analysis. The authors study fi ve cases refl ecting the specifi cs of communication channels through which national digitalization scenarios of political protest are implemented and carry out comparative analysis based on the authors’ criteria.

In their minds, subjects of democratic politics constantly form and optimize images of future changes in functioning of the state and society, use them as a tool in the struggle for political infl uence and leadership. The article provides a comparative analysis of how this creative process is going on within Russian civil society today, in the minds of ordinary citizens and party elites committed to left-wing political values.

The article is devoted to the analysis of the image of political future of Russia, which is present in the mass consciousness of Russian youth and motivates its political participation. The materials for the analysis were obtained by means of a questionnaire. The main trends that are spread among respondents while constructing the image of the future of Russia indicate that the problem of the future, both their own and their country’s, is relevant for modern youth.

The article examines influence of factors of trust, distrust, and fake news on the level of legitimacy of state power and decisions taken. The position of the authors who establish a clear correlation between the level of legitimacy of the government and the level of development of its democratic institutions is disputed. The legitimacy of power is based on the assessment of the conformity of the position of authority and decisions made to the image of power formed in the civil consciousness and shared ideological positions.