Request for Paternalism: The Concept and Value of State in the Minds of Russian Youth

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Abstract

Modern Russian youth as a whole significantly differs from those of older generations in their values and behavioral disposition, which, in conjunction with internal heterogeneity, has a significant impact on the strategy of working with it. In connection therewith, the purpose of the research presented was the value and semantic analysis of one of the meaning-forming concepts of the person’s political representations system - the concept of the state on the basis of the political and psychological approach. The results of an all-Russian representative survey of young people aged 14-30 conducted during the autumn, 2022 served as an empirical basis for the study (sample size: 2,500). A research question was posed: what are the meanings of the idea and value of the state in the minds of modern youth? As hypotheses, the assumptions were formulated that the modern Russian youth is characterized by paternalistic orientations traditionally characteristic of the national political culture. At the same time, ideas about the state are contradictory, reflect traditional, historically established axiological interpretations and modern meanings. The overall result of the study was the conclusion about the ambivalent and unclear nature of ideas about the Russian state, with positive characteristics dominating. The attitude of young people to the state is utilitarian in nature: it is perceived as a source of benefits, responsible to citizens, they are expected to take care, protect and ensure order. At the same time, young people often do not endow themselves with responsibility to the state and society. In the minds of young people, the state is associated with such concepts as land, people and culture. At the same time, the “Russian land” is not simply perceived as a territory, but as an independent value in the context of identifying an individual with people and its culture. This interpretation has deep historical value and semantic roots. It can be judged as a modern actualization of the notions of «Russian Land» and «Russian State» noted by historians in the Russian political culture.

About the authors

Tatiana V. Evgenyeva

Lomonosov Moscow State University; State Academic University of Humanities; Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation

Author for correspondence.
Email: etv133@mail.ru
ORCID iD: 0000-0002-4711-5476

PhD in History, Chief Researcher of Scientific and Design Department, State Academic University of Humanities, Professor, Department of Political Science, Faculty of Social Sciences and Mass Communications, Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation

Moscow, Russian Federation

Antonina V. Selezneva

Lomonosov Moscow State University

Email: ntonina@mail.ru
ORCID iD: 0000-0003-2500-6356

Doctor of Political Sciences, Associate Professor, Department of Political Sociology and Psychology, Faculty of Political Science

Moscow, Russian Federation

Nikolay S. Skipin

Institute of Scientific Information for Social Sciences of the Russian Academy of Sciences; State Academic University of Humanities

Email: skipin@inion.ru
ORCID iD: 0000-0003-4267-0099

Laboratory Assistant at the Scientific and Design Department, State Academic University of Humanities, Researcher at the Institute of Scientific Information for Social Sciences of the Russian Academy of Sciences

Moscow, Russian Federation

Dinara D. Tulegenova

Lomonosov Moscow State University

Email: tulegenova.dinara1998@yandex.ru
ORCID iD: 0000-0003-0566-5688

Postgraduate, Department of Political Sociology and Psychology, Faculty of Political Science

Moscow, Russian Federation

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Copyright (c) 2023 Evgenyeva T.V., Selezneva A.V., Skipin N.S., Tulegenova D.D.

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