Vol 21, No 3 (2019)

The image of Russia is one of the key components for determining the self-identity of the population, the growth of trust in the government, and an understanding of current politics and economics conducted in the country. The purpose of this study is to identify the image of Russia in Russian political and non-political television programs for the period of 2017-2019. The research methodology included content analysis of Russian television programs. Quantitative and qualitative methods, including case studies, were used to interpret the data. The image of a country consists of a spatial (territorial) image, an image of a population, an image of power, and an image of a leader. In the analysis, subjective, objective, spatial, temporal and communicative sections were identified. The performed analysis made it possible to identify some features of the formation of the image of Russia in TV shows. The resulting image is directly dependent on the event context and is its reflection. The underlying parameters, such as political culture, are not considered. The main topics raised in TV shows were the conflict in Ukraine, conflict in Syria, sanctions and international relations of Russia, the USA and the EU, election of the President of the Russian Federation and the election of the President of the United States. The image of the country is translated as strong, cognitively complex, dynamic. Most of the messages are positive, since they are focused on the domestic audience, the policy of the channels themselves is designed to show the diversity of opinions, but, at the same time, to raise the country’s prestige in the eyes of the audience. The negative characteristics of the image involve the comments of foreign politicians and experts, which are broadcast on Russian television. Changes in the spatial image due to the reunification with Crimea are shown most vividly. This topic has been relevant for a period of five years. The political leader is represented as strong both in the international arena and in dealing with domestic issues.

The importance of youth involvement in political and developmental processes of society can hardly be exaggerated. However, despite the large percentage of young people in Nigeria and the historical importance of intergenerational continuity with an emphasis on national identity, very little is really known about the degree of youth engagement in the country’s politics. Therefore, this study, in the form of a descriptive survey, analyzes gender and age differentials of youth participation in Nigerian politics. A random sampling technique was used in selecting 200 youths from 5 political wards (40 from each ward) in Ijebu-Ode Local Government Area of Ogun State. Additionally, a self-structured questionnaire was designed and used for data collection, while a t-test and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) were employed to test the three hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The study revealed no significant gender difference ( t = 1.56, P > 0.05) or age difference ( t = 1.44, P > 0.05) among the young population of Nigeria actively engaged in politics in the country. Conclusively, the authors recommend that efforts should be geared towards fighting illiteracy and unemployment in the country, as these are known to be main reasons for vandalism, senseless violence, anarchism, racketeering, and cultism among the Nigerian youth, while realistic political organizations under control and leadership of the young population should be formed.

The fact that a lot of fresh water resources in Ethiopia are shared between several sovereign states creates a difficult situation in terms of water governance and management. Since there is no central agency that can regulate the utilization of water, the autonomous riparian actors pursue their respective interests. Water is shared at local, national and international levels; and difficulty in water supply management arises from lack of coordination between local, national and international authorities. Most of the Ethiopian rivers are trans-boundary, i.e. shared by several sovereign states. The purpose of this paper is to examine water governance and management systems in the Tekeze River basin. The author uses the qualitative research method to critically examine the existing scarce literature sources and governmental policy documents. The findings of the study revealed the absence of any kinds of bilateral agreements among the riparian states of the Tekeze River basin. As the water governance system in the region is highly politicized, there exists a certain clash of interests between the Tekeze River nations. The constant conflict in the region disrupts cooperation needed for facility maintenance in the Tekeze River basin. The problems in the area arise due to the following factors: no demarcated boundaries between the basin states; no effective water governance system, and, as a result, no efficient and cooperative utilization of fresh water resources; lack of institutional and legal arrangements between the major riparian states.

Since 2013, the north of Nigeria has witnessed an increased involvement of the militia group ‘Civilian Joint Task Force’ (CJTF) in combating the Islamist insurgent group Boko Haram. The mobilization of the Civilian Joint Task Force brought a tremendous success to the counterinsurgency operation. Before the CJTF’s engagement, the antiterrorism efforts of the government were marred by negligent performance. In addition to helping decrease the attack frequencies and number of fatalities caused by the insurgent group, the militia succeeded in expelling Boko Haram fighters from the towns and villages they had previously occupied. However, the unprecedented participation of the Civilian Joint Task Force in the counterinsurgency campaign has raised certain suspicions of the public in regards to the CJTF’s ulterior motives. This paper, therefore, explores the motives that triggered people’s participation in the Civilian Joint Task Force with the aim to combat the Boko Haram insurgent group. The current paper is a qualitative research, designed as a case study. The empirical data were collected by means of an in-depth interview involving 13 respondents, among who were the members of the CJTF, community leaders and government officials in Yobe State, Nigeria. The findings show that people’s participation in the CJTF is voluntary, with the main motivation being the necessity to defend the community due to the state’s failure to provide adequate protection. The article points out an urgent need to demobilize and deradicalize the participants in order to prevent the CJTF from further jeopardizing local communities’ peace and stability.

The article examines the experience of combating corruption in Great Britain, India, Singapore and the US. Despite all the differences, these countries have a common trait that was formed in the course of their historical development: they all share certain elements of the Anglo-Saxon tradition in the cultural, political and legal spheres. The purpose of the research is to examine the influence of these elements on anti-corruption policies. The analysis has revealed that the countries under review apply similar approaches, institutional mechanisms and ideologies to counter and eliminate corrupt behavior, which can be attributed to the shared factor of the Anglo-Saxon tradition. At the same time, the effectiveness of the measures used to eradicate corruption largely depends on economic conditions, behavioral attitudes, behavior patterns that are historically rooted in society, etc. In this context, the cultural component is of particular importance. The aforementioned countries’ analogous anti-corruption practices and tools can substantially vary under the influence of historically established national and cultural characteristics, significantly deviating from their original British roots. In addition, success in the fight against corruption directly depends on whether certain public institutions, whose cultural and behavioral nature dictates them to resist the introduction of new anti-corruption measures, remain present.

The article attempts to record and evaluate formal criteria for determining the effectiveness of the Cold War era Soviet films (box office revenue in the USSR, box office sales in the socialist countries, foreign currency take, number of viewers, number of positive letters from the audience to the authorities, number of professional favorable reviews, prizes and awards, positive evaluation of the Cinema Arts Council) as a tool for implementation of “memory policy” in the Soviet Union. During the period in question, there was no adequate system for assessing ideological work in the USSR. Formal criteria mainly focused on the number of viewers, ignoring the quality of message assimilation by the audience. Through the example of Soviet historical films, the article examines the practice of building collective and cultural memory in the context of pursuing a political objective. The author also proposes a list of criteria for assessing cinema as a tool for forming long-term ideas about the past, shaping an enemy’s image, and implementing the national memory policy.

The article analyses the role of internet technologies in the process of voter base mobilization. One of the consequences of the reforms carried out in Russia will be mediatization of the electoral process. Modern approaches to understanding electoral mobilization are based on classical elitist concepts and the theory of mass society. Such perspective fails to identify individual actors of mobilization impact and analyze their own strategies. The author suggests a different way of looking at the problem: from the perspective of the neo-institutional approach. “Mobilization impact” can be interpreted as a form of subject-object interactions between different participants of the electoral process. The author identifies three main goals of mobilization interactions: attracting new supporters, encouraging a specific form of political activity, and prompting the choice of a certain position in the ballot. The author’s other objective is to assess the pattern of Internet technologies usage in the process of electoral mobilization. In the conclusion, the author pinpoints possible tendencies in the development of the voters’ Internet mobilization technologies. The perspective suggested by the author allows him to draw conclusions about what forms work with voters will assume as a result of the development of Internet communication technologies.

The article reviews Russian political science studies related to the image of a political leader. The authors distinguish philosophical, historical, political, psychological and sociopolitical approaches and schools. The authors examine both theoretical and practice-oriented developments in this field of research. The main methodological branches pertinent to the studies of a political leader’s image are political psychology and political sociology, which are analyzed separately. The article reviews the works of both well-known political scientists in this field and young researchers. The authors believe that the collected and systematized material can prove useful for political scientists researching the problems of political leadership.