Vol 9, No 2 (2022)

The purpose of this article is to identify the attitude of social media users to the elections to the State Duma in 2021. The research is based on the approaches of leading researchers of political behavior (M. Olson, M. Lipset, Ch. Tilly), as well as domestic scientists who described the trends of political development of modern societies in the context of digital transformation (V.D. Nechaev, S.Yu. Belokonev). The authors applied structural and functional approaches, as well as the method of frames (I.A. Hoffman) and techniques of social-media predictive analytics. The authors conclude that research of the attitude of social media users to elections is quite relevant, especially in the context of the influence of the Internet space on the course and results of election campaigns. The proposed methodology for assessing the degree of public confidence in elections requires further research.

Presents the results of a study of the state investment policy of the Russian Federation. The monitoring of the volume of foreign direct investment, the results of international rating studies of the investment potential of Russia, the volume of investment in fixed capital by sources of financing and by types of economic activity was carried out. It is concluded that there are a number of problems that hinder the inflow of not only foreign, but also domestic investments. In order to increase the investment attractiveness of the Russian economy, it is proposed to use the experience of the United States in the development of insurance services for domestic and foreign investments.

The article is devoted to the analysis of the practice of applying in Russia the main method of implementing state policy - state programs. The relevance of the study of this method is predetermined by regular modifications of the mechanisms for the development, implementation and evaluation of programs, the next of which occurred in accordance with the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of May 26, 2021 No. 786 “On the management system for state programs of the Russian Federation”. In order to achieve the strategic goals of Russia’s development, since 2017, a mechanism for transferring programs to the principles of project management has been piloted, which literally meant embedding federal and departmental projects into the structure of programs. The experimental regime has ended, since January 1, 2022, all state programs are being implemented according to the new rules. The purpose of the study is to analyze innovations in the principles and mechanisms of working with government programs and to identify additional measures to improve the effectiveness of programs. In the logic of the next stage of the reform of state programs, the article describes the new rules for the development of documents on state programs, the formation of a functional model for program management, and the new structure of the list of programs. In general, positively evaluating the reformatting of the program method, the author raises the question of the completeness of solving the problems of program effectiveness through these innovations. Based on the analysis of expert opinions, official reports of the Accounts Chamber of Russia on evaluating the effectiveness of state programs, the author identifies additional reasons for their low efficiency, including: the formal nature of control and monitoring; non-transparency of processes at the stage of implementation (implementation of measures); the formal nature of program effectiveness evaluation; inconsistency of actions of different levels of management and participants in the implementation phase. In conclusion, the author formulates proposals on measures that help minimize the impact of these factors.

Leadership is an important factor in building collaborative governance, even leadership capacity would also affect the effectiveness of ongoing collaborations. This study aims to describe the map of leadership and collaborative governance studies through a Systematic Mapping Study (SMS) over a period of 5 years. This period was chosen in connection with the transition period from Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs.) The literature studies that were conducted cover the years of 2013 to 2018. The results showed that research on leadership and collaborative governance varied greatly and it was necessary to do a mapping to see the trends. The most widely used research method is qualitative, and the trend of publication shows a very significant decline, especially in 2013-2018. Based on these results, research on leadership with a focus on collaborative governance research is important to be carried out in order to produce various innovations and scientific development (body of knowledge).

The research establishes that land borders closure by the Nigerian government against other neighboring African countries due to smuggling and illegal business trades affecting the unstable economy of the country calls for a radical change which determines whether the closure of the land borders affected the growth and development of the Nigerian Economy, as it also determined measures to mitigate the challenges of smuggling in Nigeria. The study made use of data mainly obtained from secondary sources which were acquired from books, articles, journals, newspapers and other published materials. The study uncovers that the closure of the land borders had certain consequences which negates Nigeria’s international trade treaties and economy as certain African countries backfired against Nigeria due to the land border closure. Furthermore, the study observed that the Nigerian Economy is still faced with the problem of inflation as a result of high reliance on foreign and imported products, but since the land borders were closed, job opportunities were created and local industries have developed, thereby leading to increase in the production of locally-made goods which aids the growth and development of the Nigerian Economy. The study recommends that the Nigerian government should invest highly on local entrepreneurs and the Agricultural sector as this will encourage foreign and local investments aimed towards the progress of the Nigerian Economy.