@ARTICLE{26543117_403252662_2020, 
	author = {Yuliya Krasheninnikova and Nikita Kochergin}, 
	keywords = {, state religious expertise, expert committees, registration of religious organizations, religious policyexpert knowledge},
	title = {DESIGN AND PRACTICES OF STATE RELIGIOUS EXPERTISE IN THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION},
	journal = {Public Administration Issues},
	year = {2020},
	number = {3},
	pages = {187-209},
	url = {https://vgmu.hse.ru/en/2020--3/403252662.html},
	publisher = {},
	abstract = {The paper discusses the practice of&nbsp; &lsquo;state religious expertise&rsquo;, i.e. a&nbsp; special form of&nbsp;applying expert knowledge in&nbsp;Russia, primarily for the purpose of&nbsp;registering religious organizations. Authors reveal the real place and functions of&nbsp;this institute, by&nbsp;analyz-ing data on&nbsp;the activities of&nbsp;special expert committees for the Ministry of&nbsp;Justice of&nbsp;the Russian Federation and its regional offices over the period 2009-2018, as&nbsp;well as&nbsp;on the interviews with religious studies specialists. Two main problems were found out: the low demand of&nbsp;this knowledge by&nbsp;the Ministry of&nbsp;Justice officials and the existence of&nbsp;expert committees with an&nbsp;obvious conflict of&nbsp;interest. The general number of&nbsp;expert examinations is&nbsp;small, and its significant part is&nbsp;unnecessary, being only a&nbsp;confirmation of&nbsp; the conclusions for which officials have enough of&nbsp; their own competence. Besides, the rules of&nbsp; &lsquo;state religious expertise&rsquo; are flexible, and practices vary from one region to&nbsp;another, which puts local religious communities in&nbsp;unequal conditions. In&nbsp;summary, the work of&nbsp;expert committees often may be&nbsp;characterized as&nbsp;formal or&nbsp;fictitious, but it&nbsp;may be&nbsp;used, if necessary, as&nbsp;a&nbsp;barrier against unwelcome religious associations, thereby ensure state intervention in&nbsp;the sphere of&nbsp;religious freedom.},
	annote = {The paper discusses the practice of&nbsp; &lsquo;state religious expertise&rsquo;, i.e. a&nbsp; special form of&nbsp;applying expert knowledge in&nbsp;Russia, primarily for the purpose of&nbsp;registering religious organizations. Authors reveal the real place and functions of&nbsp;this institute, by&nbsp;analyz-ing data on&nbsp;the activities of&nbsp;special expert committees for the Ministry of&nbsp;Justice of&nbsp;the Russian Federation and its regional offices over the period 2009-2018, as&nbsp;well as&nbsp;on the interviews with religious studies specialists. Two main problems were found out: the low demand of&nbsp;this knowledge by&nbsp;the Ministry of&nbsp;Justice officials and the existence of&nbsp;expert committees with an&nbsp;obvious conflict of&nbsp;interest. The general number of&nbsp;expert examinations is&nbsp;small, and its significant part is&nbsp;unnecessary, being only a&nbsp;confirmation of&nbsp; the conclusions for which officials have enough of&nbsp; their own competence. Besides, the rules of&nbsp; &lsquo;state religious expertise&rsquo; are flexible, and practices vary from one region to&nbsp;another, which puts local religious communities in&nbsp;unequal conditions. In&nbsp;summary, the work of&nbsp;expert committees often may be&nbsp;characterized as&nbsp;formal or&nbsp;fictitious, but it&nbsp;may be&nbsp;used, if necessary, as&nbsp;a&nbsp;barrier against unwelcome religious associations, thereby ensure state intervention in&nbsp;the sphere of&nbsp;religious freedom.}
}