Issue 2020 no4 contents:

During the COVID-19 pandemic, most governments around the world have introduced social distancing measures to reduce social interaction between people. Those measures could be introduced on national, regional and local levels depending on particular country. They range from advice about not leaving home (self-isolation) to strict quarantine measures. The choice of  particular measures relies on  the trade-off between preserving as many lives as possible and maintaining the economic well-being of population. In this paper, we use theoretical tools to investigate which strategies are the most beneficial in providing social welfare. Thus, we apply the “prisoner’s dilemma” to model individual decision-making process regarding social distancing. We show that the decision on whether to comply or not with the quarantine regime depends on the individual preferences, as well as the losses incurred by isolation, and the likelihood of receiving necessary and timely medical care in case of illness. We draw parallels between our findings and real quarantine measures that have been applied in different ountries. Theoretically, we show that universal full-scale quarantine measures (total stay-home policy) cannot be considered as the most beneficial policy from the social welfare perspective. Instead, planning strategic incentives for different homogeneous population groups is a more preferable strategy.

Quality of public governance is often considered an important if not decisive factor of economic growth and social development. However, the notion of governance quality is highly contested in modern literature where sometimes opposite approaches are developed and defended. Empirical research focused on  evaluating the impact of governance quality on the one hand and social and economic development – on the other, is also inconsistent with some studies demonstrating little correlation between the two. The article contributes to the current academic discussion by presenting the results of correlation analysis of the World Bank’s government effectiveness index and the UNDP human development index (HDI) comprising the data on life expectancy, expected and mean years of schooling, and per capita GNI. The data for 172 countries in 2000–2018 were analyzed. The results demonstrate that while the correlation of the two indices in each of the years (2000, 2010, and 2018) was high and increased with time for the total sample, it varied by country groups. The correlation is higher for countries with high government effectiveness and is significantly lower for countries with medium and low government effectiveness. Similar differences were found for most HDI components, especially for per capita GNI. In the latter case the correlation with government effectiveness is non-linear. The differences in correlation strength by country groups and HDR components suggest a two-way relationship between the variables. Thus, high level of human development achieved based on, inter alia, better government effectiveness, becomes a  basis for further improvement of  governance practices. The mixed results of our analysis suggest that using only subjective indicators is not sufficient for measuring governance quality and its dynamics. There is a need for further development of the existing approaches to measuring governance effectiveness based on impact indicators reflecting the key components of human development.

The digitalization of public administration in the Russian Federation refers to one of the main strategic tasks. At the same time, in order to solve it, it is necessary to identify and eliminate existing legal restrictions that prevent not only the introduction of  digital technologies into existing administrative procedures, but also the digital transformation of  state functions in  general, which until now has not been the focus of the Russian public administration science and the practice of its digitalization. Research hypotheses state that for successful digitalization it is necessary to identify and eliminate such legal restrictions, which are of  a  systemic nature, and the existing rule-making mechanisms are focused on eliminating restrictions only within the framework of  certain regulatory legal acts, or  in relation to  certain public services, and not public functions and public administration in general. Based on a comparative legal analysis of regulatory control and the practice of implementing strategic planning mechanisms; assessment of the regulatory impact of draft regulatory legal acts; measurement of the actual impact and monitoring the enforcement of existing acts, the «regulatory guillotine» mechanism and ongoing experiments in  the application of digital technologies in public administration, the research revealed the fragmentation of the identification and elimination of certain legal restrictions on digitalization, substantiated the prospects of creating a mechanism for identifying systemic legal restrictions in the process of developing departmental digital transformation programs. Based on the structural and functional analysis of the existing rule-making mechanisms, a model of the mechanism for identifying and eliminating systemic legal restrictions on the digitalization of public administration is proposed, including cognitive, regulatory and organizational elements, as well as a sequence of procedures for identifying systemic legal restrictions, assessing risks and opportunities for their removal, forming relevant rule-making proposals, including experimental legal regimes.

Gamification is  a  promising approach to  stimulate active citizen participation in public administration. It allows introducing game elements into non-game contexts. With the development of  technology and the use of  public participation platforms, new opportunities have emerged for the development of gamification elements. The number of electronic platforms equipped with the elements of gamification is gradually increasing in Russia. At the same time, there are no studies aimed at identifying and systematizing (classifying) the elements of the gamification in use. The article attempts to fill this gap. The purpose of this study is to systematize the elements of  gamification, the use of  which is  possible on  the public participation platforms.
The authors analyzed the functionality of  nine electronic platforms for public participation in Russia to determine the elements of gamification used. Based on this analysis, two groups of ratings were suggested: the first, one is the rating applied gamification elements (by frequency of  use) and another one is  the rating of  public participation platforms (by the number of gamification elements involved). Sociological survey has been arranged to identify citizens’ awareness about gaming concepts that are used at the platforms and the demand from citizens for specific elements of gamification. Based on the analysis and survey results a classification of gamification elements was proposed. This classification is based on the preferences of citizens, which were revealed during the survey. The authors have designed a set of gamification elements for the Russian platforms. The article also suggests further directions for the development of gamification elements on electronic participation platforms in Russia. It is concluded that it is necessary to develop a system of incentives (material and nonmaterial).

The article summarizes the study results of the state management mechanisms effectiveness in the field of scientific and technological development. The need to form long-term scientific and technological forecasts to achieve the goals of state socio-economic development, to increase the national economy competitiveness and overcome the technological gap from the leading countries increases the relevance of the research area. The main hypothesis of the study states the assumption about the inconsistency of the state management mechanisms and research effectiveness in the context of state scientifi c and technological development priorities. The main purpose of the study is to evaluate the mechanisms of state management of scientific and technological development related to the selection and justification of technological priorities, from the perspective of achieving the country’s strategic goals in this area. The authors proved that the low share of technological innovations and high dependence on imports of hightech products and essential technologies are initially caused by low efficiency and effectiveness of research activities, expressed in the number of patent applications filed and previous significant publications. This, in turn, directly depends on state support for the scientific sector and the implementation of state management mechanisms for the priorities of scientific and technological development.

The article is devoted to the image of civil servants from the perspective of complex tasks facing public administration today. The features and factors of the image are considered from the perspective of a new approach for the sphere of public administration, according to which the image of civil servants reflects their identity (Self-concept) as  a  result of  the process of  self-determination, finding a  profession and status-role position in  society. The hypothesis states that the image of  civil servants is  related to the peculiarities of their social identity, personal and professional qualities, the level of  professionalism, and the attractiveness of  employees. Professional identity is  the basis for both the fulfi llment of tasks, and for self-realization and personal development. The purpose of the study is to identify problems and factors of the image of civil servants associated with the peculiarities of their self-determination, social identity, status and role position. The study was conducted in the form of a survey (questionnaire). A sample is comprised of 200 officials of various positions with at least a year of experience in government agencies. New data on the problems of building the image of civil servants, related to the nature of their activities, and the current conditions for its implementation in our country, have been obtained. Differences in the perception of the image by employees with different types of identity, as well as subjective factors of image formation, are revealed. The results will be useful for organizing personnel work, developing psychological support programs, and training civil servants to maintain their positive image.

The current state of the social sphere in many countries, including Russia, is one of  the sensitive issues in  their socio-economic development. On  the one hand, the population’s demands for the availability of quality social services and the expansion of their spectrum are growing, and on the other, states are not always able to satisfy these requirements due to  the lack of  necessary financial, technological and innovative resources. Such situation leads to the necessity of finding ways and instruments that expand the capabilities of states to meet the social needs of the population. One of such instruments is a public-private partnership, which has already established itself in many sectors of the economy, including the social sphere. The aim of the study is to expand knowledge of public-private partnerships in the social sphere of the European Arctic countries and to determine the possibility of using this experience in the Russian Arctic territories. The research involves methods of logic and content analysis, also the case study method is used. The study has proved that in order to solve problems in the social sphere, cooperation between the state and business is an extreme necessity. Social problems are especially acute in territories with extreme living conditions, which include the Russian Arctic. And it is in the Arctic where there are conditions for the development of public-private partnership, since the interests of business and the state coincide in increasing the level of social development of territories. Business needs educated, qualified, healthy labor potential, adapted to the conditions of the Arctic, ensuring an increase in the efficiency of companies’ activities, and the state needs conditions that ensure a high quality of life for the population, national interests and sustainable development of th e Arctic territories.

The article discusses public communications management system in the context of the federal program for the comfortable urban environment. The features of the communicative management system are analyzed on the basis of the communicative action theory and the systematic approach. The shortcomings of the existing regulatory urban space communicative management model are considered in the case study of the Arkhangelsk region cities. The authors hypothesize that the asymmetry and bureaucracy of the interaction between municipal authorities and city residents incorporated into the system of  communicative management are the key factor of this system dysfunctions. The comprehensive sociological research was conducted in 2018–2019 to test the hypothesis. It aimed at studying the features and problems of organizing public communications in the Arkhangelsk region cities in the context of discussing and implementing programs to create a comfortable urban environment. It included a sociological survey made by a questionnaire, the sample of which was 783 people; it included 15 expert interviews with representatives of municipal authorities and NGOs, and 7 focus groups in several cities of the Arkhangelsk region. The study showed the presence of dysfunctions in the communicative management of creating a comfortable urban environment, which confirmed the author’s hypothesis. As a result of the empirical data analysis, a descriptive model of communicative management was constructed, the dysfunctions of this system were identified and the measures to improve its functioning submitted in a form of recommendations. The authors propose to apply public control, to expand the tools for informing the population about the program’s implementation, and to arrange more actively for the citizens involvement. The results of the study can be used to conduct monitoring on the urban environment comfortability in other cities of Russia, to assess the local governments activities and the civic participation degree in the implementation and monitoring of projects and programs for the urban spaces improvement.

The safety and health of  the working population are the cornerstones of  social development. The social and moral aspects of the issue are signifi cant, but one should also take into account the economic losses caused by the presence of harmful and dangerous working conditions. The volume of underproduction due to absence of workers because of the industrial injury or occupational disease, according to the International Labor Organization annually constitutes almost 4% of world GDP. All this necessitates the transformation of state management of labor protection from regulatory control through risk assessment to a safety culture. The article examines the main stages in the development of approaches to public management of labor protection in the UK, Australia, the USA, Japan and Russia from the point of view of models and characteristics of labor protection management. The purpose of the research is to identify common features and stages, as  well as  assess the effectiveness of  the measures being implemented. It has been concluded that approaches to OSH management are developing in parallel with the development and transformation of the economy; in countries with a federal structure they become aware of the need for uniformity of legislation in the field of labor protection; after the establishment of framework requirements in the field of labor protection, the main task of the state is to provide serious methodological assistance to employers in ensuring safer and healthier workplaces, as well as the general well-being of the working population.

The article reviews the monograph Digit and Power: Digital Technologies in Public Administration published by Slobotchikov O.N., Kozlov S.D., Shatokhin M.V., Popova S.A. and Goncharenko A.N. in the Institute of World Civilizations in 2020 in the context of Russian and international studies of public administration digitalization.
The monograph analyses the current stage of government digitalization in Russia based on the results achieved at the previous stages of information society development, both in Russia and abroad. Significant attention is paid to the issues of legal regulation of digital technologies and the prospects of their application not only in public service delivery but also for regulatory enforcement and control functions. The monograph sets out principles and criteria for implementing digital control instruments. The study contributes to the on-going academic discussion of results and risks of public administration digitalization.
The review supports the position of authors on the need of further development of the legal and regulatory basis for public administration digitalization. However, attention should be paid both to eliminating legal restrictions to public administration digitalization and to monitoring and evaluating the application of such regulation in practices, especially given the risks associated with government digital transformation.