Issue 2021 no3 contents:

Effective protection of public values such as life, health, property, personal data and privacy, lawful rights and interests, environment, and cultural heritage is one of the core government objectives.  Attaining this objective is especially important at the time of crisis when the resources of other actors, citizens and businesses, that could be used to protect public values, are limited. The article presents the citizens’ evaluation of government performance on protecting public values during the pandemic period. The empirical data was collected through a representative sociological survey aimed at evaluating performance of state regulatory enforcement activities conducted in 35 Russian regions in February-March 2021. The survey results were compared to the outcomes of similar surveys carried out in 2018, 2019, and 2020. The article demonstrates that in 2021 the average perception of public values safety accounted for 35.9 percent. Though this level is somewhat higher than in 2020 (32.9 percent) it cannot be deemed satisfactory since most respondents (50.2 percent) still find the level of public values safety insufficient. More active use of ICT during coronavirus pandemic resulted in higher frequency of risks related to personal data treatment and privacy protection. As a result, the perceived level of these values safety has decreased. While the total frequency of risks to public values has grown, the percentage of respondents applying for protection to government regulatory enforcement bodies has decreased due to enforced restrictions. The effectiveness of public regulatory enforcement bodies in handling such applications has not changed significantly. The survey results demonstrate that citizens’ perceptions of public values safety largely depend on trust to government regulatory enforcement bodies, personal experience in facing risks and applying to government regulatory enforcement bodies for protection, as well as on social and demographic characteristics of respondents. However, the article demonstrates that neither mass media nor Internet resources have any significant impact on citizens perceptions of public values safety. Hence, this indicator may be recommended for evaluating the impact of government regulatory enforcement and inspection activities performance.

Implementation of sustainable development goals, climate action among others, is becoming one of the most crucial objectives of regional governance. The purpose of the article is to present the concept of regional development designated as a «green» region and to show why this concept can serve as the framework for effective governance in Russian regions in accordance with current global trends. In our understanding, a «green» region means a region targeted at environmentally oriented development, i.e. economic growth correlated with growth in natural capital. The study was carried out in four stages: conceptualizing and theoretical foundations of «green» region developed by analyzing existing conceptual approaches; specifying the concept of «green» region based on a systematic approach; determining links between the elements of the governance system; formulating main directions of governance and its impact on system elements and links. We have defined geotrion as a theoretical framework for the concept which is a system of three elements – a territory, economy and population. Functional interlinks between the elements are considered with methodology of load-state-response (PSR). The most important characteristic of a «green» region is a positive balance between biocapacity and ecological footprint. The goal of «green» governance is to achieve growth of natural capital (natural assets that provide ecosystem services) and well-being of the population.

To achieve «green» governance it is necessary not only to formulate the concept of a «green» region and to designate governance goals, but also to select indicators and targets, to determine how they are interconnected and to structure them in accordance with geotrion elements. The focus of «green» governance and its impact are determined by the ratio of ecological footprint and biocapacity. In the system of «green» governance, mechanisms and management tools should be developed aimed at maintaining, restoring or technological replacement of natural capital. The described governance system can be included in regional strategic documents and justify decision-making process taking into account the specifics of territories.

The article analyzes how the “picking winners” approach is implemented in the government science policy in Russia. “Picking winners” implies special support for selected groups (organizations or individuals). The significance of the research is determined by the need to identify those factors in the policy of “picking winners” that can lead to larger effects in the scientific field. We concentrate on three areas, where the policy is being applied: leading research universities, megascience facilities, and young scientists. The aim is to determine how the choice of goals and selection criteria for “picking winners” influence the results of this policy in terms of the development of science at universities, enhancement of scientific equipment, and improvement in scientific workforce composition. The hypothesis of the study is that the criteria used and the way policy goals are formulated may become an obstacle to achieving sound results in these areas. The research exploits empirical data and information related to the processes of policy implementation, as well as analyzes official regulatory documents that underline the decision-making. The study showed that the focus on “picking winners” does not ensure their sustainable development and does not provide larger effects for scientific potential. However, correction of initial goals for each of the three areas suggested in the article may potentially lead to better results of “picking winners” policy.

The economy of Russian regions is undergoing financial and economic crises. It forces regional authorities to find new ways for diversification of the regional economy expressed in strategic planning and setting of long-term priorities. Federal authorities provide financial support measures for the implementation of regional projects and initiatives. At the same time, at the federal level there is no unified approach to the choice of supported industries in regions that takes into account, among other things, priorities of regional authorities. In this paper, the authors aim to develop recommendations for improving the effectiveness of regional development support in Russia, based on the experience of the European Union in implementing the concept of smart specialization. The authors adapt European approaches to the Russian reality clarifying recommendations for stimulating economic diversification and interregional cooperation. For this purpose, the paper analyzes the consequences of structural changes that have occurred in the economy of Russian regions over the past ten years: from 2005 to 2015. The Russian version of the smart specialization concept should take into account important national features identified in this study. First, to encourage related variety in regions with a lower level of GRP per capita and to provide support for unrelated one in richer regions. Secondly, to prioritize support of interregional cooperation based on regions with large agglomerations. Third, to eliminate duplication of regional priorities with the exception of regions with a lower level of GRP per capita. The article proposes recommendations for optimizing allocation of budgetary funds from federal sources for the development of industries in regions: proposals for the law on strategic planning and the rules for granting subsidies for regional projects.

In the last decade, there has been an increasing interest in blockchain technology around the world. Its functional qualities, such as the invariability of data, openness, transparency and cost-effectiveness, determine the interest in it from the state as well. The purpose of this study is to identify and analyze the possibilities and conditions for the effective use of blockchain technology in the public administration system. In addition, this paper describes the experience of using blockchain technology in certain sectors of the economy and public administration of Kazakhstan.

The research methodology is based on a theoretical review, study and analysis of foreign and Kazakhstani experience in the implementation of pilot blockchain projects. To identify the factors of the internal and external environment that influence the development of blockchain technology in the public administration system, SWOT and PEST analyses are presented. In addition, selected regulatory legal acts of the Republic of Kazakhstan regulating digital technologies were studied. A sociological survey was carried out to define the possibility of introducing blockchain into the real estate registration sphere. Based on the results of the study, it was concluded that there are both opportunities and the presence of factors that promote and hinder the introduction of this technology into the state administration of the Republic of Kazakhstan. At present, the blockchain industry is highly fragmented, mainly of a local nature, and if it is possible to implement it in the public administration system, it is accompanied by the complexity of technical implementation.

In the OECD countries, in the context of an aging population, the problem of providing the economy with labour resources is becoming increasingly important. One of the possible ways to solve it is to stimulate the economic activity of older age groups. In OECD countries, over the past two decades, there has been a significant readjustment of the existing mechanism for supporting older workers in the labour market. An increase in the supply of this category of labour is facilitated by the pension reforms aimed at raising the retirement age and restrictions on early pensions. Legislation prohibiting discrimination against workers on the basis of their age is considered as the most important lever for maintaining the employment of this group. Maintaining jobs for older people is often associated with special government support for these age groups. OECD countries have experimented a lot with this direction of policy, but its results were more often negative. The question of how not only to protect the rights of older workers, but also how to make this group more “attractive” to employers, is becoming more and more urgent. A significant obstacle to the wider involvement of older workers in the employment is the wage-setting model, in which its level is directly related to seniority. The participation of older workers in retraining programs is becoming an urgent need. Changes in wage-formation patterns, as well as greater involvement of older workers in retraining programs, can increase demand for older age groups.

The article presents the  study and analysis of the experience of foreign countries in the issue of criteria and conditions for delegating state powers to organizations. The purpose of the study is to identify the most optimal and effective approaches to establishing and applying criteria and conditions for the delegation of state powers to organizations. The research tasks in this work include examining the Russian experience and positions of Russian scientists on this issue, and the US experience, where most fully and disclosed in detail studied the issue, and analysing the experience of European countries such as France and Germany, and the European Union. As a research method, the author uses analysis of the scientists’ positions and mainly the judicial practice of foreign courts, which consider and explore the criteria and conditions for the delegation of state powers to organizations. The study showed that there is no detailed legal regulation of criteria and conditions for the delegation of state powers to organizations in the Russian law. The analysis of foreign judicial practice has led the author to the conclusion that the most effective approach to the application of criteria and conditions for the delegation of state powers to organizations is a multi-factor analysis, like the one developed by the Supreme court of Texas, including several independent criteria, which makes them more specific and reduces the scope for different interpretations of delegating the powers.

Recruitment of young professionals becomes the key task for the Russian public authorities. The research goal was to reveal the relationship between employer image attributes of the Russian public authorities and their attractiveness for young specialists. Based on the literature review, the research hypotheses regarding the positive relationship between instrumental, symbolic employer image attributes of public authorities and its attractiveness were formulated. To achieve the goal and to test the hypotheses the instrumental-symbolic framework was used which was successfully applied before in foreign studies within commercial organizations. The framework was adopted within public authorities’ context and an original questionnaire was constructed to conduct the survey among young specialists. The results of the survey among 83 young specialists revealed the significance of instrumental attributes of Russian public authorities’ employer image (e.g., stable employment guarantees, safe workplace and good social package) in perception of their attractiveness by young specialists. Based on the results of the research, relevant recommendations were given to improve the image policy on labor market by public authorities.

Complex nature of modern challenges and threats, turbulence of the geopolitical situation, financial, economic and energy crises, along with natural and man-made disasters carry significant risks to the national security of any state. The unexpected intensity of the COVID-19, coupled with other hybrid risks, revealed significant deficiencies in the national security risk assessment (NSRA) system. Issues concerning NSRA are becoming more important in academic literature last 20 years as well as new theories to anticipate possible challenges for better public administration. Academic literature on risk assessment in the context of national security is currently presented in four main clusters. Historically, the first consists of articles in the framework of systematic logical analysis that was formed under the influence of a number of researchers from Carnegie Mellon University who use a deliberative risk ranking method, also called the “Carnegie Mellon risk ranking method”. The second part of the approaches to NSRA is based on the verification method of the research which uses mainly quantitative methods (sometimes using a historical approach to forecasting) to assess the components of the national security of the state, including justifying the need to build a technocratic risk assessment system to prevent “state failure”. Development of new technologies and innovations has led to the emergence of a research group on the use of anticipatory mechanisms in predicting risks of new innovative technologies. In this case, Anticipatory Governance is described as a system of institutions, rules and norms that allow the use of foresight in order to reduce risks and increase the ability to respond to events at an early rather than later stages of their development. The final part of academic publications consists of very specific articles in the framework of systematic logical analysis of military strategies and other doctrines which by nature of its risks are understood as hybrid, that is, combining artificial and natural origin.