PYZH V.V., FROLOV A.E. Political Security of the State and Political Stability of the Society as an Object of Political Analysis
V.V. PYZH Doctor of sciences (political sciences), Professor at the Chair of social sciences and humanities, FSBEI NSU named after P. F. Lesgaft, Expert of the Defense and security commission of the Inter-parliamentary Assembly of CIS member-states, St. Petersburg, Russia
A.E. FROLOV Candidate of sciences (philosophy), associate Professor at MPO VUNTS "Naval Academy named after N. G. Kuznetsov, St. Petersburg, Russia
POLITICAL SECURITY OF THE STATE AND POLITICAL STABILITY OF THE SOCIETY AS AN OBJECT OF POLITICAL ANALYSIS
The article reveals the content of the concept of security as the basic need of the individuals and society. It examines the main components of the national security: political security of the state and political stability of society, as well as ways to ensure them in modern conditions.
Key words: national security, political security of the state, political stability of society, vital interests of the individual, society and state.
The changes taking place in the world at the end of the XX and the beginning of the XXI centuries gave rise to a number of new problems for the world community and Russia as one of its influential members. One of these urgent problems is to ensure the national security of the state in modern conditions. Despite the large number of studies on national security issues, there are still issues that have not been studied well enough, among them the issues of tools and technologies ensuring national security strategy and their structural and functional components in modern conditions, their understanding from such theoretical and methodological positions that would provide the widest possible vision of the relevant issues.
It should be noted that the term "national security" has appeared in the scientific literature relatively recently. It is believed that this term was first used in the Message of USA President Theodore Roosevelt to Congress in 1904, where he justified the seizure of the Panama Canal zone in the interests of "national security" of the United States. The concept itself appeared in connection with the 1947 Act (law) on national security, on the basis of which the US National Security Council was set up. During the cold war, the majority of politicians and researchers determined national security through force or from the position of interaction among the countries, i.e. creation of optimal conditions for the development of the international relations. The best known is the theory of power politics (G. Morgenthau, A. Wolfers and others).
There existed different opinion on the concept of "national security" in the Soviet literature until the 80s. Thus, the "Soviet Military Encyclopedia" (1978) stated: "the term "national security" was introduced by bourgeois ideologists who try to pass off the interests of the exploitative class protected by the bourgeois state as national ones and thus obscure the true nature and direction of their activities in the field of state security."
Therefore, in our country, many scientists and policy-makers when considering the security problems used the concepts of "defense" and other similar terms.
National security includes a wide range of issues that require both theoretical research and practical solutions. These include the study of components of national security such as political security of the state and political stability of the society. Political security and political stability are the main link and basis of national security.
This is due to the fact that it is in the political sphere that there are phenomena and processes that determine and characterize the stability of the political system of the state, the ability of its political system to maintain civil peace and harmony in the country, without which it is impossible to ensure the security of the individual, society and the state.
The scientific approach to the study of any phenomenon involves the elucidation of its essential features. It should be noted that in the official documents, considering the actual problems of national security and its provision, there is no definition of the concepts of "political security" or "political stability" and their criteria are not defined.
Thus, the National Security Strategy of the Russian Federation (2009, 2015) states that the main priorities of the national security of the Russian Federation are national defense, state and public security, while the definitions of these concepts are not given. The strategic goals of national security in the sphere of state and public security are defined.
These are the protection of the foundations of the constitutional system of the Russian Federation, the fundamental rights and freedoms of the man and citizen, protection of the sovereignty of the state, its independence and territorial integrity, as well as the preservation of civil peace and social stability in the society.
That is, state and public security are quite broad concepts, including a number of other components (economic, military, information, environmental, social and other types of security).
A number of official documents define these components, among them are: the Military Doctrine of the Russian Federation (2000, 2010, 2014) which defines "military security", reveals threats and military dangers both external and internal, defines the goals and objectives of the military policy aimed at ensuring military security.
The Doctrine of the Information Security of the Russian Federation (2016) reveals the concept of the "information security," identifies threats to the national interests of the country in the information sphere, defines the system of information security and social stability.
The law of the Russian Federation "On security" (1992, 2010) speaks in general about the security, defining it as the preservation of the constitutional system and social stability of the society, defense of the democratic values and democracy. One of the latest Russian documents in the field of national security "Fundamentals of the State Policy of the Russian Federation in the Field of Naval Activities for the Period up to 2030" (2017) describes goals, objectives and directions of state policy in the field of state and public security.
However, no scientific definitions of such concepts as "public security" or "public safety" are given in that document. The criteria for defining them are not described.
It should be noted that the definition of the concept of "political security" and the allocation of its criteria cannot be found in either political, philosophy or sociological dictionaries. However, in scientific researches the concept and essence of political security received some coverage. At the same time, there may be different approaches to the definition of the concept of "political security" and its various criteria.
Thus, according to Professor V. V. Serebryannikov, political security is a set of measures to identify, prevent and eliminate those factors that can harm the political interests of the country, its people, society, citizens, cause political regression and even political death of the state, as well as turn power and policy from a consciously constructive into a destructive force, a source of troubles and misfortunes for the country and its people.
Other authors, in our opinion, view political security too narrowly and simplistically, reducing its understanding to nonviolence for political reasons, as a protection of the political system of the society from the destructive and destabilizing internal and external influences, as a feature of the political system, manifested in its stability, its ability to maintain its essential characteristics, in the absence of contradictions in the development and functioning of the political system.
In some sources we can find the definition of "political security." It is understood as a stable state of protection of the individuals, the society and the state from internal and external political threats.
The authors of the textbook "Military political science" write: "Political security means a state of the political system providing a balance of interests of the main groups of the population, socio-political stability and integrity of society, favorable international position of the state, coordination of security policies in various spheres of society."
Each of such interpretations deserves attention and the right to exist, but, in our opinion, they somewhat narrow the concept of political security.
From the political point of view, we believe that in the theoretical aspect it is more correct to talk about political security as a state of implementation and protection of vital political, economic and social rights and interests of the individual, ensuring stability of the political system and civil society, the political system of the state, the trust of the population in the system of power, its political and economic course, the ability of the government to solve urgent problems of the individual, society and the state.
Thus, political security is a state of the political system that guarantees the rights and freedoms of citizens and social groups and provides a balance of interests, stability of the society and integrity of the state.
Considering the political security of the state, it should be noted that it largely depends on the political stability of the society. Political stability is an integral feature and precondition of political security.
It presupposes such a stable state between the institutions of the society, objects and subjects of politics and power, when they do not represent mutual threats to each other, receive mutual benefits, are interested in preserving the integrity of the state and the society and their further progressive development. Some legal bases of political stability of the society are defined in the Constitution of the Russian Federation. It refers to the system of equality of human rights and freedoms and their protection by the state. Everyone is guaranteed freedom of thought, speech, movement, the right to form and participate in public associations, rallies and demonstrations.
Freedom of activity of public associations is guaranteed. The Constitution defines and enshrines the rights and duties of the subjects of power in the field of national security and political stability. The country has created legal and organizational prerequisites for ensuring political stability.
In political studies we can find a number of definitions of the concept of "political stability", such as:
– the ability of the political system to function and survive for a long time without drastic changes;
– type of social stability, the state of the political sphere of the society, in which there is a certain order of political relations;
– the state of the political system, characterized by the presence of conditions and factors that ensure the preservation of society's identity, civil peace and harmony on the basis of achieving a balance of interests of various social actors of political forces, power and of the people, timely resolution of emerging problems and contradictions through the mechanisms and means provided by law.
Politological encyclopaedic dictionary defines political stability as a system of relations between different political actors, which is characterized by a certain integrity and ability to effectively implement its functions.
The main subjects of internal political stability are the state and political cells of society, which have an impact on each other and mutual influence.
The concepts of political security and political stability are similar in content.
If the essence of political security is to ensure the independence and territorial integrity of the state, the ability and ability of the nation to resolve issues of government, to conduct an independent domestic and foreign policy in the interests of the individual and society, the political stability implies a stable state of the political system, the successful functioning of all the institutions existing in it, ensuring social harmony and the progressive development of society.
Political stability is based on the relative agreement of the main social and political forces on the goals and methods of social development, the solution of emerging contradictions without civil conflicts and wars, which is a condition and factor of ensuring the political security of the state. There are certain general criteria of political security of the state and of political stability. These, above all, should include:
– the stability of the constitutional system in the country, the effectiveness of the institutions of power, its ability to control and direct political processes, to seek the support of the population regarding political and economic policy, domestic and foreign policy;
– efficiency of the state policy ensuring improvement of living standards of the population, real observance and ensuring civil rights and political freedoms;
– social unity of society on the basis of national ideas, goals and objectives;
– economic and military power of the state, ensuring the high international status of the country;
– effective struggle of the state, society, people, power system against crime, corruption, etc.;
– existence of effective and developed political institutions ensuring the formation and functioning of civil society;
– equality of all state bodies, the system of power, the people before the law and its strict implementation, etc.
There are three levels of political stability.
The first level is the stability of the constitutional system of the state, the political regime, the political system of society, the evolution of the nature of political changes in a democratic society.
The second level is the stability of political and state power (the relative duration and immutability of the main composition-the representatives of the ruling political party), for which the voters mainly cast their votes.
The third level is the stability of society, the unity of nations, the preservation of the territorial integrity of the state, the security of citizens and respect for their political and social rights and freedoms.
Based on this, it can be concluded that the political security and political stability of the state and society covers a variety of factors of interaction between people, society, the state, the sphere of inter-state relations.
Therefore, it is possible to consider the external and internal aspects of political security and political stability, which can be exposed to a diverse range of dangers and threats of economic, political, military, social nature, formed as a result of objective and subjective reasons.
The objective reasons for the emergence and action of social dangers in the political sphere include:
– the contradictory nature of the political structure of a multinational society, the activities of its political institutions, including the state, when political forces can choose both progressive, humanistic, democratic and reactionary, anti-democratic orientation of socio-political and economic development of society and the state in order to realize their interests;
– unfair distribution of property, destructive activity of the authorities in the course of socio-economic and political reforms, which can lead to the impoverishment of the people, infringement of their social, economic and political rights and freedoms;
– the activities of the media, which preach different ideologies, different moral values forming the sense of nationalism, aggressiveness, hostility and intolerance;
– activities of separatist, nationalist and religious extremist groups directly or indirectly supported from abroad aimed at undermining the constitutional order of the state;
– criminalization, corruption of public relations and so on.
The subjective factors that threaten the political security and political stability of the state and society include:
– an increase in the number of citizens who are not satisfied with their social status, thus pushed to participate in social protests in the form of opposition, participation in rallies, demonstrations and anti-government activities;
– the absence in the country of a national idea and state ideology aimed at the spiritual revival of society, the formation of harmonious interethnic relations, love for the country and a sense of pride for it, the population's trust in the political and economic course of development of the country conducted by the government;
– the corruption of the system of power, its isolation from the people, incompetence in making decisions that contradict the interests of the majority of the country's population and contribute to the formation of the opposition.
Opposition is the product of the unequal position of individuals in the society, it is objectively generated by the existing inequality in the social life of people whose actions, goals and the existing means of changing their position put them in the opposition to the society and the political system of the state in which they live.
From the political point of view, considering the external and internal sides of threats to political security and political stability, it should be noted that external threats to political security and political stability are a direct opportunity to initiate internal political and economic crises within the state.
As noted in the Doctrine of Information Security of the Russian Federation (2016), the threat to stability in Russia is the assistance provided by a number of foreign states to separatist, nationalist, religious extremist groups, conducting hostile actions aimed at destroying the spiritual unity of the people, creating, equipping, providing training for terrorist organizations that carry out their activities to undermine social stability in the country.
We are witnessing many examples of the destruction of the countries’ political system, of the changes in the legitimate political and state power and changes in the political systems generated by the weakness of the governments with the influence of the reactionary opposition, with the support by the United States and Western countries, whose activities are aimed at the implementation of the doctrine of controlled chaos, the essence of which is to cause dissatisfaction in a certain part of the population with the government policy and the country’s political system.
Thus, for the first time in the world, such powerful nuclear country as the USSR was destroyed not as a result of military actions, but through ideological influence on the population of its republics, through the betrayal of the country’s political leadership, through the actions of the Western-oriented opposition supported by foreign states, primarily the United States.
And today, as stated in the National Security Strategy of the Russian Federation (2016), the practice of overthrowing legitimate political regimes, provoking internal instability and conflicts is becoming more widespread in the world.
To prevent threats to national security Russia focuses on strengthening the internal unity of Russian society, ensuring political and social stability, interethnic and religious harmony, mutual respect of peoples, eliminating structural imbalances in the economy and social sphere, and improving the country's defense capability.
The internal threat to the political security of the state and political society can be seen as a direct possibility of a political crisis in the country caused by a number of factors. As we noted above, the main subject of national security is the institutions of the state and, first of all, the bodies of state power.
Reducing the level of trust in the government is one of the threats to the political stability of society. Today in Russia there is a crisis of trust on the part of the population, especially to local and regional authorities. Only by strengthening the institution of public confidence in the government is it possible to form a real mechanism of interaction between the society and the state, to ensure social and political stability. The welfare of the people is important for the security of the state and the stability of society. If current trends continue, the income inequality between the top 10% and the bottom 20% may rise by 2020, which already threatens social cataclysms. The problem of social disparities has always existed. But it is necessary to set the task of overcoming the income gap of the different groups. It is very important that this gap be narrowed, and that the poverty not embitter the people and not push them to social protests.
As Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia rightly noted: "The stability of society and public justice depend primarily on the overcoming of this gap. The greater is the gap, the greater is the destabilization in the society, the greater is the negative energy, the more people reject everything that is taking place in the society, in the country, more criticism is there. Therefore, this topic has political, social and spiritual dimensions, and it is, of course, a challenge for the authorities."
Currently, special attention is paid to the elimination of the causes and conditions that give rise to corruption, which is an obstacle to the sustainable political and social stability of society. With this purpose the National strategy of counteraction to corruption and national anti-corruption plans are being implemented. The atmosphere of unacceptability of this phenomenon is formed in the society and the level of responsibility for the corrupt actions has been increased. A special place in the system of ensuring political security and political stability is held by the forecasts of future development of the domestic political situation in the country.
It is designed to solve a two-fold problem: on the one hand, to give an objective scientifically based picture of the political situation in the country, to identify long-term sustainable trends in its development, based on today's processes taking place in the world and the country. And on the other hand its aim is to choose promising areas of activity so that the authorities could ensure political security and political stability of society.
The forecast of the domestic political and international situation is the most important tool ensuring the implementation of tasks aimed at the national security of the state. There is still a number of important problems, the solution of which will ensure the political security of the state and the political stability of society as an important factor and condition of national security.
Some theoretical aspects of political analysis of political security and political stability of the state and society, considered above, allow us to conclude that in modern conditions there are certain political threats to national security of Russia. Therefore, today Russia is implementing a mechanism to ensure political security, first of all, it is a purposeful political influence of public authorities and management on the political processes, relations, factors and conditions for the realization of vital interests of social groups in the general system of national security and the formation on this basis of the ability of the individual, society and the state to exist and develop under the influence of threats and dangers.
Political stability is an integral part, the main link and the basis of political security of the state. It assumes a conflict-free state of society, which is characterized by a certain degree of integrity and the ability to effectively implement its functions. Ensuring political security and political stability of Russia is an objective regularity of its development in modern conditions, the key to progress in the future.
BIBLIOGRAPHIC LIST:
1. Areev S.I. Political security of the Russian Federation in modern conditions. – М., 2008.
2. Military political science. Textbook. – М.: Krasnaya Zvezda, 2006.
3. Gaiduk V.V., Demyanenko Yu.A. Ethnopolitical instruments of national security of the Russian Federation // Issues of national and federal relations. – 2013. – № 3.
4. Doctrine of Information Security of the Russian Federation // Rossiyskaya Gazeta. – Dec. 6, 2016.
5. Law of the Russian Federation "On Security." – М., 2010.
6. Kononovich I.A., Frolov A.E., Shatravin S.A. National security of Russia and the ways to ensure it in modern conditions. – SPb: VUNTs VMF VMA, 2010.
7. Love and freedom // Rossiyskaya Gazeta. – Jan. 9, 2018.
8. Medvedev N.P. Stability of the political system: theory and Russian practice // Bulletin of Ryazan State University named after S. A. Esenin. – 2007. – № 4 (17).
9. Muravykh А.I. The new paradigm of national security and socio-economic development of Russia // Eurasian Union: issues of international relations. – 2017. – № 1.
10. Fundamentals of the state policy of the Russian Federation in the field of naval activities until 2030 // Rossiyskaya Gazeta. – July 21, 2017.
11. Petrov A. What are the threats of social stratification // Argumenty I Facty. – 2017. – № 8.
12. Politology. Encyclopaedic dictionary. – М., 1993.
13. Radikov I.V. Political problems of national security and management of military personnel. – SPb.: WATT, 2008. – Рart. 1.
14. Serebryannikov V.V. Political security // Svobodnaya mysl. – 1997. – № 1.
15. Soviet military encyclopedia. – M.: Voenizdat, 1978. – Т. 5.
16. National Security Strategy of the Russian Federation // Rossiyskaya Gazeta. – Jan. 2, 2016.
17. Suleymanov A.R. National and territorial security of the Russian state: history and today // Issues of national and federative relations. – 2013. – № 3.