Vol. 23 No. 3 (2021)

This article analyzes the relevant legislation, identifies the basic criteria for defining the concept of the civil service of other types in the Russian Federation, and describes the current state of its legal regulation. The service of other types is carried out in the federal-state bodies and organizations subordinate to them; such organizations perform special functions to ensure security, law and order, combat crime and protect citizens’ rights and freedoms. The author identifies the reasons for the abolition of such a concept as “law enforcement service” in the civil service systems and considers the process of its transformation into a new segment within this system. Based on the conducted comparative analysis of legislative and subordinate legal acts containing relevant regulatory provisions, the analysis shows that today the civil service of other types is carried out in state bodies defined as law enforcement agencies. To reflect the current state of legal regulation for the civil service of other types, the author notes an increase in the corresponding legislative framework in recent years. The issues of legal regulation of work in the field of civil service of other types are worked out in special laws regarding employees of customs authorities, internal affairs bodies, the federal fire service, the criminal justice system, and enforcement bodies. In addition, the article outlines the key priorities for further improvement of legal regulation

The article examines several categories to determine the objective criteria of differentiation in the legal regulation of civil servants' status and social protection. Looking into the category of justice, the author concludes that it is necessary to take into account the criteria for the conformity of the level, nature, and scope of powers and responsibilities for each position in the civil service, the adequacy of the corresponding prohibitions and restrictions during the period of service to the nature and scope of the powers of an official, the equivalence of similar positions when considering the content and nature of the service. While considering the category of balance between private and public interests, the author speaks of the need to take into account the criterion of the consistency of private and public interests when determining the performance indicators of civil servants, with respect to the functions they perform; in addition, the author defines a set of criteria for further research of this category. Speaking on the category of authority, the author proposes to create a hierarchical system of positions in the civil service, which links the level of social protection of civil servants for exercising their powers with prohibitions and restrictions imposed on them by anti-corruption legislation.

The article discusses the methodology of coaching as management style and technology for professional development of civil service personnel in executive bodies. The author mentions the problem of developing the employee’s potential, self-realization in the process of training as well as improving personal and professional efficiency. In this study, special attention is paid to improving the effectiveness of human potential. Currently, personnel management and its professional development should be considered as an inseparable process, since it has largely exhausted its resources and does not give the necessary effect. Traditional training does not ensure that personnel receive appropriate competencies that are in demand at the increasing pace of economic development and other spheres of modern life. Today, personnel management is still carried out through the distribution of powers and responsibilities, setting tasks and passing instructions, stimulating and motivating, encouraging and punishing, but at the head of this process should be a concern for creating conditions and atmosphere for realizing person’s natural ability to learn and think independently, that is, a strategy for managing professional development.

Building an integrated system for personnel selection, training and development is one of the most important tasks of the civil service. HR agencies are interested in finding specialists with a “portfolio of competencies”, showing flexibility and quickly adapting to any activity. To find the right candidate, you need to choose the right strategy for selecting specialists. More and more companies use the assessment center methodology despite a large number of other evaluation methods. The assessment center allows you to conduct tests in situations close to reality and comprehensively evaluate the knowledge, skills, personal, professional, and psychological characteristics necessary for working in a particular position for a particular candidate or an employee. The article presents the methodology of the assessment center when evaluating state civil servants of the administration of the Lipetsk region. The work describes methods for creating a competency model, formulates recommendations on the use of technologies of the center for evaluating civil servants, and draws conclusions based on the final results. The article presents data on the validity of the assessment center in comparison with other tools for evaluating personnel, shows the advantages and disadvantages of this method. The methodology of assessment centers can be recommended to the authorities for evaluating personnel in the civil service.

The article analyses various approaches to assessing the PR activities of commercial organizations and public authorities. The author concludes that there is no comprehensive methodology for analyzing and evaluating the effectiveness of PR activities. This indicates the relevance and the need to develop a special methodology to identify relevant and potential sources for the formation and development of a complex image and reputation characteristics of public authorities with which citizens of the Russian Federation could operate. The basis of the proposed theory is the materials of works on communication by G. Lasswell (model of mass communication, pentad). The method is a system of evaluation parameters, performance indicators, and analytical tools for each structural component of such activities, as well as an algorithm for their analysis and evaluation. When developing this methodology, we try to take into account the maximum number of criteria and performance indicators, but in practice, it is not always possible. To increase the effectiveness of the methodology, the author conducts the structuring of the pentad, which allows to distinguish the main processes of PR activity of a public authority. The assessment of each component of the pentad is a separate study in which we can identify the relevant PR activity processes that require adjustment.

During the International Conference organized by the Institute of Public Administration and Civil Service of the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, the author presented a research project he was carrying out and presenting at several international institutions (among others, the University of Leiden, in the Netherlands, and the Lomonosov State University, also in the Russian Federation). The work is still in progress and is expected to be completed not earlier than 2022, in the form of one or more publishable articles. The presented article is brief report on the presentation held. Firstly, the author discusses the reasons why the solution to the taxation problems does not lie so much in redesigning the allocation rules and adopting new anti-avoidance measures in corporate income taxes. In a second part, the author argues that solutions may arise from reforming existing indirect taxes, based on the production, sale, use or ownership of goods and services and explores the possibilities to solve the current corporate taxation problems.

The article highlights the progress of international taxation in the fight against the concealment of income in offshore jurisdictions and exposes the lights and shadows of the current legal framework for the exchange of information on bank accounts. The author examines the major problems of international taxation and how corporations avoid paying taxes in their jurisdictions and how it affects the financial sphere. The article studies bank secrecy with its harmful aspects and develops the solution to resolve the current issues. As a conclusion, the author focuses on cooperation between tax administrations and the positive outcomes from transparency and information exchange measures on the international taxation.

The article considers the dynamics for forming the retail investment segment in the Russian Federation, the regulatory acts in force to regulate it, and the measures taken by the state to provide additional legal protection for individuals on the securities market. There is an acute issue of the low level of financial literacy of Russian citizens. As a result of the analysis of the current system for protecting the rights and legitimate interests of unqualified investors, the author identified existing problems and proposed possible ways to solve them. It is noted that a distinctive feature of the stock market is the extremely high level of risk of financial losses. Due to the fact that only professionals are allowed to trade, regular citizens are forced to use the broker services. The brokerage agreement, despite its significance, is the most undeveloped area of legal regulation of investors’ activities in the securities market. The rights and guarantees of the legitimate interests of unqualified investors in the provision of brokerage services are also not clearly established. According to the author, a possible solution would be the introduction of a special regulation of the brokerage contract at the legislative level and the consolidation of minimum guarantees of compliance with the interests of clients.

The article examines the state of the audit services market in Russia over the past three years. The author highlights the most important and relevant problems, such as dumping, the unattractive nature of the profession itself, the insufficient level of quality of service provision, and a decrease in income. The work reflects the factors that have the greatest impact on the activities of audit organizations, examines the possibilities for solving existing problems, and proposes measures to improve regulation in this area. In Russia, the market for audit services tends to enlarge its participants. Small companies face a choice when they must either join big enterprises or leave the market. The number of audit organizations and certified auditors is constantly declining. Since organizations limit their audit costs, audit companies reduce the cost of services they provide to retain their clients or acquire new ones. Currently, such price dumping is becoming large-scale. Another problem is the decline in the prestige of the profession. The lack of prospects in this area directly affects the decrease in the number of qualified specialists in the audit services market. Low demand for services has the greatest impact on audit organizations and individual auditors.

The global problem of corruption needs an integrative understanding from psychology, sociology, jurisprudence, and cultural approaches. Corruption threatens national and global security, leads to the degradation of humanistic, moral values, and significantly reduces the level of social capital and the effectiveness of governance in a wide range of areas. The article considers the origins of corruption and its motivating factors based on ideas concerning the nature of man, the human psyche, based on an analysis of the relationship between the conscious and unconscious levels of consciousness and subconscious, instinctive impulses. The author discusses the possibility of preventing corruption in an ecosystem approach to civil service, which would allow a holistic presentation of internal and external factors that determine the essence of the civil service, the prerequisites, and conditions for its harmonization with the social environment. By understanding civil servants’ behavior, internal motives, and external incentives, it is possible to define a public service ecosystem that will ensure a symbiosis between the civil service, society, and the State. The creation of such an ecosystem can contribute to the qualitative improvement of public administration

The article examines the communicative capabilities of a scientific and practical journal to describe phenomena and events, as well as explaining their semantic meaning. The author uses methods of content analysis of publications through their semantic context. Initially, the embedded interpretation of reality gives rise to a semantic dialogue between the reader and the creator of text. This form of text interactivity allows to obtain not only quantitative but also qualitative analysis results. The Belarusian scientific and practical journal “Problems of Management” was chosen as the object of analysis. As the analysis has shown, the semantic context of the published articles shows the direction for social development aimed at increasing the activity of the population and its responsibility for the quality of life. The author systematizes the semantic accents found in the interpretations. They are considered as a unity of three aspects. Socialization of economic transformation is understood as the creativity and entrepreneurial spirit among producers. Social policy modifications are considered to stimulate human capital and direct everyone towards personal effectiveness. Social dialogue is regarded as a format of civic participation in the public administration system. In this context, the scientific knowledge provided by the magazine about the adaptation of Belarusian society to the changes and challenges of time is perceived. This allows the author to qualify the processes taking place in the country as secondary socialization, during which society acquires new features without losing its basic characteristics. In turn, the activities of the journal can be defined as having inclusive nature: the journal is integrated into the management process by explaining to the reader the meanings of the guidelines set by the state.

Sport has long been the means of solving the problems in world politics. One of the first games that showed the possibility of combining different spheres of human activity was chess. The article examines the history of the development of chess, patterns and features of this intellectual game through the prism of geopolitical interests. The author draws an analogy between the mental efforts of the players and the activities of diplomats, finds common features in the strategy of the game and in international politics in defending state interests. It is proposed to consider the field of the chess game as a battlefield or geopolitical map of influence, the rules of the game on which are established by the strongest countries. Opponents demonstrate strength, endurance, and character that are necessary for any sport. The importance of anticipating a variety of options in this rivalry is easily extrapolated to socio-political realities. Chess reflects the images of spatial and social organization that are important to a person, and the rules of the game have much in common with the strategy of behavior of the main actors. Chess was highly valued during times of social transformations; this was manifested in the desire not to ban the game as a legacy of the past, but on the contrary, to make it a symbol of the ongoing changes. This policy was followed by the French revolutionaries of the 18th century and the Russian Bolsheviks at the beginning of the 20th century. Despite the open appearance of confrontation, chess games are well reminiscent of diplomacy, which consists of closeness and seclusion. According to some political scientists, we can easily compare the chess game can with the strategic management of geopolitical interests.

The article analyses the characteristics of the regional political elite from the point of view of the region’s public opinion. The purpose of the study is to examine public opinion concerning the elite political group of the Astrakhan region. The paper presents the main theoretical approaches to the definition of the political elite and identifies its structural characteristics in modern Russian society. The author conducted a questionnaire sociological survey of the population of the Astrakhan region, according to the results of which there is a formulated idea of the state of the regional elite. Additionally, the article describes the advantages and disadvantages of this group, considers the key qualities of its representatives, and possible ways to further development. The author concludes that the population of the Astrakhan region characterizes the political elite extremely contradictory: with a negative characterization of its main representatives in terms of qualitative indicators and parameters of its effectiveness, we can see the positive dynamics of public opinion. Also, the public opinion poll confirmed the expert point of view regarding the low level of conflict of the Astrakhan political elite and its ability to find solutions to difficult political situations. The study of regional political elites promotes dialogue among all actors in the political process.

The article discusses a new technology in the field of administration - a method of data-based management. In the field of education, analytics is the necessary manager’s competence to fulfill his work duties. The author identified the problem of transforming legal norms when working with open data, which did not affect the change in institutional and cultural norms of “data-based management” in managerial decision-making practice. The article provides a comparative analysis of the professional standards’ requirements and educational programs for the managerial personnel’s professional development in the field of education. The author analyzed two aspects of the development of a data-based management system: personnel - the development of educational programs for training managerial specialists who can use such technology, and infrastructure - the development of digital open data services and digital data processing services for making managerial decisions. The tasks of developing education through the analysis of data for assessing its quality are reflected in the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation “On national goals and strategic objectives for the development of the Russian Federation for the period up to 2024” and can be implemented based on the professional capital of managers using tools for analyzing such data. It is necessary to improve the interaction of electronic information exchange services for more effective information interaction and the construction of analytical reporting. This will allow for the efficient integration of data from different information systems and electronic resources and obtain the necessary data of the information of interest.

The article focuses on the role and place of a taxation judge in the French legal system. The author notes that the activity of a judge in tax disputes is not regulated by any special act; it is self-independent and, at the same time, ensures compliance with the general principles of private or public law. The taxation judge seeks a balance in the delicate relationship between the tax administration and the taxpayer, where the latter perceives the tax as a burden rather than civic duty, and sometimes tries to violate the rules and the law, forgetting that, as Oliver Holmes said, “Taxes are the price we pay for the opportunity to live in a civilized society”. Many taxation mechanisms are balancing on the verge of legality and get out of the control of a judge who does not always have sufficient information and resources. Despite the progress made in this area, taxation judges have not been able to determine the intangible boundary between taxation engineering (legal taxation optimization opportunities) and tax planning (morally reprehensible tax evasion). Through case law, the taxation judge takes part in restoring tax justice, the confidence in the tax administration, the preservation of rights and guarantees for the taxpayer, and the desire to promote and encourage tax residency as the basis of a social contract.

The article presents the results of the analysis of Russian-Chinese economic cooperation over the past 70 years in light of the shift happening in both countries' political paradigms and economic interests. The evolution of trade, economic and political relations, along with a detailed study of its stages, is described. The author examines the current state of economic relations between the Russian Federation and the People's Republic of China and pays attention to both positive and negative development trends as well as their further prospects. Despite the fact that economic relations at the state level do not have a very long history from the point of view of a historical perspective and are less than 100 years old, they had a serious impact on the development of China: the participation of the Soviet Union was marked not only by the modernization of production field, but also by extensive investments and training of specialists. The development of Russian-Chinese cooperation was significantly influenced by the well-known political events of 2014 and the subsequent sanctions against the Russian Federation by Western countries, which gave rise to retaliatory sanctions from Russia. At the same time, despite the obvious successes of international economic cooperation between Russia and China, there are still many factors that have or may potentially harm their development. Most economists, along with public administration experts, understand the importance of eliminating the “commodity roll” of Russian exports since the benefits for both countries are relevant only for short time periods, but in the long term, both countries benefit from diversifying production and increasing exports from Russia to China of mechanical engineering products, chemical production, as well as other high-tech products.

The article examines the history of forming the system of public administration in the Republic of Armenia after gaining independence. It is noted that the development of the fundamental draft laws of the newly formed state was carried out in close cooperation and with the active involvement of authoritative representatives of the Armenian society. The first years of independence for the Republic of Armenia were characterized by the creation of democratic institutions, the transition to a multi-party system, the development of a market economy, the reformation of the whole state system, as well as the system of state administration. The Constitution laid the legal foundations for transitioning from an authoritarian system to a democratic state and gave a legal framework to the new political system. With the development of state administration and the adoption of amendments to the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia, a transition was made from a semi-presidential republic to a parliamentary form of government. Armenia shows high markers and stable growth of indicators regarding the quality of public administration. The country’s authorities apply successful world experience and follow high European standards; in this regard, digitalization is actively developing in the country, including in the field of public administration. In recent years, due to the high rates of digitalization, Armenia entered the number of countries with a high index of e-government development. A special place in the field for the development of the system of state and municipal service is given to professional training and retraining of personnel.