Vol. 21 No. 6 (2019)

Neoclassical economic theory, which has long prevailed in science, and traditional Keynesianism face serious difficulties in preventing global economic crises. Experiments and designing the future are answers to the challenges associated with uncertainty and the need for decision-making in rapidly changing conditions. Modern capitalism is a system with high turbulence, which leads to serious problems in predicting socio-economic processes and phenomena. The main problems, according to the author, are uncertainty and the need to develop innovative government solutions aimed at reducing this uncertainty. One way of innovative problem solving is design thinking. Its features such as empathy orientation and joint development of solutions (with their potential users) are key factors that can ensure the achievement of public policy goals in the face of uncertainty. The most common practice of using design thinking in the development of innovative solutions to social problems is the creation of specialized laboratories that do not report directly to government bodies, but to structures affiliated with them. The answer to the challenges of our time will be a change in the training of future public servants, who must be able to make decisions in the face of uncertainty, and those specialists who will be engaged in field research and policy design. This need leads to increased requirements for the competence of public policy makers and civil servants, who are obliged to carry out the examination of projects and regulate the processes of investment, control and monitoring of innovative developments, to help their implementation and entry into markets.

The authors of the article propose to consider the concept of efficiency in relation to the activities of public authorities as a generalized and interconnected series of concepts such as profitability, qualimetricity and effectiveness. The effectiveness of public management is considered to be the implementation of management, during which the goals are achieved (solving a specific socially significant problem / satisfying the interests of the population) while minimizing costs and observing current standards and regulations on the quality of work performed. The authors offer under the public administration efficiency evaluation to understand a set of methods for measuring actual characteristics and the indicators reflecting the results of activities of the authorities within the framework of implemented strategies, programs and projects in accordance with the underlying criteria, and under the rating - the direct result of this measurement, which serves to compare activity of public administration subjects among themselves, with the declared objectives, outcomes of previous periods.

The article deals with organizational and legal framework of recruitment, approval and appointment of heads of regional representative offices of the federal executive authorities. Despite many scientific articles and studies devoted to the activities of the headquarters of public authorities, aspects relating to the regional representative offices often remain outside the scope of attention. At the same time, it should be noted that in fact these are the regional representative offices that bear the bulk of the functionality of Federal state authorities. Taking into account this circumstance, the effective organization of the activities of regional representative offices, including the issues of improving the legal status of their heads, comes to the fore. The analysis of existing approaches to organizational and legal features of activities of heads of territorial bodies revealed a number of contradictions concerning the qualification requirements regarding the state service experience and work experience, level of education, the appointment approval procedure. Thus, the author comes to the conclusion that the place of heads of regional representative offices in the register of positions of the federal state civil service and, as a consequence, the qualification requirements imposed on them, do not correspond to the scale and complexity of the tasks that regional representative offices face. Also, attention is drawn to the different degree of complexity of the procedure for approval of the heads of the interregional and regional offices, and, despite the larger scale of activities in the case of interregional offices, the procedure for approval of their heads - is easier. The procedure for appointing heads of territorial bodies also has significant specificity depending on the departmental affiliation of the state body to the ‘socio-economic’ (governmental) or ‘administrative-political’ (presidential) bloc. One of the key conclusions of the research is that at the moment there is no uniform regulatory approach to the procedure of recruitment, approval and appointment of heads of regional representative offices of federal executive authorities.

The article discusses the issues of building a system of legal responsibility in relation to state servants. Using a systematic research method, the author defines the main intra-system elements and establishes connections between them. The paper gives a brief description of the civil service, taking into account its types, examines the basis of responsibility in the form of loss of confidence using specific examples from the current legislation. Modern development towards a democratic and legal state affects the importance of certain types of public administration. The state civil service comes to the fore, whose tasks are to build a dialogue between the government and society and the development of democratic institutions. The author analyzed the role of quantitative and qualitative indicators in the structure of the system of legal liability of officials. The combination of these parameters allows creating the necessary level of positive legal responsibility in the form of awareness of the official of the importance of his/her activities. The article emphasizes the dynamic nature of the contradiction between positive and negative responsibility, which is expressed in the active exchange of information between them, the problem of the procedural component and its role in the work of officials is touched upon. The idea is being expressed of establishing a special control and oversight body whose task would be to conduct non-departmental inspections aimed at detecting signs of incompetence and inefficiency in the work of a public servant. The author emphasizes the importance of the activities of a state civil servant aimed at preserving legal values and maintaining a high level of law and order in society. The construction of a responsibility system should be associated with an increase in the overall effectiveness of the functioning of the public service.

Based on the analysis of the current Russian legislation and the results of law enforcement practice, the article characterizes the nature and role of the Institute of ‘minimization and (or) elimination of the consequences of corruption offenses' in the mechanism of implementation of anti-corruption policy in modern Russia. As a result of the study, a number of proposals to improve the organizational and legal framework of the domestic anti-corruption mechanism were formulated. Any offense is characterized by a certain composition, the elements of which are: the object and the subject of unlawful encroachment, as well as its objective and subjective side. Consequences of offenses can be complex, that is, to cause property damage to the victim simultaneously with infliction of moral damage to him and substantial restriction of his constitutional rights. Depending on the areas of society to which the relations that are harmful belong, we can talk about the political, humanitarian, economic, organizational, social (in the narrow sense), moral, reputational and other consequences of corruption.

The article analyzes the problems that arise when a supplier (contractor, provider) makes a demand for a payment to a state and municipal customer in accordance with an oral agreement with him or in other circumstances, for goods, work, services to satisfy state and municipal needs in the absence of a contract. The author considers the legal nature of the relations of the parties, participants of the contract system, peculiarities of the legal status of the customer, some features of the formation of the contract price and calculation of the penalty. The paper gives a legal assessment of the numerous facts of the performance of work, the provision of services for state and municipal needs without concluding a contract, analyzes the extensive judicial practice in cases from these relations. The specific situations in which such works were performed and services were provided (their nature, circumstances of production, reasons for refusal by the actual customer to pay for works, services performed on his behalf in the absence of a state or municipal contract) are analyzed. The correlation of the provisions of civil legislation on freedom of contract with the provisions of the norms on the contract system is determined, separate provisions of the legislation on the contract system and competition are investigated.

The article analyzes the difficulties in law enforcement practice faced by spiritual educational organizations. The author emphasizes the need to finalize legislative acts in the field of organization and implementation of activities, accreditation and licensing of spiritual educational organizations. The activity of spiritual educational organizations is aimed at training specialists who solve narrow professional tasks. The richness of national cultures, the diversity of forms of religious life, and taking into account the centuries-old traditions of the country are not possible without the creation of educational courses that reflect the facets and problems of the development of a multicultural society. Spiritual organizations exist on a single moral platform, have common axiological foundations of activity, which makes it possible to achieve aggregate educational goals and at the same time makes it possible to focus on the unique characteristics of individual religious groups and confessions, and to carry out an open dialogue of beliefs and cultures. Religious education is aimed not only and not so much at getting students a certain profession in their chosen type of activity, but at introducing them to moral and cultural values, enriching the spiritual world of a person. Inclusion in the general list of programs provided for implementation by spiritual educational organizations will allow to take into account their specifics, will increase the range of tasks solved by them, will satisfy the existing requests for additional education.

The author has set a task in the conditions of complicating financial relations and the dependence of banking activities on banking supervision to reveal the nature, functions, role of the latter, as well as its development and improvement based on the economic interests of banking participants. The article deals with the theory and methodology of banking supervision, functions, role of the Bank of Russia and credit institutions in their relationship and interdependence, taking into account the transition to an intensive model of the banking system; highlights the mechanism, forms and methods of banking supervision, as well as the main trends in the development of banking supervision. It was concluded that the main content of the new stage in the development of banking supervision should be the improvement of the quality of banking activities, due to the active use of the achievements of modern information technologies that form the basis for modernizing banking activities. In this regard, the formation of a more effective system of banking regulation and supervision capable of coping with crises in the next few years is of particular importance.

Today, in Russia there is no agreement on recognized theoretical and methodological approaches concerning the formation of shelf oil and gas resources development programs and the desirability of their development. The development of the Russian shelf can prepare a new hydrocarbon resource base, and also, according to the international experience (Norway, Brazil), become the driving force of the whole national economy, in other words, to ensure the growth of an entire chain of related industries due to the high multiplier effect. The choice of the strategy for developing oil and gas resources of the Russian shelf, which is necessary to accelerate economic growth, requires an in-depth analysis of government policy and practical experience of countries that have achieved significant success in the development of energy resources and have been able to use them as a foundation to increase the population’s prosperity and catalyst for innovative development. The article presents the author’s technique of a complex estimation of a portfolio of shelf oil and gas projects, the use of which by multi-criteria projects analysis provides an opportunity to form the shelf development program that focuses on obtaining the maximum effect on the national economy.

The interaction between the public and private sectors is becoming increasingly important under the conditions that characterize the current economic trends in the Russian Federation (international sanctions, the tasks of privatizing attractive Russian companies, the trend to attract business instead of state unitary enterprises, the need to modernize social infrastructure in the regions). The dependence of the national economic system of the Russian Federation on external factors, as well as susceptibility to systemic economic crises increase the overall degree of vulnerability of national business and suggest the activation of existing state institutions in order to directly support and stimulate investment and entrepreneurial initiatives. In these circumstances, one of the most successful and relevant to modern realities forms of stimulating investment and entrepreneurial activity is the model of attracting private business to upgrade public infrastructure, which proves its high performance both in foreign countries and in Russia. The article analyzes the features of the organizational and managerial mechanism of interaction between business and the state in Russia, reveals its potential as an institution to stimulate the attraction of private investment in state and municipal facilities. The practice of implementing a public-private partnership model and the opportunities that will help to ensure the interests of private investors were also studied. The article demonstrates the positive results of the implementation of programs aimed at stimulating entrepreneurial activity with the help of these projects. At the same time, it is emphasized that the development of private investment and the business sector in our country is still experiencing many problems.

The authors consider the problematic issues of using the existing statistical apparatus for monitoring urban development and living comfort in different-sized settlements. The article analyzes the existing methods of forming the urban environment quality index and the possibility of their application. Indicators were identified that could be evaluated using approved and validated statistical forms. Modern buildings and structures are being erected in accordance with regulatory requirements that ensure accessibility for people with disabilities. The possibilities of actual (non-formal) adaptation of the existing real estate fund, the road network in each specific case are very different, which often requires additional design solutions. One of the most difficult issues is assessing the availability of engineering and transport infrastructure.

Modern context of housing solutions introduced in May by Presidential Decree is mainly focused on two issues: shared construction participants’ rights provision and shift towards project financing. The state and sectoral authorities were tasked with redistributing functions of financing and control between representatives of the construction and banking business. At the same time, the volume of construction and liquidity of construction products should not have been affected. This tasking of reference actualized the problem of expanding mortgage lending, which is capable of supporting primarily the liquidity of residential real estate. The system measures taken have allowed for the last ten years reducing the mortgage rate by more than 37%. This made it possible to expand by a third the potential demand for residential real estate due to its high elasticity. At the same time these processes have affected the increase in the price of housing under construction. As a result, the analysis showed that in the conditions of a decrease in the level of real incomes, the mortgage business is not in a position to support the demand even in the conditions of a decrease in the interest rate to 8%. A drop in demand in conjunction with the transition to the use of new building rules, escrow accounts creates serious challenges to the viability of the subjects of the investment and construction business.

This article assesses the impact of rates of insurance premiums on the distribution component for the period from 2002 to 2018, as well as on the funded component from 2002 to 2013 before the introduction of the ‘moratorium' on the formation of the funded pension. In order to establish the interdependence between these variables, a correlation coefficient was calculated to determine the closeness of the relationship, and its significance was assessed. The results of the correlation analysis showed a greater degree of interdependence between the rate of insurance premiums on the formation of the funded part of the labor pension and the funded component in the period from 2002 to 2013, rather than between the rate of the insurance pension formation rate (until 2015 of the insurance part of the labor pension) and the distribution component for 2002-2018. In addition, the evaluation of the significance of the correlation coefficient revealed that there is no close statistical relationship between the studied indicators. The weighted average rate of contributions to the insurance pension (the insurance part of the labor pension) is moderately related to the distribution component and determines it only by 43%. The weighted average rate of the tariff for the funded part of the pension has a significant impact on the funded component.

In XIX century there was more than just a shortage of officials for new ministries (more officials were required than for collegiums), but also a lack of proper education for officials because the collegial management experience was not very useful, and sometimes it was even harmful. In the first third of the XIX century, the heads of the Russian state realized the importance of officials' training in universities, which, according to G.V. Plekhanov, is achieved through career education. Government circles gradually accepted the importance of enlightenment to improve the quality of work of officials. Despite this, in the first quarter of the XIX century, the basic organizations for education were in boarding houses and military schools. University and elite-lyceum education began to appear only during the reign of Nicholas I. The article is devoted to the analysis of the formation of the system of educational institutions to train civil servants of the Russian Empire in the XIX century.

This article discusses the problems of the energy policy of the Federal Republic of Germany. The author argues that the current energy policy of the Federal Government of Germany differs from the policies of the course of previous governments in that its predecessors sought to promote various types of energy and technology with a view to overall economic development in order to increase welfare in Germany. The climate policy of the current Federal Government, on the contrary, is carried out to the detriment of social welfare, pursuing an unrealistic goal of saving the climate. The German federal government has committed or, in other words, set itself the goal of reducing CO2 emissions by 40% by 2020, compared to the 1990 baseline, and by 80-95% by 2050. To this end, the German Renewable Energy Act was adopted on 1 April 2001. In the past, energy policy has focused on a triangle of the following goals: security of supply, environmental friendliness and economic efficiency, as well as a market economy. Although the opposite is stated today, in 2012, Germany’s energy policy went astray. Reliability of supply is reduced. Electricity prices in Germany are among the highest in the world, there is a tendency for their further growth. The author argues that, despite all efforts to save energy, the needs of Germany and Europe in gas will not decrease. In this regard, the Nord Stream - 2 (NS2) gas pipeline is extremely important.

This article continues a series of publications in the journal ‘Gosudarstvennaya sluzhba', devoted to the problem of global food security and examining it from historical, cultural and geopolitical perspectives. This paper analyzes the history of the creation and distribution of candies, which not only help to create a joyful mood, cause positive emotions, but also serve as a means of communication. By connecting people from different countries and cultures, they convey information about their lives through a rich language of symbols, including taste and visual. Confectionery products are a constant attribute of any holiday - both personal and public. Candy has become an integral part of the diplomatic protocol. The breadth and variety of confectionery products allows them to be used as a carrier of educational information. Outstanding confectioners worked on the production of sweets, and well-known artists were attracted to the design of wrappers and boxes for these products, which increased the impact on the consumer. Confectionery products have become a powerful tool of political propaganda. According to them, as a valuable source of the history of everyday life, it is possible to judge social and political moods of society and ability of the government to catch these moods. Confectionery in a bizarre way bind countries and peoples, while they always perform several functions at once, including propaganda, which is especially in demand during periods of international crises.