The article presents an analysis of the political value and social purpose of constitutions as a result of the historical evolution of states and a method of fixing the prospects for political and social development. In particular, questions are raised about the nature of the constitutional act in autocratic states and its social perception. The constitutional characteristics of the constitutional state of rights and justice and social state are subjected to detailed analysis, and their significance is assessed either, in first, as a principle, as a supreme value or a nationwide idea of political development or, in second, as a constitutional legal norm. The author draws attention to the fact that differently formulated constitutional provisions do not give rise to conceptual differences in the law-constitutional practice of states. It has also been noted that not every state that realistically and routinely ensures the rule of law and recognizes the inherent duty of the state to guarantee unconditional basic income as a guarantee of a decent life for citizens, is determined itself constitutional state of rights and justice and social state in its constitution. An important indicator of progressive political and legal development the author sees in the stability of the constitution and legislation. The author believes that there are much more legal grounds for describing the state as constitutional state of rights and justice and social state in constitutions in the form of principles ‒ organizational ideas for creating appropriate conditions, and not as constitutional norms.

The article explores the role of the Constitution in the formation and regulation of the ideology of the state. The Constitution itself is considered in a triune aspect: the Basic Law of the State, the Social Contract and the «Political Code». At the same time, in each of the qualities considered, the task of the Constitution is to ensure the consensus of liberal and social principles, the balance of individualism and solidarity, and reduce the degree of confrontation between different social groups. The author carries out a comparative analysis of the constitutional foundations of ideology in Russia and foreign countries.

In the present work the phenomenon of alienation, accompanied the modern formal social contracts – constitutions, is studied. The constitution, considered a formal social contract, is a legal act of alienation of the civil society and the governmental authority under the certain terms. In the context of methodology of the legal political science (the political science of law), the system comparative analysis of major features of alienation and de-alienation, corresponding to the constitutions of bourgeois – democratic, socialist, post-socialist, theocratic and clerical states, is performed. In the work a historical – materialistic approach, according to which the natural state (the interpretation of primitive living) and the social contract (the act of alienation of people’s rights to the benefit of the establishing state), is used – the necessary fictions of anti-feudal natural legal theory, formulated in the Enlightenment. In practice the modern states define the people’s rights and the “government’s”, provide for the opportunities of flexible alienation and de-alienation of all the constituted social relations through the formal social contract – the Constitution. This logical scheme constitutes modus operandi of all the study, in the result of which the author came to the conclusion that different types and forms of alienation are immanent to the social contracts (constitutions) of the countries with various social and political system; the ways of constitutional de-alienation are various as well: modernization of the system of rights and freedoms, social guarantees, state-party and state-religious ideology, etc. This process is relatively unlimited, determined by the civilizational features of societies, but, mainly, by the progress of productive forces and productive relations, the inevitable revolutionizing of which raises new issues of alienation and de-alienation on the way to the common good of humanity.

The article is devoted to the analysis of the controversial assessments of 1993 Russian Constitution made at its 25th anniversary. Author also focuses on the ideas contained in article “The letter and spirit of the Constitution” by the President of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, published on October 10, 2018 in Rossiyskaya Gazeta. Summarizing the assessments of the ongoing discussion, author comes to the main conclusion: light changes are not enough to improve the 1993 Russian Constitution. Russia needs a new basic law, adequate to the new historical realities.

The article presents an analysis of the political value and social purpose of constitutions as a result of the historical evolution of states and a method of fixing the prospects for political and social development. In particular, questions are raised about the nature of the constitutional act in autocratic states and its social perception. The constitutional characteristics of the constitutional state of rights and justice and social state are subjected to detailed analysis, and their significance is assessed either, in first, as a principle, as a supreme value or a nationwide idea of political development or, in second, as a constitutional legal norm. The author draws attention to the fact that differently formulated constitutional provisions do not give rise to conceptual differences in the law-constitutional practice of states. It has also been noted that not every state that realistically and routinely ensures the rule of law and recognizes the inherent duty of the state to guarantee unconditional basic income as a guarantee of a decent life for citizens, is determined itself constitutional state of rights and justice and social state in its constitution. An important indicator of progressive political and legal development the author sees in the stability of the constitution and legislation. The author believes that there are much more legal grounds for describing the state  as constitutional state of rights and justice and social state in constitutions in the form of principles - organizational ideas for creating appropriate conditions, and not as constitutional norms

The article is devoted to the study of the «soft power» of Russia in the near abroad in comparison with the «normative power» of the European Union. The work consists of two parts. The first section is devoted to the categorical understanding of the concept of «soft power». Much attention is paid to the resources producing «attractiveness». It is shown that there are no universal components of «soft power». The second part of the paper deals with the «soft» component of Russian foreign policy in the post-Soviet space. In academic and expert circles, there is an opinion that Russia's «soft power» is poorly developed (in comparison with European countries). The article shows that this thesis is not correct: Russian foreign policy norms and principles in the eyes of the majority of post-Soviet States look more attractive than the European Union.

The aim of the research is to carry out a comparative analysis of national security strategies of Russia and Germany based on the universal human values they contain, excluding geopolitical and military aspects. The choice of the strategies of the two states is conditioned by the existence of common legal, cultural and historical traditions. The article explores the evolution of the “national security” notion which content has expanded both at the normative and scientific levels due to the appearance of new threats and dangers. The authors prove that the basis underlying the national security strategies of the two countries includes not only external policy interests but also rights and freedoms of a person and citizen. Moreover, the strategies also focus on eliminating and leveling threats by ensuring internal and external security as an integral whole and not by means of global security. In both strategies: the human rights, a person and society are in the first place; their humanistic and social orientation is visible; provision of the third and fourth rights of the generations of the mankind is reflected in the normative documents regarding national security; the presence of collectivism features in the mentality of both nations is reflected in the participation of civil society institutions in ensuring national security. Differences in the national security strategies of Russia and Germany are conditioned by different levels of social and economic development. Thus, a major emphasis in the Russian strategy is made on solving social, economic and cultural tasks. The authors prove that the National Security Strategy of the Russian Federation focuses on improving the quality of life criteria to the world standards and on internal threats. This is predetermined by the fact that human rights and freedoms have not become firmly established as the highest value in the mindset and mentality of all social groups, when it is enough to have a statement regarding them in the Constitution or other law.

The article presents the results of a study of Russia’s the perception by its citizens, implemented at the Chair of Sociology and Psychology of Politics, Faculty of Political Science, Moscow State University. The research was devoted to the Russia’s in the minds of residents of different regions. The research technique of the study included methods of semi-structured interviews and projective tests. To interpret the data, the authors used both qualitative and quantitative methods, in particular, coding and scaling of answers to open-ended questions and statistical analysis. The article presents the results of a comparative analysis of images of their country among residents of 11 regions of Russia. This analysis is also complemented by 3 case-studies from Moscow, Smolensk and the Tyva Republic. The image of the country in the minds of Russians was tackled on two levels of perception: rational and unconscious. Authors focuse of the most important structural elements of the image: territory, people, authorities, leaders and the geopolitical role of the country. The study made it possible to interpret the peculiarities of Russia's perception in regions by different federal status. The conclusions highlight the problem of the formation in Russia of nation-state identity and the construction of consistent images of the past and the future, in which images of the country should find their place. The basis for the formation of a congruent image of the country is seen, above all, in moral determinants, which have not only high, but priority importance in political perception of their country.

The article attempts to highlight the key economic, political, and social factors that have adverse effects on current relationship dynamics between the Russian Federation and the CIS countries and are thus responsible for the gradual decline in Russia’s influence in the post-Soviet area. Authors affirm that this specific phenomenon is predetermined, on the one hand, by the aspiration of the political and economic diversification and, on the other hand, by a number of socio-cultural and psychological factors. The article argues that Russian political leaders’ perception of various post-soviet countries as “pro-Russian” is biased in its conceptual core and based on a number of subjective factors that have no actual relation to the decision-making process in these countries. In reality, the foreign policy of CIS countries is based mostly on pragmatic economic interests capable of providing steady development, which makes implementation of such subjective terms as “pro-Russian” and “pro-Western” highly misleading and unproductive, especially in the current conditions of confrontation between Russia and the West.

This article attempts to highlight the key economic, political, and social factors that have adverse effects on current relationship dynamics between the Russian Federation and the CIS countries and are thus responsible for the gradual decline in Russia’s influence in the post-Soviet area. Based on extensive analytical findings, the authors come to the conclusion that the CIS countries’ lack of dedication to following the pro-Russian line is contingent, on the one hand, on their objective need to diversify their own political, trade and economic relations, and on the other hand, on a number of subjective, socio-cultural and psycho-political factors. The article argues that Russian political leaders’ perception of various post-soviet countries as “pro-Russian” is biased in its conceptual core and based on a number of subjective factors that have no actual relation to the decision-making process in these countries. In reality, the foreign policy of CIS countries is based mostly on pragmatic economic interests capable of providing steady development, which makes implementation of such subjective terms as “pro-Russian” and “pro-Western” highly misleading and unproductive, especially in the current conditions of confrontation between Russia and the West.

A large number of experts, professionals and journalists state that at present our country experiences a crisis of legality, constant adjustment, as well as gaps and inconsistency of legislation. The main reason for the current unfavorable situation, we believe, is the lack of specially trained representatives of the legal profession, specially prepared for lawmaking, ready to offer a balanced approach to the development and adoption of more stable laws that could regulate dynamic social relations and at the same time not be subjected to constant modernization. Such a difficult and often criticized work in the field of lawmaking requires a qualitative review of the composition of participants in legislative bodies at the federal and regional levels, representatives of ministries and departments whose activities are related to rule-making. At the same time, knowledge of fundamentals of legal engineering, analysis of the reasons for the increase in the number of acts deemed unconstitutional, acts inconsistent with acts of greater legal force, a study in retrospect of the quality of law-making activities of foreign countries and immersion in other disciplines in preparing a specially trained layer of representatives of the legal profession can in the end favorably affect the constancy and sustainability of the Russian legislation system. The purpose of the study is to substantiate the need for introducing a norm-writer profession, developing and implementing professional and educational standards. Methodological basis: deduction, abstraction, dialectical analysis of the results of law-making, historical and comparative methods for assessing the quality of the current legislation of Russia and foreign countries, generalizing problems and proposing ways out of the crisis in lawmaking. Results: in order to implement the project of training specially trained people ‒ norm-writers, the idea of the need to develop professional and educational standards was supported, while at the same time there was criticism of the feasibility of introducing benefits, incentives and other preferences. Conclusions: the knowledge and observance of a strictly formalized approach to the creation of a draft regulatory act, as well as the professional registration of draft acts by norm-writers, can bring the system of Russian legislation to a new level.

The Editorial Board of Comparative Politics Russia publishes a proceedings of the Roundtable “Prospects for Chinese Reforms in a Changed World.” Part II: “Slowdown of Chinese Economy, the Trade War with the United States, an Assessment of possibilities to Stimulate the Growth of China's Opportunities”, dedicated to the results of an analysis of the dynamics and current state of the process of economic and political reform in China. Researchers from Moscow State Institute of International Relations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia, Institute of Far Eastern Studies of Russian Academy of Sciences, the Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia, Institute of Oriental Studies of Russian Academy of Sciences, National Research University Higher School of Economics, Primakov National Research Institute of World Economy and International Relations, General Staff Academy of the Russian Federation’s Armed Forces, Russian Institute for Strategic Studies, Lomonosov Moscow State University. Leading Russian experts discussed the new goals of Chinese reforms to gain world leadership in science and technology, the possibility of achieving these goals, their impact on China’s world standing, and the consequences of confrontation with the United States. The question also discussed are; whether would China increase tension with the West ‒ in the direction of expanding openness and liberalizing the economy, or towards increasing autarky in the spirit of “self-reliance”? What factors might prompt the Chinese leadership to undertake political reform? The experts also discussed the environment for the emergence of “Chinese model”, which can be offered as an alternative to the Western model to other countries and the possibility of Russia borrowing any components of the “Chinese model” at the current stage of development, as well as of the other post-Soviet countries. It also analyzed the likelihood that a new economic “pole” of the modern world will form around China, as well as possible benefits and threats for those who will try to join it.

The article deals with the analysis of difficulties that arise in the current international environment in the context of application of the doctrine of sovereignty to sovereign funds. Based on the review of activities of sovereign funds of such large countries as, e.g., the People’s Republic of China, available investment arbitration rulings, the article focuses on the obstacles preventing the application of traditional doctrine of sovereignty to multi-faceted legal status of sovereign funds and specific features of use of the concepts of absolute and functional immunity when enforcing the court judgments and arbitral awards against the sovereign funds. Following the analysis, the conclusion is drawn that there is currently a serious gap in international law re: sovereign funds’ treatment and there is a need to outline the key prospective directions on how this gap can be overcome.

Paul Ibis (1852-1877), the Russian Navy Navigation Corp’s ensign, undertook a lone “ethnographic trip” to Formosa (Taiwan) in January-February 1875. During the limited 1.5 month’ time, as Ibis proceeded from Takao to most Southern and, thereafter, to Northern end of the island, he collected, arranged and published many unique ethnological materials on aborigines and Chinese immigrants of Formosa. However, Paul Ibis was not the first researcher to carry out such a complex and daring scientific trip. The prominent American natural-science scholar Joseph Bill Steere (1842-1940) visited the island prior to Paul Ibis in October 1873 – March 1874. During the 6 months’ expedition he collected numerous species of local flora and fauna, as well as many ethnographic and linguistic materials for the University of Michigan. This article contains a comparative general review of field materials, research methods, process and results of the ethnological work conducted by two explorers, who visited Formosa and studied it almost synchronously and independently of each other. As a comparison of their papers reveals, Paul Ibis’ articles (2 pieces published in 1876-1877) are in no way inferior to the general academic level of J.B. Steere’s articles, and even surpass it in some aspects.