Abstract The article analyzes the election programs of eight candidates for the post of President of the Russian Federation in the election campaign of 2018. The programmes were compared according to three criteria: proposed measures in the field of public administration and improvement of the political system, socio-economic policy, foreign policy and international relations. Both the general postulates and fundamental differences in the election programs were identified. Using content analysis, the shares of politsentrichna, socio-economicinterest and interest in foreign policy in each of the programs were singled out. Having considered the results of sociological surveys of Russians, the author also concludes that the majority of voters, participating in the presidential elections, is not acquainted enough with the election programs of candidates and is guided by the voting on the personal qualities of candidates for the presidency.

Abstract The article deals with the substantiation of Russian promotion and consolidation in Central Asia in the second half of the XIX century in terms of geopolitical rivalry between the Russian and British empires - the so-called “Great Game”. The basic models of justification of Central Asian policy of the Russian Empire are allocated. The arguments confirming the need for the accession of Central Asia to Russia as a natural boundary for the protection of its own existence and the establishment of parity with Britain are given. At the end of the article conclusions about the difference of geopolitical and governmental justification of Russian policy in Central Asia are made.

Abstract This article examines the behavior of Poland on the international stage, specifically its interaction with the European Union, the United States, and Russia in the historical context using the psychoanalytic approach to memory studies. The author presumes that Polish foreign policy may be dominated by “strategic thanatos” - a historical practice of tactically meaningful but strategically destructive behavior which, while declaring the state’s sovereignty a supreme value, in the long run reduces the level of national security and increases international political tensions around Poland. The author suggests that Poland’s policy of building “privileged” relations with the United States and its activity in the post-Soviet space is a continuation of Poland’s interwar policy, whose historical implications have not been critically reconsidered by Polish political and intellectual elites. This policy has resulted in an objective deterioration of the strategic position of modern Poland. The author predicts that, amid the growing conflict with the European Commission, the ruling anti-liberal national clericals from the “Law and Justice” party will try to rely on the U.S. support and become the center of gravity for European rightwing populists. The proposals of French President Emmanuel Macron to deepen European integration and build new European security architecture together with Russia suggest that the European establishment is seeking for the reduce of the EU’s military and political dependence on the U.S. Brussels will therefore strongly oppose the Polish Fronde. The article also points out that Poland’s example shows to Russia that its hopes for cooperation with European rightwing populists are futile. The author concludes that Poland would make a big mistake if, relying on hypothetical American support, it tries to hinder the process of European consolidation and the normalization of the Russian-European relations.

Abstract The article is devoted to the main milestones of the land policy of Russia and the dynamics of land relations in the context of the historical development of the Russian state: from Ancient Russia till the USSR. Particular attention is paid to the aspects of land ownership formation during the reforms of 1861 and 1864. The analysis of the specifics of land policy implemented at various stages of Russian history was carried out through the prism of changes in political traditions and public relations. In particular, such components as the purpose of land policy, the subject composition of land relations, the specifics of social relations, features of government, etc. are considered. The research of the land policy and land relations in the context of historical and political analysis allows a more detailed understanding of the specifics and dynamics of these processes. It will allow reaching a qualitatively new level of theoretical generalizations in the long term. The result of the analysis indicates that it is necessary to use the political and economic experience accumulated in the current conditions, which should contribute to obtaining objective ideas about the development and optimization of land relations in the conditions of modern Russia. At the same time, it is important to assess the relationship between the purpose of land policy and the nature of land relations.

Abstract The article attempts to reconstruct the controversy between N. A. Dobrolyubov and N. G. Chernyshevsky about the socio-political content of the novel “Oblomov” by I. A. Goncharov. The analysis of the thinkers’ views on the problem of Russian life, which after the release of the novel received the stable name “Oblomovism”, is given. According to the results of the study, the author concluded that the views of the leading critics of the Sovremennik magazine on the public importance of the novel turned out to be opposite. Dobrolyubov in 1859 wrote an article “What is Oblomovism?” in which he tried to convince his readers that “Oblomov” is a “useful” book, ridiculing laziness and indifference to “public issues”. Chernyshevsky, however, refused to write a review. In all probability he regarded the novel to be “harmful”, idealizing the patriarchal way of life.

Abstract The purpose of this paper is to study the process of the Catholic political doctrine formation, which is defined as a set of official texts of the Catholic Church, expressing its position on current issues of political structure, political life, economic policy of the state and principles of civil society functioning. The use of the method of analyzing the content of the encyclics of the Popes and the historical approach allows the author to distinguish the stages of the Catholic political doctrine evolution. The period before the XVIII century is characterized by distancing the church from political issues. The period of the end of the XVIII-XIX centuries is defined as the time of the formation of the Catholic doctrine and is characterized by the rejection of the revolutionary movement and the anti-liberal position of the church. The period from the end of the XIX century up till the present is defined as the era of forming the concept of Christian democracy, which recognizes the value of the dignity of the individual The essential content of modern political doctrine of Catholicism is the combination of freedom and justice as principles of the organization of political life. The Catholic Church contrasts this balance with two destructive alternatives to the development of society: totalitarianism (“justice without freedom”) and liberalism (“freedom without truth”). According to the author, Catholic political doctrine is the most important factor of political influence in the modern world.

Abstract The purpose of the paper is to identify and analyze some key factors that in recent years have stimulated processes and trends, leading to further fragmentation of the Arab world. The main attention is focused on the substantiation of the thesis that, despite the desire of the Arab peoples to unite on the path to the formation of a single state entity, due to a complex of factors, almost all of their attempts have failed. It is shown that the causes of the contradictions and conflicts underlying the fragmentation, along with the socio-economic and political ones, are also rooted in the confessional sphere. This thesis is based primarily on the examples of the conflict between Saudi Arabia and Qatar, as well as the wider Sunni-Shiite conflict, which, starting with the Islamic Revolution of 1979 in Iran has become increasingly acute over the past decade. It is concluded that the trends towards fragmentation, which have intensified as a result of the so-called “Arab Spring”, in modern conditions prevail over the unifying aspirations of the Arab peoples.

Abstract In the context of the research of the evolution of ideas about Russia spread in the United States at the beginning of the 20th century the article studies the approaches to the definition of the essence, role and place in the historical process of the First Russian Revolution of 1905-1907. Its assessments in the works of American socialists are also given. Based on the historical, political and political-textual analysis of W. E. Walling’s works “The social revolution in Russia”, “How is it with the Russian revolution”, A. Bullard’s “An eye-witness’s story of the Russian revolution”, K. Durland’s “The Kronstadt fiasco” and etc., it is shown that those were the socialists who formed in the American socio-political discourse and public opinion a new image of Russia - a country that is ready for changes and is able to make these changes, is ready to undertake political and religious modernization and then follow the path of progress. The conclusion is substantiated that this socialist image hope pressed the amorphous ideas of the liberals about the “Eastern giant” and was opposed to the negative image formed by the American conservatives, and in this connection one can speak of the dualistic image of Russia in the views of the Americans, based upon the events of the First Russian Revolution of 1905-1907.

Abstract The article presents the study aimed at analysis of the attitude of children who live without parental care to the life situation of guardianship. The study was conducted using a structured interview, which included such methods as “Attitude to a significant life situation” and “Family APGAR”. The study involved 150 children of school age, among them 48 children from kinship care families (under the care of grandmothers). The results of the study showed that the attitude to the life situation of children under kinship and non-kinship care differs significantly. This attitude is mediated by the degree of the role conflict with the guardian. The actual life situation is least favourably assessed by children under the care of grandmothers, especially if the family maintains contact with the biological parents of the child. The results indicate the importance of considering the specifics of the child’s life situation for effective support to guardian families.

Abstract The study reveals the interrelation of the social functions of music with the choice of prior musical genres. Eight musical functions are found: cognitive, emotive, social, relaxation, sublimation, anti-stress, self-improvement, background. The correlation relationship between the functions of music and such genres as: Classical, Rock, Rap, Jazz, and others is revealed. The greatest number of correlations with the functions of music was shown by the Rock genre. A correlation was found between the social function of music and Russian rock. Musical value orientations emerged in correlation with the social unity of students and the manifestation of the social functions of music.

Abstract The article analyzes the results of the study of the content and structure of ideas about the psychological characteristics of young people. As a diagnostic tool a questionnaire was used, built on the method of free descriptions. When processing the obtained data, content analysis and a set of statistical methods were used. Ideas about the age limits of youth and the most characteristic qualities for young people were identified. Analysis and synthesis of the research results allowed us to obtain a psychological portrait of young people, which reflects the cultural and invariant characteristics of this socio-demographic group. It was shown that according to the research participants understanding of young people’s most characteristic qualities are the related to the field of goal setting and goal achievement, the field of subjectivity and the emotional sphere. The hierarchically organized structure of ideas about the psychological characteristics of young people is described.

Abstract The article describes the content of the screen “language”, which is one of the ways to record the screen text, similar to the writing. The screen “speech” is scrutinized as the contamination of semiotically heterogeneous units in space-time continuum of the screen, as well as its usage in polycode-multimodal texts. The goal of this article is to single out, describe and analyse the screen “language” peculiarities embodied in the screen “speech”. The main bulk of the research is dedicated to the study of the selected material at the level of screenshots without regard to their syntagmatic organization and rhythmic stratification.

Abstract The purpose of the article is to identify patterns for author’s opinion mining in articles relating to the genre of information journalism, that imposes a restriction on the expression of judgments and opinions. A corpus of political articles has been assembled by the author and the metric from information retrieval called inverse document frequency has been counted for every token in the collection. The applicability of this criterion has been shown for the search of colloquial language which is an indicator of the presence of the author’s opinion. In conclusion, the directions of further research of this problem are formulated and the question of identifying the author’s opinion through the inverse document frequency in other texts is considered.

Abstract The purpose of this paper is to consider ways of verbalizing the category of color in the English language picture of the world. The authors carried out an empirical study on the material of the publicistic texts of the modern English language. The characteristics of the modern publicistic texts were given from the position of including the color vocabulary, which allowed the authors to show the influencing force of the texts containing color lexemes on the consciousness of the subject of communication and the ethnos as a whole. The authors prove that the names of colors in each language form a complex system, which differs both in the features of color selection and in the ways of its designation. It is indicated that in addition to the direct color designation color naming connotations are found in the semantics. They express man’s emotional and expressive attitude to the world. The authors managed to update the issue of color lexemes, identifying their pragmatic impact factor, and define the role of the color lexemes study from the point of impact factor view on the communicant.

Abstract The aim of the article is to make a comparative review of semantics and pragmatics of Russian and English song lyrics texts of World War II. The author undertook the analysis of lyrics of about 300 songs. Emotional-expressive colouring of song lyrics and the evaluation expressed in them were described, as well as the most popular stylistic devices. It was defined that there is a number of common themes in song lyrics - love and parting, military service, hope for returning to peaceful life. The conclusion was drawn that Russian and English songs of that period are semantically and stylistically various and expressive works, where the emotional colouring and the evaluation depended on both state and individual factors.