Communicative Evolution of Political Institutions as a Condition for the Transition from Patrimonial to Modern Societies

Abstract

It was analyzed the current aspects of the evolution of political systems from patrimonial to modern. The problem of the essence and parameters of the transition to modern democratic society in the context of political development of the early XXI century is outlined. The main threat to the stability of society is the discrepancy between socio-political mobilization and political institutions, the gap between the declared ideals and procedures, and practical political life. This brings to the fore the task of developing the communicative nature of policy, functional interaction between institutions of state power and civil society by achieving a balance of institutionalization and civic participation. It is noted that the development of active cooperation between authorities, local governments, and civic structures is very important for Ukraine, where society needs to create real, not declarative democratic institutions. The analysis of expert opinions and sociological survey data revealed a significant discrepancy between the existence of formalized mechanisms for the development of democratic cooperation between government and citizens and the lack of influential results of such activities. Among the reasons for this discrepancy are closedness, excessive bureaucratization of government activities, lack of mutual trust between the participants, the spread of informal practices to solve problems in the form of corruption, clannishness, and shadow economic relations. The conclusion about the necessity of development of principles of trust and control as basic in the creation of communicative interaction of the power and citizens is substantiated and the directions of their formation are offered.