MODELS OF STATE THREAT RESPONSE SOCIAL AND POLITICAL STABILITY IN UKRAINE Cover Image

МОДЕЛІ ДЕРЖАВНОГО РЕАГУВАННЯ НА ЗАГРОЗИ СУСПІЛЬНО-ПОЛІТИЧНІЙ СТАБІЛЬНОСТІ В УКРАЇНІ
MODELS OF STATE THREAT RESPONSE SOCIAL AND POLITICAL STABILITY IN UKRAINE

Author(s): Volodymyr Fedorovych Smolianiuk, Mykola Ivanovych Balan
Subject(s): Civil Society, Government/Political systems, Security and defense, Political behavior, Politics and society, History and theory of political science, Geopolitics
Published by: Національний юридичний університет імені Ярослава Мудрого
Keywords: state response; threat; socio-political stability; conservative model; adaptive model; military organization of the state; security and defense sector; civil society;

Summary/Abstract: Problem setting. Socio-political stability has universal universal historical significance, since it belongs to the basic qualitative characteristics of the states since their emergence. The rhetoric of stabilization is inherent in both totalitarian (authoritarian) and democratic countries. In the first case, on the basis of it, the political system is preserved, which makes it impossible (significantly weakens) the mechanisms of rotation of political elites and leaders, which is approximated to society in the form of slowing down of sociogenesis, slowing the pace of development of the country, stagnation of certain social fragments. In the second case, the public authorities demonstrate their ability to democratically secure stable signs of the development of basic public spheres and institutions over their volatile antipodes. The consequences of this are state-building constructivism (accumulation of positive results), successful implementation of modernization strategies, strengthening the country’s position in international relations, creating systemic preconditions for the progressive development of society, etc.One of the main negative stimuli against socio-political stability is the multifaceted threats that have both objective leaks (social, natural, technogenic) and subjective determinants. Their purpose is loosening, weakening public institutions, reducing the effectiveness of the state, the depletion of the economy and more. At the same time, the tendencies of diversity of threats, their mutual influence and integration («hybridization») become quite obvious. This requires a timely prediction of processes of state response to threats to socio-political stability, based on appropriate models.Analysis of recent research and publications on the topic. The essence, content of socio-political stability, ways of its achievement in different power formats were investigated in the works of V. Volynets, I. Kiananka, V. Koliukh, Y. Kondratyev, V. Lagutin, Y. Levenets,0. Maksimova, Y. Matsievsky, O. Rudenko, M. Shapovalenko and others. A close relationship between the problems of state response to threats to socio-political stability and national security is present in the works of V. Abramov, S. Borysevich, O. Vlasyuk, V. Gorbulin, A. Datsyuk, T. Zaporozhets, V. Kyrylenko, V. Mandragelja, R. Marutyan, Y. Melnyk,1. Mordas, O. Poshedin, M. Razumny, A. Semenchenko, V. Smolyanyuk, O. Sukhodolja, M. Trebin, M. Shevchenko, L. Shypilova. In Ukraine, the scientific achievements of Western authors on various aspects of social and political stability are actively used (F. Beli, K. Dauding, F. Kimber, D. Jaworski, E. Zimmerman, D. Siring, A. Lipphart, P. Swenson,L. Hurwitz, K. Eyck, R. Kimber, and others). At the same time, the high dynamics of the escalation of threats in Ukraine requires further understanding of the issues of response to them, which implies a comprehensive use of the capabilities of both the state and civil society.Paper objective. To reveal the sequence of actions of the Ukrainian state on the issues of building up the Military organization as a mechanism for responding to the threats to socio-political stability. Compare the military organization of the state and the security and defense sector in the context of the effectiveness of their response to threats. Build state response models for threats to socio-political stability based on the Military Organization of the State and the security and defense sector. Identify the benefits of the security and defense sector in the context of responding to threats to socio-political stability.Paper main body. The problem of ensuring socio-political stability is present in the basic normative legal acts that have determined the nature and orientation of the development of the state-making process. This is evidenced by the constitutional acts of Ukraine, including the 1996 Constitution (as amended). A new step towards identifying threats to socio-political stability and identifying areas of state response to them has been the development of a regulatory framework on national security. The catalyst for the rapid quantitative increase and exacerbation of threats addressed to Ukraine in recent years is the policy of the Russian Federation, which occupied part of the territory of Ukraine (Crimea, Sevastopol) and unleashed military aggression in the east of Ukraine. A hybrid war in its Russian execution against Ukraine and other democratic states, it is expedient to consider as a mechanism of continuous production of threats in the basic social spheres, first of all, political and economic.In order to counter threats to national security (including socio-political stability), Ukraine, since the 1990s, created the Military Organization of the State. On this basis, a conservative model of responding to threats to socio-political stability emerged. The main feature of this model is the ability of the head of state (usually the president) to determine almost individually the time, place, format, purpose of using the constituents of the Military Organization of the state in order to stabilize the situation. The way to achieve socio-political stability through the use of the Military Organization of the State in the interests of the governing entity should be defined as «directive» or «police». On the basis of the existence of numerous objective and subjective problems, the formation of a full-fledged Military Organization of the State in Ukraine did not occur during 1991-2014. The «check on war», which began in 2014 in the form of a series of armed conflicts in the east of Ukraine, was not maintained by the Military Organization of the Ukrainian State.The counterpart of the military organization of the state (and at the same time its democratic antithesis) in the western countries is the security and defense sector. The Ukrainian government has recognized the need to create a security and defense sector in accordance with Western standards. The Presidential Decree of March 14, 2016 approved the Concept of development of the security and defense sector of Ukraine. An important feature of the Concept is its ability to «create conditions for widespread involvement of non-governmental organizations in the implementation of tasks in the interests of national security and defense of the state». These are civil society structures that have their own potential to address security and defense issues. This was strongly evidenced by the events of2014-2018, when the motives of defending the state were decisive in the activities of volunteer battalions, volunteers, local self-defense forces and others non-governmental organizations working against Russian regular troops and separatist armed forces.Legislation recognizes democratic civil control exercised by the President of Ukraine, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, executive authorities and local self-government by the mechanism of democratic civilian control on the activity of the security and defense sector. Judicial and public control are added to this.Based on the security and defense sector, it is advisable to build an adaptive model of state response to threats to socio-political stability. The security and defense sector allows the use of a flexible format by state and non-state structures to address a specific stabilization challenge. The way to achieve socio-political stability through the use of the security and defense sector in the interests of both the state and the whole of society is appropriate to define as self-sufficient, democratic or liberal.Conclusions. On the basis of the generalization of the experience of different states, it is advisable to distinguish conservative (directive, repressive-restrictive) and adaptive (liberal-democratic, self-organizing) ways of state response to threats to socio-political stability. The institutional «watershed» between them is the state’s reliance on civil society for ensuring socio-political stability. Modern Ukraine is in a state of transition from a conservative to an adaptive model of countering threats to socio-political stability, the total number of which is steadily increasing. This is evidenced by the choice of government in favor of the security and defense sector, which should completely supersede the national security and defense approaches built on the basis of the Military Organization of the State. There has been some slowdown in the practice of development of the security and defense sector of Ukraine in recent years. In such circumstances, Ukraine urgently needs other government documents (target law, doctrines, strategies, etc.) that will ensure the irreversibility of the process of establishing the security and defense sector in accordance with Western standards. Delaying this process minimizes Ukraine’s chances of full membership in Western security and defense structures.