2014 Issue №12

This article analyses Robert Merton’s and Thomas Kuhn’s approaches to the concept of paradigm. Whereas Merton identifies the function of a paradigm in analysing data obtained within a social study, Kuhn considers a paradigm as a key notion at a certain stage of the development of science – that of normal science. It is stressed that, despite differences in approaches, the theories do not contradict but rather complement each other.

This article considers the role of symbols in the system of social interactions. Symbolical interactionism is examined as a methodological framework for studying administrative practices. The key notion of the concept of symbolical interactionism — “a symbol in the course of interaction” – is interpreted as a wide range of meanings including, alongside linguistic structures, determinants in the form of cultural, organizational and group factors. The efficiency of management process is associated with concurrence of the personified blocks of symbols of the subject and the object of administrative interactions. The authors address the problem of correlation between the categories of “management” and “situation”.

This article analyses human capital of young public and political figures in modern Russian society. Based on the methodology of resource approach and the methods of modern statistics, the author identifies three groups of young public and political figures: political leaders, political activists, and social activists, which makes it possible to demonstrate differentiation within this category. The results of an online survey of the participants of the Seliger-2013 national youth forum (N = 439) served as the empirical basis of the study.

This article focuses on the political processes in the countries of Eurasian continent against the background of Eurasian integration. The author describes the steps of the integration process. The article compares assessments of Eurasian integration given by scholars and political scientists from different countries. The author considers the features of different stages of Eurasian integration in view of the processes of political competition and consolidation within the Eurasian space.