Translated material
How the tail wags the dog, or political technology corruption
In Russia, the rating bacchanalia, initiated by the capital’s political strategists, threatens to overwhelm political life in the regions with a muddy wave, misinforms the public and social activists, and impedes the creation of a civilized and democratic political system in the country.
"WE'RE IN THE GAME AGAIN!", OR IN SMALL FONT FOR SUCKERS
The Russian Internet and media are filled with numerous ratings of heads of Russian regions. Compiled hastily—some even “rank” governors who long ago changed jobs or were sent into retirement. The criteria for certain assessments of the activities of governors and the state of affairs in the regions are unclear and extremely questionable. The assessment methods used are usually published in small print, as in loan agreements of dubious banks. However, that's where the whole point lies. Or lack thereof. Sometimes in the “notes” some explanations are indeed given, but these vague and hastily, “on the fingers” remarks can only be satisfied by very naive simpletons. If you don’t believe me, read it carefully for yourself. And try to understand if you can.
However, most of the organizers of ratings do not bother themselves at all with “all sorts of bullshit” (many books!) such as explanations of evaluation criteria, lists of experts, descriptions of technologies, methods, etc. People in the provinces are already eating it up!
I dare say that it is precisely for provincial officials and undemanding small-town “ratings eaters” that all this obvious nonsense that arose in the form of “seething shit” immediately after the decision to return the election of governors is intended. "We're back in the game!" - this is how one political strategist I knew joyfully assessed him, rubbing his hands in anticipation of new earnings. The publication of ratings is a struggle for future and current clients, among whom the main interest is incumbent governors, who now already have serious capabilities and resources. Press services and information departments of regional administrations are today inundated with dozens of proposals for participation in ratings and unambiguous hints about the desirability of “capitalizing” their rating positions with monetary injections.
WE HAVE READ IT AND WERE TEARED!
Recently, the head of the Altai Republic, Alexander Berdnikov, complained that most gubernatorial ratings are of a commercial nature. And he allowed himself to doubt their reliability and objectivity.
— Recently, it has become fashionable to evaluate the work of regional leaders using various types of ratings: citation, influence and even survival. There is a certain rating that is positioned as “Kremlin”, although it is compiled by a structure very far from Red Square,” Mr. Berdnikov said.
“The criteria by which most of these ratings are compiled, in my opinion, are completely opaque. And sometimes frankly subjective, which suggests some unreliability and even bias. I am strengthened in this opinion by the stacks of commercial offers that we receive every month from all kinds of foundations, expert communities, interest clubs and other people who like to count governors like chickens in the fall,” the head of the republic continued.
I dare to assume with a fair degree of confidence that this is the attitude towards ratings in other regions as well. Alexander Berdnikov’s resentment is understandable: his position in various ratings is not very high. But, in fairness, it should be noted that “leaders” can fall overnight to the very bottom of “man-made ratings”, and yesterday’s “outsiders” can magically fly to the very top without reasons visible to an ignorant and unbiased outside observer. I'm not even talking about the radically different results of similar ratings, the organizers of which study the same “material” and use very similar “tools”.
JUST "RATING"...
Here is just a small list of various kinds of ratings, which are sometimes read in the provinces, choking with laughter, sometimes with irritation (we must disrespect “consumers” so much!).
The "Political Expert Group" published the Index of Governors' Electability, which caused a lot of noise in the media, especially in the regions. It was almost called a “Kremlin rating,” although, apparently, this “canard” was launched by the authors themselves. In fact, here , it seems to me, is a very accurate and comprehensive assessment of all this “creativity” of home-based artisans. As they say, nothing more can be added...
The National Monitoring Service and the Institute of Independent Political Research have recently been releasing media ratings of the heads of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation. Well, if it’s a service, then, of course, it’s national; if it’s an institute, then, of course, it’s independent research!.. The assessment base is the coefficient of information openness. How is it determined? "The indicator is calculated as the ratio of the number of publications with direct or indirect speech of a person to the total number of messages with his mention. Posts (tweets) and comments of the person in LiveJournal, Twitter or a stand-alone blog are added to messages with a quote in federal and regional media. Thus “The TOP ranking includes people not about whom the media writes most, but those whose every mention contains a message for a particular audience.” What does information openness have to do with it, one might ask?
The rating of the respected St. Petersburg Politics Foundation and Regnum Information Agency has no name. The authors brought it to the highest degree of absurdity. Simple and unpretentious - RATING. That's all! If you like anything, then follow it with a word that captivates the province. True, then the authors reluctantly explain through clenched teeth that they mean “an integral assessment of the socio-political climate in Russian regions.” Moreover, the PP Fund declares no less than its intention to assess risks that, from their point of view, are still weakly associated with certain rating indicators of the economic activity of the regional authorities. In other words, from its bell tower to influence the economy and social sphere of the regions.
What is the new rating, which, starting this fall, “St. Petersburg Politics” is planned to be published almost once every two months, causing some regional officials to break out in a cold sweat with the same regularity?
According to the President of the Foundation, Mikhail Vinogradov, assessments to the heads of regions will be given primarily on the basis of open sources of information, statistical and summary data, on the basis of which the overall level of socio-political stability of Russian regions will be assessed on a 10-point scale. In other words, today in the newspaper, tomorrow in a verse, i.e. in the ranking. However, it is a pleasure to read the “untitled rating” from “PP” and the news agency “Regnum” - it lifts the mood once or twice!..
Here are a few examples of such fun “analytics”, where the place in the ranking is determined by negative and positive factors, as well as potentially significant events that took place in the regions cared for by St. Petersburg residents.
Belgorod region. A positive factor is the possibility of weakening Yabloko’s position due to a split in the local organization. A negative factor is the incident with the spraying of a gas canister at the headquarters of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation in Belgorod. Isn't it cool? The Yabloko members, weakened by the split, are a positive for the Belgorod region, but the gassed communists are a negative!..
Let's move on. Kemerovo region. Circumstances that negatively characterize the regional authorities include the facts of the detention of two bribe-taking municipal officials. Why is not clear to me. In any case, how to look at these facts...
Kaluga region. Section "Potentially Significant Events". According to experts, these undoubtedly include the meeting of Governor A. Artamonov with Ksenia Sobchak, who arrived to film her television program, and their joint visit to the Vorsino technology park and the Samsung plant.
But in the Sverdlovsk region everything is not so good. Probably because Ksyusha Sobchak has not reached them yet. Therefore, Moscow experts considered the appearance of graffiti on one of the fences in Yekaterinburg as a negative factor: “All of Rus' hates Anji.” The depth of the analytics is simply amazing!..
However, capital experts continue to surprise provincials in their ratings by looking into the “capital of Siberia” - Novosibirsk. Significant events are the statement of musician Oleg Perfilov from Novosibirsk to the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, in which he demanded to establish whether Omsk photographer Vasily Melnichenko has a soul. Earlier, Melnichenko asked the chairman of the RF Investigative Committee to conduct a “verification of the reality of God’s existence” and, in the absence of one, to punish the Orthodox Church for fraud. Turn out the lights! Prize for the studio!..
But the rating of the company "Medialogia" and the same news agency "Regnum" - a project to assess the mentionability of governors in the Russian media for October 2012. The negative value of the Media Index is for the head of the Altai Republic Alexander Berdnikov, who was already mentioned in connection with his criticism of various kinds of "ratings" . It turns out that it is possible to understand it. Muscovites gave him a negative assessment for the following reason: the journalist of the opposition newspaper of the Altai Republic, Ruslan Makarov, who escaped from a psychiatric clinic and is suspected of threatening the head of the region, Alexander Berdnikov, said that he was placed in a medical institution illegally and that he is not dangerous to society. As a result, the clearly inadequate journalist was again detained and sent to the prison. And the “experts” gave the governor a “bad” rating without hesitation. So now the head of Gorny Altai is thinking about who he should be offended by: either a crazy political observer, or his Moscow colleagues?...
And again the St. Petersburg Politics Foundation. About the Novosibirsk region. She is credited with the appointment of the first vice-governor of the region, Leonid Gornin, as deputy minister of finance. I agree: this is quite a significant event for the region. Certainly not the metaphysical discussions of a musician with an artist, or a journalist who escaped from a mental hospital and is hiding in the mountains from the orderlies and henchmen of the “bloody regime.” Just how did this historical fact, significant for the region, with the appointment of a deputy minister, which took place in August (decree of August 25), get into the rating for September-October?..
However, all these are minor things. After all, as the well-known political technology “wisdom” says: “Don’t let the truth interfere with a good story.” Apparently, the “creative” metropolitan “clever” Robinhoods of provincial officials-suckers are considered “a good story” by them.
QUI PRODEST?
But it would be hard to call the above-mentioned organizations and the “honored political strategists of Russia” named here mediocrities and unprofessionals. They are all extremely competent and highly educated people! Well, well-read for sure. One might even say, the rulers of the thoughts of the “creative class”. Maybe that’s why there is a certain disdainful, arrogant, condescending, patronizing attitude in their attitude towards the unenlightened provincial regions. Sometimes it pours out - let's call a spade a spade! - into openly cynical blackmail of regional officials, a kind of political technology "racket" with a simple dilemma - either we "lower it in the media", and then the region will not receive federal money and support from Moscow, or our "roof" - in the form of an "oil painting" in the next rating and prospects for the loyalty of federal officials. In fact, we are talking about the corrupting, corrupting mutual influence of the political servants and their customers within the framework of a very vicious clientele.
Moreover, this is done, at first glance, in a very scientific manner, which makes an impression on sometimes not very educated and very impressionable provincial officials, who are ready to take the word of any dodgy metropolitan demagogue. “The more an ideologist and demagogue resembles a scientist, the more convincing he is,” wrote S. Kara-Murza in his “Manipulation of Consciousness.” And the great James Maxwell noted: “So great is the respect that science inspires that the most absurd opinion can be accepted if it is stated in a language that reminds us of some well-known scientific phrase.”
The market capacity of political technologies, social research and political mass media amounts to billions of rubles. And the turnover of all these fraudulent corruption schemes operating almost legally on this platform, it seems to me, is quite comparable en masse with the scale of corruption in such social spheres as healthcare or education. And these mechanisms themselves, I am convinced, ultimately directly or indirectly reproduce corruption in all spheres of social, political and economic life, corrupt socio-political institutions, discredit democratic procedures, etc.
The question arises: isn’t it time to introduce all this bacchanalia with various kinds of ratings into a civilized channel? By creating, for example, an independent audit bureau of various types of rating procedures, which would engage in self-regulation of this segment of the market for political and social services. I don’t undertake to give any specific recipes. But it is obvious to me that there is an urgent need to restore order in this area. As, indeed, in the matter of conducting sociological surveys, the credibility of which has fallen through the roof. And then all sorts of dubious and unscrupulous players would not appear on the market, openly engaged in manipulating public opinion, corrupting the already corrupt political system and sowing poisonous seeds of corruption and total cynicism in society. It seems to me that the professional community itself is primarily interested in this.
CONSPIRACY THEORY: BABL WINS WHAT?..
One acquaintance once voiced a seemingly fantastic version in a conversation: “Do you know why gubernatorial elections were returned? This is the work of media people, sociologists, political consultants and political strategists!” And he gave no less incredible arguments in favor of this version. However, today, when, as a result of the return of gubernatorial elections to our political life, it is primarily various political strategists, sociologists, political observers, etc., who are benefiting from this political innovation, you can’t help but think: what the hell isn’t kidding?.. maybe he really is right conspiracy theorist friend?..
Well, how, pray tell, should we evaluate such a “team contract” in the “cross-pollination” format? Sociologists conduct their paid surveys with predetermined results. The survey data forms the basis for various types of analytical reports with programmed conclusions and becomes the basis for “ratings”. The media publish them, accompanying these publications with political orders and “jeans”. And then again in a circle.
And how, one might ask, should we evaluate the preamble of the next rating published by the communications holding Minchenko Consulting, if not an invitation to cooperate with advertisers represented by the current governors? Here is the text of the advertisement, a kind of announcement of the fair sale:
“The increasing intensity of political and economic competition in the regions and the growing attention of the expert community to the processes in Russian territories creates a request for more rapid examination of ongoing processes.
In this regard, the St. Petersburg Politics Foundation plans to begin publishing the Index of Socio-Political Sustainability of Regions in October 2012, with an initial intensity of 2 times a month.
The communications holding "Minchenko Consulting" in December 2012 will publish the report "The latest Kremlin appointees: the first results of the work of the heads of regions appointed in 2012", and in March 2013 "Governors before the elections", analyzing the results of the activities of the heads of regions who I will have to take part in the elections in September 2013.”
It is clear that the original mantra “Kremlin”, which has a hypnotic effect on the provinces, has absolutely nothing to do with the real center of supreme Russian power. They have their own instruments, the measurement accuracy of which we will not discuss here. But it is clear that this toolkit pursues completely different goals, both in scale and content. Well, the message packaged in the ill-fated ratings is quite transparent: prepare your loot, gentlemen, governors, current and future!.. Do you still live outside the ratings? We are coming to you!...