Only 44% of residents of the Russian Federation consider themselves Russians. Why and what to do?!

"Democracy is the rule of the people,

chosen by the people and for the people" /A. Lincoln/

"The Ministry of Regional Development will double the number of Russians for 125 billion rubles"

The Izvestia newspaper dated February 15, 2013 published a material entitled “The Ministry of Regional Development will double the number of Russians for 125 billion rubles.” Only 44% of residents of the Russian Federation consider themselves Russians. One of the key problems in interethnic relations in Russia is weak civic consciousness. Many citizens of the Russian Federation do not consider themselves Russians - ethnic and religious self-identification is more important for them. This conclusion, as noted in the material, is contained in the final version of the Concept of the federal target program “Strengthening the unity of the Russian nation and the ethnocultural development of the peoples of Russia” prepared by the Ministry of Regional Development of Russia. And to solve this problem—the problem of weak civic consciousness—Russia, apparently, is going to invest money, a lot of money—125 billion rubles.

62% of Russians demonstrated hidden intolerance towards “others”

Only 51% of Russian residents positively assessed the state of interethnic relations and only 45% are satisfied with the implementation of their ethnocultural rights, with reference to the Ministry of Regional Development of the Russian Federation, it is noted further in the material. But 62% demonstrated hidden intolerance: they answered “yes” to the question whether the entry of representatives of certain nationalities into their region should be restricted. The department has developed, as stated in the material, two scenarios for the federal target program designed for 2013-2018. They differ in different levels of funding. It is expected that 124.6 billion rubles will make it possible by 2018 to increase the share of those who consider themselves Russians to 86%. In a more economical option, 36.6 billion rubles will be spent, and the share of citizens who consider themselves Russians will increase only to 64%. In the first option, the level of hidden intolerance will drop to 34% over five years, in the second - to 54%. The program specifically stipulates an increase in the activity of the Cossacks.

“The new federal target program has no other goal than the development of budget funds”

Experts assess the project of the Ministry of Regional Development of the Russian Federation to strengthen national unity with ambiguity. The head of the information and legal center "Migration and Law" Gavkhar Dzhuraeva believes that any attempts to resolve the current situation are positive. But he considers it a minus that the concept of the Federal Targeted Program does not contain a word about working with diasporas. According to the Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Institute of Migration Demography and Regional Development, Yuri Krupnov, in the current conditions in Russia it is impossible to change the civil self-identification of the population in a few years. According to Krupnov, the new federal target program has no other goal than the use of budget funds. According to the head of the Center for Social Demography and Economic Sociology at the Institute of Socio-Political Research of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Sergei Ryazantsev, there must be a social responsibility of the state to a person, treating his life as a value. It is necessary to reduce the level of corruption and de-bureaucratize relations with government agencies, says the expert. Five years is too short a period of time for 86% of the country’s residents to begin to feel themselves primarily Russians, Ryazantsev believes.

Citizenship is the “backbone” of the new community: “RUSSIANS”

Yes, the Ministry of Regional Development of Russia in such a simple way, by investing 125 billion rubles, is going to “double the number of Russians” - double the number of fellow citizens who will consider themselves Russians . Yes, that’s exactly what it says: “Billions of rubles will make it possible in five years to raise national consciousness to 86%, the ministry is confident.” This is, if I may say so, an ingenuous (read: straightforward) policy for the development of “civic consciousness”?.. The relevance of the topic of civic identity of Russians, its importance for our country, for the present and future of Russia, in our opinion, cannot be overestimated. In the material under the heading: “There is a huge deficit of citizenship in Russia!” , posted on the PublicPost website, addressing this topic, we emphasized precisely this significance: “It is civic identity that can and should become that “brace” (like a “backbone”) that will, over time, become the basis of a new community: “ RUSSIANS." We believed earlier, and continue to believe today, that there is a huge deficit of citizenship in Russia! This was clearly shown by the events at Manezhnaya Square in December 2010... And it is civic identity, in our opinion, that should become that " a bond" that will avoid repeating "Manezhka", "Kondopoga" and become the basis of a "new community": "Russians". And everyone, regardless of nationality, will be equally proud of being a Russian. And only through this should it come to everyone realization for Russians: You must be a citizen!”

No one in Russia is seriously doing this yet!?

We believe that with such a deficit of citizenship (and this is confirmed by the indicated study of the Ministry of Regional Development of the Russian Federation: “Only 44% of residents of the Russian Federation consider themselves Russians” ), issues of increasing civic consciousness and civic self-identity today, despite such an arch-urgency of the problem, are given extremely insufficient attention.

Yes, Civil Society in the Russian Federation is still weak and far from occupying its rightful place in our country! And there is only one way out of this - to develop the institutions of Civil Society! Today in the Russian Federation (neither in the center, nor even more so in the regions), not only is no one seriously engaged in this, but also, it seems, not very interested in it...? Numerous “pocket” public councils under various government bodies (100% controlled by the authorities) do not count. We believe that this particular problem is central for Russia in every sense! And we are sure: without a radical change in the place and role of civil society, a change in the significance of the people’s voice in what is happening in the country, the problem of the worsening process of mutual alienation of government and society cannot be solved. The problem of total and absolute lack of control by the authorities cannot be solved.

"Russia is for all Russians!" How to achieve this?

Russian President V.V. Putin designates the issue of “civil and interethnic harmony” as “one of the main conditions for the very existence of our country.” And this is indeed exactly the case: From time to time, various kinds of excesses arise in different regions of the country, which are very often “explained” by friction in the sphere of interethnic relations. Some people even deliberately (for their own selfish purposes) speculate on this topic, jeopardizing peace and harmony in the country. This is clearly demonstrated every time by elections to the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation and elections in the regions of the Russian Federation. In our opinion, this is unacceptable, because civil peace is the basis and guarantee of the preservation of Russia! Yes, any nationalism and chauvinism pose a huge danger to multinational Russia.

“Kushchevskaya”, “Gus-Khrustalny”, “Manezhnaya”, “Domodedovo” - these, in our opinion, are “phenomena” of the same series. And the main and main reason that they took place, in our opinion, is not interethnic relations, and especially not interethnic strife. Thank God this is not the case in Russia today. And this is absolutely obvious and it is unlikely that anyone will argue the opposite, to argue that in today’s Russia there is interethnic strife - as a phenomenon. This is not the case! Yes, there are cases of “showdowns” in which sometimes a national “moment” appears. And often national “coloring” and national “context” (or “basis”) are given to certain cases or even crimes either by officials, or by the media, or by the media - at the “insistence” of officials. In reality, the reason for what happened at Manezhnaya, Kushchevskaya, Gus-Khrustalny, and Domodedovo is irresponsibility and failure to comply with the law. And the “result” of this is injustice! And the reaction to injustice is to search for the “enemy” (culprit) of what is happening. And, sad as it may be, the “enemy” is always “searched for and found” in the “stranger”... Yes, the “enemy” always turns out to be a “stranger” (“not one’s own”) - a person of a different skin color, a different face shape, nose shape, different religion, different nationality... And as a consequence of all this, the “search for the enemy” is accompanied by manifestations of nationalism.

Create the Ministry of the Russian Federation for the Development of Civil Society

We fully agree with the position (not to create any government agency for any emerging problem) expressed the day before by D.A. Medvedev, we, however, believe that this problem - the problem of the development of civil society - is fundamental and is of exceptional importance for Russia (as a Democratic and Rule of Law state), and therefore deserves to be an exception to the rule. Based on this understanding, we propose to create a Ministry of the Russian Federation for the Development of Civil Society to solve this problem (the most important for the very existence of Russia as a state). And this Ministry could (and should) be headed by a person who knows first-hand the current problems of Russian Civil Society and is capable, due to his authority and character, of raising them (these problems) before the authorities and seeking their solution. And moreover (due to the special importance and complexity of this work) this minister should be in the rank of Deputy Prime Minister of the Government of the Russian Federation.

Create representative offices of the Council under the President of the Russian Federation in all constituent entities of Russia

We believe that the Council under the President of the Russian Federation for promoting the development of civil society institutions and human rights should have its representations in the constituent entities of the Russian Federation. Moreover, these representative offices must be independent of the heads of regions. It is fundamentally important that these representative offices employ independent people who are capable of actually defending their positions in protecting the interests of the population. Including that these would be human rights activists and representatives of the opposition.

The solution is to create a responsible Civil Society!

Yes, we repeat, there really is no interethnic hatred in Russia today, but there are quite a few manifestations of nationalism. And, alas, today there are no proper and sufficient measures to counter them and prevent them from spreading. Moreover, the state often does not show due principle in using the Law in the fight against the dangers and consequences that manifestations of nationalism are fraught with! Yes, to our great regret, in many respects “the topic of interethnic relations” today is given “to the mercy of demagogues, unscrupulous, or more correctly, unscrupulous politicians.” And this was clearly “demonstrated” by the past campaign for elections to the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, during which a number of politicians pedaled this topic on a grand scale, resorting to such slogans as “we are for the Russians”, etc. Yes, avoiding responding to these calls and solving this problem as a whole is impossible - this is a big mistake. We believe that this problem can and should be solved only and only in one single “way” - by creating a mature and responsible Civil Society in Russia. And this can be achieved, in turn, only by strengthening the institutions of Civil Society. Alas, today the authorities continue to hear poorly (or even not hear at all) at all levels of their citizens. And it is extremely rare that the opinion of a particular person (citizen) reaches the authorities - this is rather not even a rare, but the rarest exception. Hence all the problems, hence the level of development of civil society, whose representatives still cannot reach the authorities...

Democracy is impossible without civil society!

In the Address of the President of the Russian Federation to the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation dated December 20, 2012, V. Putin stated: “For Russia there is and cannot be any other political choice other than democracy. At the same time, I want to say and even emphasize: we share precisely the universal democratic principles accepted throughout the world.” . We, like the President of the Russian Federation, believe that “For Russia there is and cannot be any other political choice other than democracy!” And, based on this, Russia, in our opinion, can and should adhere to (and V.V. Putin also believes so) “precisely the universal democratic principles accepted throughout the world.” That is, to adhere to Democracy, which is accepted in all civilized countries... And such Democracy - real and full-fledged, in our opinion, is impossible (as such) without civil society. Impossible without a mature citizen. Impossible without citizenship.

You can and should learn to live in a democracy

As you know, there are two “ways” of working with non-swimmers: the first is to teach them to swim, creating the necessary conditions for this. And the second is to deprive them of the opportunity to “come into contact” with water (dangerous, after all), by “emptying” the swimming pool... And thus deprive them of the very opportunity to learn to swim... Deprive them of the opportunity to ever learn to swim at all. The same is with democracy and the development of civil society: one can constantly argue that Russia has an immature civil society and, by canceling direct, popular elections and banning rallies and meetings of citizens, one can continue to deprive Russians of the very opportunity to learn to live in democracy, or one can without prohibiting anything, on the contrary, to create appropriate conditions and thereby fully promote the activity of citizens and the development of civic consciousness of Russians. Yes, and in working with citizens, with civic consciousness, as well as with those who cannot swim, there are two “methods” of work... We believe that Russia, unlike most countries (called civilized ones), cannot and will not should give “preference” to a “special” path of development - should not take the path of prohibitions and restrictions...

A broad dialogue between the authorities and society, with citizens is necessary...

Yes, in working with the development of civic consciousness, just like in working with those who cannot swim, there are two “ways” (methods) of work: the first way is to teach it, and the second is to deprive the very opportunity to learn... We believe In solving the problem of developing civil society, we must never deprive Russians of the very opportunity to learn to live and work in a democracy. It is categorically impossible, because Russians urgently need this - they need to actively participate in the affairs of the state, in the affairs of their region, city and village... The reaction of civil society to the results of the elections to the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation held in December 2011 forced everyone think about the imperfections of the current political system. The authorities, recognizing the obvious need to change this system, also stated the need to return to the election of regional heads, and the need for a broad dialogue between the authorities and society, with citizens...

Citizenship implies a Russian as a subject of governance

Yes, civil society in the Russian Federation, we repeat, is weak and still does not occupy its rightful place in our country. And there is only one way out of this - to develop the institutions of Civil Society, to do everything so that Russians participate more and more actively in the affairs of their state, become full-fledged and responsible Citizens... And citizenship, as is known, implies the ability of citizens to use their rights and responsibilities, implies the Russian precisely as a subject, and not only (exclusively) as an object of management... But such experience and such skills are acquired by citizens in the process of their practical participation in the affairs of their state. And such participation of Russians, in turn, is impossible in principle if Russia does not have the main condition for this - Russians will not have the opportunity to exercise their constitutional right - the right to choose power. The right to choose power at all levels... If there are no direct, popular elections of heads of regions, city mayors, etc. According to the well-known definition of A. Lincoln: “Democracy is the power of the people, chosen by the people and for the people!” And it is absolutely obvious that a government that is not elected by the people cannot be called democracy (the power of the people)! And, a priori, there can be no talk of any democracy and power of the people then and there, when and where there are no direct, popular elections! Yes, in the absence of such elections (direct, popular), there is no need to talk about the power of the people at all. And in fact, how and in what way Russians can and should participate in governing their country - including in governing their specific region (region, republic, city, etc.), if not through direct, popular elections in the first place ? Through direct, popular elections of the head of the region and the mayor of the city?

Power cannot be responsible without accountability to society

Alas, this is an axiom, as it turned out, for many many it is not such at all... Let us recall that before the adoption of the law on the return of direct, popular elections of heads of subjects of the Russian Federation, in its previous form the legislation directly contradicted the Constitution of the Russian Federation and the Russians law (?!) were deprived of their main constitutional right: to elect and be elected. They were deprived of the right to choose power, deprived of the right to self-nomination... And, apparently, the bureaucracy wants to consolidate this situation further... It is trying to retain power and continue to keep citizens in the role of a “powerless and obedient majority.” And there is nothing much to be surprised here: bureaucracy always and at all times was for her, herself, and not the people, was the only source and manager of power in Russia and decide everything and everything for the people ...

Is it a paradox, all (including the first persons of the state) “for” the direct, popular elections of the heads of regions, including in the republics of the North Caucasus, in fact, in Russia under a far-fetched pretext, without any real The grounds are actually canceled just returned direct, popular elections of the heads of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation? And at the same time, everyone pretends that nothing was happening. Yes, at the highest level it is stated that "we are not going to radically change anything here!" In fact, the opposite happens just the same: under a far -fetched pretext and under the desire of the bureaucracy in Russia, the newly returned direct, popular elections of the heads of constituent entities of the Russian Federation are actually canceled. The head of state claims: "We should not act by prohibitions and restrictions ... without modern government, without high personal responsibility of those who do this, we will not solve the problems facing society and the country." In fact, we see the opposite - the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation actually banned the newly returned direct elections of the heads of regions, limiting the Russians in their constitutional rights: to elect and be elected!? The “responsibility of those who are not elected by the people, but are appointed by the authorities and do not have to speak, because the authorities cannot be responsible without accountability to society. And accountability is possible in the election of authorities: regional and local.

It is impossible to return the Russians to the process of managing the country without direct elections!

We have always believed and still believe today that “A return to direct, popular elections of regional heads is a vital necessity!” Yes, this is the only way to “make” governors work effectively. And the fact that this is exactly the case has been clearly proven in recent years, when direct popular elections of regional heads were abolished in Russia. And that is why the need for a Comprehensive Political Reform has become self-evident, the meaning of which, by and large, is to return Russians to the process of governing the country. But, this is impossible to do without returning the elections fully - including direct popular elections of the heads of regions and mayors of cities. Yes, being no longer elected (but actually prescribed "from above") and in no way dependent on the population of the region, the authorities actually cease to reckon with his opinion (and the further, the more) and take care of it properly. And the situation comes to the point that the authorities and the population over time begin, as they say, "coexist" in "parallel worlds", being in a mutual alienated state. We believe that it is time to correct the situation when the “team” of power structures, which is formed exclusively from “their own” (relatives, friends and other “pleasing” people for “master”) and turns into a “corporate community”, which monopolized political in the republics and economic resources ... Hence, all -clad corruption, clanity, etc. It is time to hear the "residents of the region" ... Without this, one cannot change the situation in the regions, including in the republics of the North Caucasus. We believe that it is not necessary to indulge those who, under the pretext and “care” about the people and “preserving” interethnic consent, are trying to actually “drag” their own selfish interests, and, on the contrary, in every possible way to abandon everything that interferes with the movement, It interferes with improving the lives of the majority of the population in the regions of the North Caucasus. Exactly so, because in turn for the "argument" of the local authorities in "care" about the people and the "preservation" of interethnic consent, as practice shows, almost always (!) In one form or another, one is hidden: desire (under a plausible pretext) To appoint “your”, “necessary” to the authorities of a person ... Yes, if desired, it is almost always possible to take into account the complexity and features of the multinational region without violating both the law and common sense, and maintain interethnic consent.

How to develop the civil self -awareness of Russians and strengthen the unity of the Russian nation?

Literally just (in early February of the current year), we were all witnesses of how someone (?!) Very skillfully involved almost the whole country "into a popular discussion": "Volgograd or Stalingrad"? (Read: good or bad Stalin?!). The question is: who and why, for what purpose does this do?! Why, for solving what current tasks are (as an urgent one) on the "agenda" this "problem" is taken out?! We have already publicly responded to this topic and consider it necessary to emphasize again: in our opinion, it is done by someone not just like that, but quite consciously and intentionally, is done in order to distract Russians from what is happening today, to distract from pressing problems and tasks ... And in fact, why and for what purpose should be so actively (including at the highest level) to maintain a “discussion” about the renaming of Volgograd to Stalingrad? Wouldn't it be better and more useful for all of us to pay attention to what is happening around us today in Russia?! Is it not better to pay attention to, for example, before our eyes and almost under our (civil society) silent consent, in Russia under a far-fetched pretext, without any real reasons, the newly returned direct, popular elections of chapters are actually canceled RF? Is it better for all of us, having fully realized the danger of this - the danger of a return to the past (at the time of "sovereign democracy"), again and again declare that we, Russians, want and are ready to learn to live and work in a real, full -fledged Democracy. We want and are ready to participate in the direct, popular elections of the authorities - in the elections of the authorities of their region, the city, etc. We want and are ready to be responsible for their choice! We want and are ready to bear responsibility for the power that we ourselves will choose in direct, popular elections. And in this way - through participation, including in the elections of the authorities, we want to learn how to live and work in conditions of democracy. We believe that only in this way, through the development of civic activity, the development of civil society, the civil self -awareness of Russians can and should develop. And only in this way (the most natural), the inhabitants of our country (all regions of the Russian Federation) can learn to learn and learn to realize themselves full -fledged citizens of their country. To realize and identify themselves as Russians! In every sense ... and 125 billion rubles, which the Ministry of Regional Development of the Russian Federation intends to spend on these purposes, in our opinion, should be spent on this - on the development of civil society, on the support of civil society institutions - NPOs, the media, etc. It is precisely So, the “increase in the activity of the Cossacks” (this is “spelled out, as mentioned above, in this program separately”), as well as the development of national self -awareness and the national self -identity of each of the peoples living in the Russian Federation, this is a very important task in itself And necessary, but this is a task of a different kind. And the development of the civil self -awareness of Russians and the strengthening of the unity of the Russian nation as such requires efforts (and monetary investments, including) precisely on the development of civil society institutions ...