Abstract: In the Soviet Union, the history of the Civil War was one of the important parts of the historical "myth", which ceased to exist shortly before the collapse of the country. Although three decades have passed since the collapse of the USSR, there has not been a unified attitude in society towards this conflict. The article presents a study of the collective memory of the Civil War in Russia based on the narratives of political parties. Modern parties, as part of the formation of their historical policy, offered their own vision of the events of the Civil War. The author of the article analyzes the attitude of parties to the parties to the conflict and personalities, highlights the key features of the image of the past formed by them. The main sources were official documents of the parties, election programs, speeches and publications of party leaders, books, materials of official websites.  The results of the study are based on the use of general scientific methods and principles of scientific cognition, comparative analysis, and a systematic approach. The main conclusion of the study is the lack of a unified approach among modern political parties in assessing the events of the Civil War. Liberal and conservative-patriotic parties blamed the beginning of the conflict on the "Reds", the Communist Party – on the anti-Bolshevik camp, the rest expressed the opinion that all parties to the conflict were to blame. The parties also assessed the degree of foreign influence differently – communist and patriotic associations believe that the conflict has escalated into a large-scale war due to the intervention of the Entente countries. In modern political discussion, appeals to personalities are rare: parties resort to generalizations "Bolsheviks", "whites" and similar synonyms, the parties to the conflict in party narratives, as a rule, are faceless. From the personalities of the Civil War, they often turned to the figures of V. I. Lenin and A.V. Kolchak, evaluating them depending on their political preferences. The only conclusion common to all political parties was the unacceptability of a repeat of civil conflicts in Russia, in their opinion, the country should develop, avoiding such shocks.

Abstract: Unified assessments of the past for mass political movements representing the extreme flanks of the political spectrum have become an integral part of party identity in modern society. The activity of political parties can have a significant impact on the memory of society, change collective memories of individual events and even entire historical periods. The author of the article analyzes the attitude of modern Russian communists to the key events of history, identifies the features of their party historical policy, compares approaches with other political parties and narratives of the Soviet era. The main sources were official documents of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation and the party "Communists of Russia", as well as speeches, interviews and publications of their leaders. The Communist parties turn mainly to the history of Russia, starting with the revolutionary events of 1917. Although Communists actively use formulations from Soviet narratives, their own attitude has been formed to a number of events and processes. The most important differences are related to the assessment of the February Revolution and its results, the perception of the policy of I. V. Stalin. Many historical events (de-Stalinization, the collapse of the USSR) of the party are explained by the presence of international conspiracies, not internal processes. The "Communists of Russia" and the Communist Party of the Russian Federation use their ideas about the past in different ways: the former actively propagandize them during election campaigns and build their election programs on them, the latter weakly use historical politics during electoral battles, making the programs as neutral as possible, but during the inter-election period they actively promote their vision of the past.

Abstract: One of the main directions of the state's social policy is to support the elderly. In the Russian Federation, after the last pension reform of 2018, the issue of pension provision has become one of the main points of tension in the relationship between the state and society, which was reflected in the federal election campaign of 2021. The subject of study in this article is the proposals of political parties in the field of pension policy. The election programs of the parties in the 2021 elections to the State Duma of the Russian Federation of the VIII convocation were used as the object of the study. The author examines the attitude of the authors of pre-election programs to certain aspects of pension reform, including changes in the retirement age, the direction of further reforms, social protection of pensioners and pre-retirees, in addition, a comparison with the position of the parties in 2016 was made.
The results of the study are based on the use of general scientific methods and principles of scientific knowledge, a systematic approach, comparative analysis and historical objectivity.
  Despite the continued significant interest of the population in the pension problem in 2021, which sharply increased after the retirement age was increased, the parties were unable to fully realize the potential of this issue. Speaking from critical positions, they focused on counter-reform, reducing most of the proposals to a return to the past, practically offering no innovations. Most of the statements on raising the level of pensions were clearly populist in nature and had no mechanism for their implementation. Regarding the 2016 elections, opposition parties have noticeably intensified criticism of the existing system and the Pension Fund of Russia. United Russia, on the other hand, distanced itself as much as possible from the pension reform, without touching on the latest changes in its election theses. It can be expected that in the next election cycle, the pension issue will retain the status of one of the central issues in the election campaign.

Abstract: The political repressions of the Soviet era became one of the traumatic events for society, despite the past years, the assessment of their causes and consequences remains an important element of political discourse. Although the state authorities condemn them and define them as a crime, they focus on the achievements of the Soviet era. Against this background, political parties, within the framework of forming their own memory policy, have proposed different approaches to this tragic event of national history. The author of the article analyzes the attitude of parties to the causes and consequences of political repression, highlights certain features of the image they have formed and differences from the generally accepted assessment, suggestions for comment. The main sources were the programs of the most popular parties, interviews and publications of their leaders. The main conclusion of the study is the lack of a unified approach of modern parties to the problem of political repression. We can conditionally distinguish two large groups. The first group (the Communist Party, "Motherland", "Communists of Russia") is characterized by the recognition of repression as falsified or overestimated in order to discredit I.V. Stalin, whose image these parties largely mythologize. If individual violations of the rule of law are recognized, they are explained by the supreme necessity (modernization, preparation for war, the fight against conspiracy). The second group consists of parties condemning repression as an unjustified crime against the people. This group is not homogeneous: some ("Just Russia", "United Russia", to some extent LDPR) believe that this topic has been studied as a whole and it is enough to maintain the current commemorative practice; others (PARNAS, "Yabloko") expand the scope of repression for almost the entire existence of the USSR, insist on large-scale de-Stalinization and decommunization, referring to the practices of the historical policy of the countries of Eastern Europe.

Abstract: The February Revolution is one of the key events in the Russian history. Namely this event put the end to the century-long history of the Russian autocracy, and prompted an attempt of a new state structure. A century later, the attitude towards these events determines the ideological basis of multiple Russian parties existing in modern time. Within the framework of establishment of their historical policy, they proposed the original approaches towards the causes of the February Revolution. The author analyzes the perspective of modern parties on the causes of the fall of the monarchy and the advent of revolutionary disturbances. The main sources employ the official documents of the most popular parties (participants of the 2016 federal elections), speeches and publications of their leaders. The conclusion is made on the absence of uniform approach of the parties towards the causes of the revolutionary events of 1917. The author distinguishes the two groups: those who see the causes of the revolution in aggravation of socioeconomic problems; and those who perceive the revolution as coincidence that disrupted the course of history due to certain mistakes made by the government. Unlike the majority of professional historians, multiple political authors assume that the revolution was a result of conspiracy, comparing it to the “orange revolutions” of recent years. The parties also drew parallels between modernity and pre-revolutionary times. The author indicates the need for overcoming (or preventing) the gap between the government and society. as well as reducing the social stratification.

Abstract: In recent years, the reforms of the educational system have become a pressing public concern. The subject of this research is the proposals of the political parties pertaining to school education. The article considers the election programs of political parties with the federal lists of candidates officially registered for the 2016 State Duma Elections. The author explores reference to the problems of public education in the election campaign, attitude of the parties to such topical aspects as the implementation of the Unified State Exam, social status and salary of the pedagogues, and future trends in the education reforms. With the exception of the “United Russia”, which noted a number of positive trends, the parties criticized the current situation in education. Most criticism was expressed towards drawbacks of the Unified State Exam procedure; therefore, the parties demonstrated different approaches – from its cancellation to modification. Instead of submitting new comprehensive proposals, the political actors suggested focusing on the Soviet system of education or the Russian system of education formed after 1991. The problem of school education will remain relevant in the next election cycle; however, the priority topic of discussion may change to distant education.

Abstract: The dissolution of the Soviet Union is one of the key events in the history of Russia. The USSR ceased to exist, which prompted the beginning of the history of modern Russia. The political parties of the Russian Federation have formed the own historical memory of the event, as well as offered the original approaches towards the collapse of the USSR. The author analyzes the perspective of modern parties on the crisis of the Soviet model, their attitude towards the dissolution of the USSR, as well as assessment of the historical figures of that period. The official documents of the most popular political parties, as well as speeches and publications of their leaders served as the sources for this research. Although all political parties perceive the collapse of the Soviet Union as a tragic event that could have been avoided, there are different opinions on the causes. The three groups of factors that contributed to the collapse of the Soviet Union are determined: economic problems; administrative crisis due to political errors of the government; and international conspiracy. The communist organizations mostly adhere to the latter one. The historical politics of the parties is dominated by an extremely critical attitude towards the central historical figures of the Soviet era. The members of the State Emergency Committee receive limited support in the historical narratives of the Communist Party, and such is given to the President of the USSR in liberal publications. The parties drew parallels between the present time and the period of Perestroika. The conclusion is made on the need to overcome (or prevent) the gap between the government and society, keep confidence of the citizens in the government in order to avoid the recurrence of devastating events.

Abstract: Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin remains one of the most talked about political figures of the XX century. There is yet no consensus on the state level about his activity: the elite tries to avoid the assessment of controversial and ambiguous periods of national history. Modern political parties develop the image of Stalin within the framework of development of their historical policy. The article analyzes the attitude of the parties towards the Soviet leader, determines the key peculiarities of constructing the image, and ways of using references to the “Stalinist time” in the political struggle of modern Russia. Research methodology employs the legal documents of the most popular parties, speeches and publications of their leaders. The author concludes on the absence of unified approach of modern parties towards the figure of J. V. Stalin. Among large political parties, the “United Russia” has no unequivocal opinion on Stalin, while the rest attribute themselves to apologists and critics. The first group (the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, All-Russian Political Party “Rodina”, “Communists of Russia”) is characterized with high mythologization of the image of the “leader of peoples”, creating the image of the ideal leader, statesman and defender of interest of the country, omitting or justifying all negative actions. The critics of J. V. Stalin differ in their approaches: such parties as LDPR, “Just Russia”, and partially “United Russia”) believe that the crimes of that time are sufficiently studied; while “PARNA” and “Yabloko” insist on large-scale de-Stalinization and decommunization, referring to the practices of Eastern European countries.

Abstract: Almost three decades have passed since the dissolution of the Soviet Union; however, there is still no unity towards its history – various political actors interpret it differently. Analysis is conducted on the politics of memory of the parties that participated in the last two election campaigns in reference to the Soviet period. The goal of article is to determine the parties with own politics of memory; assess the attitude of the political parties on the Soviet history as a whole and isolated key events; as well as describe experience of using the politics of memory in electoral cycle. The opposition parties – the CPRF, LDPR, Yabloko, PARNAS, and the Communists of Russia – most actively referred to the politics of memory. The center of political attention became the history of the Soviet period, to which different approaches were applied. The liberal parties criticized the USSR and advocated decommunization, while the left-wing parties notices only positive aspects in the Soviet history. The LDPR offered to separate the attitude towards the Soviet regime, and the attitude towards the state. Although the political parties have not fully fulfilled their potential as the actors of the politics of memory, the development of the own strategies of interpretation of history is traced clearly. The politics of memory may evolve into a separate vector of major party politics.

Abstract: In the Soviet Union, the Great October Socialist Revolution was regarded as the key event in history of the country, performing the role “founding myth”. Despite the fact that three decades have passed since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, there is yet no uniform opinion to neither February nor October revolutions. Modern parties have expressed their attitude towards the events of 1917 within the framework of their historical policy. The author analyzes the attitude of the parties towards revolution, and determines the peculiarities of the image of the past they formed. The official occasion of the centenary of the Revolution. The author concludes on the absence of the unified approach of modern parties towards the revolutionary events of 1917. The parties have been divided into three groups: supporters of the October and supporters of the February single out one of the revolutions, placing emphasis on its achievements; “evolutionists” demonstrate a negative attitude towards the events of 1917, believing that the revolutions distorted the natural course of events in Russia. Among major parties, only United Russia could not formulate a clear attitude towards revolution, reducing it to the formula of “consent and reconciliation”. It can be expect that political parties will continue to develop their own historical policy.

Abstract: Currently, the question of transformation of government institutions, including through the change of Constitution, is of primary importance on the political agenda. The subject of this research is the proposals of political parties on modernization of state structure and reform of the federal branches of government. The object of this research is the election programs of political parties on the elections to the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation in 2011 and 2016. The author examines the ideas of party actors regarding modernization in the sphere of public administration, attitude of the parties towards modification of powers of the federal branches of government, relationship format between the center and the federal subjects, strengthening of social control over government. Despite the critical approach of political parties, they did not suggest any integrated projects on modernization of the system, but rather expressed disparate opinion. Part of the proposals pertinent to the reforms of public administration were of populist nature and did not have a mechanism for their implementation. Most specific and realizable initiatives were associated with restoration of the previously existing norms. The parties made various proposals on the question problem of administrative and territorial structure of the country, demonstrating a range of approaches from strong decentralization to unitary state. It is assumed that the question of modernization of state structure will remain on the agenda in the next electoral cycle. However, the integrated approach most likely will not be demonstrated. Reforms of the Federal Assembly and judicial system will continue to be the key vectors of political discourse.

Abstract: Currently, the question of transformation of government institutions, including through the change of Constitution, is of primary importance on the political agenda. The subject of this research is the proposals of political parties on modernization of state structure and reform of the federal branches of government. The object of this research is the election programs of political parties on the elections to the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation in 2011 and 2016. The author examines the ideas of party actors regarding modernization in the sphere of public administration, attitude of the parties towards modification of powers of the federal branches of government, relationship format between the center and the federal subjects, strengthening of social control over government. Despite the critical approach of political parties, they did not suggest any integrated projects on modernization of the system, but rather expressed disparate opinion. Part of the proposals pertinent to the reforms of public administration were of populist nature and did not have a mechanism for their implementation. Most specific and realizable initiatives were associated with restoration of the previously existing norms. The parties made various proposals on the question problem of administrative and territorial structure of the country, demonstrating a range of approaches from strong decentralization to unitary state. It is assumed that the question of modernization of state structure will remain on the agenda in the next electoral cycle. However, the integrated approach most likely will not be demonstrated. Reforms of the Federal Assembly and judicial system will continue to be the key vectors of political discourse.

Abstract: One of the main vectors of social policy of the country is the support of senior citizens. The subject of this research is the proposals of political parties in the area of pension policy. The object of this research is the campaign party platforms at the 2016 elections for State Duma of the Russian Federation. The author examines the significance of the pension issue within the platforms, as well as positions of their authors on the most pressing aspects of this issue: change in the retirement age, freezing of the investment part of state pension, continued reforms, and pension raise. The results of this research are based on the use of general scientific methods and principles of scientific cognition, systemic approach, comparative analysis and historical objectivity. Despite the significant interest of the population towards the pension issue in 2016, the parties were unable to fully capitalize on the electoral potential of this issue. Taking a stance on critical position, they did not offer comprehensive alternatives to the current system – disjointed proposals on its improvement and amplification did not correspond to the scale of the problem. Most of the promises to raise the pensions carried evident populist character, and were not accompanied by a mechanism of its implementation. Majority of the specific and achievable proposals pertained to separate additional benefits and were based on the already prepared legislative bills by the parties. However, with the continued pension reforms, the issue will remain relevant in the next electoral cycle, and it will soon be clear whether the parties were able to account for the 2016 miscalculations and prepare the voters for new comprehensive and quality proposals in the area of social security of the pensioners.

Abstract: One of the main vectors of social policy of the country is the support of senior citizens. The subject of this research is the proposals of political parties in the area of pension policy. The object of this research is the campaign party platforms at the 2016 elections for State Duma of the Russian Federation. The author examines the significance of the pension issue within the platforms, as well as positions of their authors on the most pressing aspects of this issue: change in the retirement age, freezing of the investment part of state pension, continued reforms, and pension raise. The results of this research are based on the use of general scientific methods and principles of scientific cognition, systemic approach, comparative analysis and historical objectivity. Despite the significant interest of the population towards the pension issue in 2016, the parties were unable to fully capitalize on the electoral potential of this issue. Taking a stance on critical position, they did not offer comprehensive alternatives to the current system – disjointed proposals on its improvement and amplification did not correspond to the scale of the problem. Most of the promises to raise the pensions carried evident populist character, and were not accompanied by a mechanism of its implementation. Majority of the specific and achievable proposals pertained to separate additional benefits and were based on the already prepared legislative bills by the parties. However, with the continued pension reforms, the issue will remain relevant in the next electoral cycle, and it will soon be clear whether the parties were able to account for the 2016 miscalculations and prepare the voters for new comprehensive and quality proposals in the area of social security of the pensioners.

Abstract: One of the vectors of the state social policy is care for the people who survived the Great Patriotic War. Social protection of this category of citizens prompted active discussion in the recent decade of the legislation on the so-called “children of war”, people whose childhood fell on the years of the Great Patriotic War. Legislative bills on “children of war” are founded on a new approach towards social support: instead of principles of deserving or need, they are based on belonging to a certain generation. The struggle for passing a uniform federal law started in 2006, and continues until present day. The goal of this article is to study the set of issues associated with passing of this federal law. The main initiators of this legislation, which were the Communist Party of the Russian Federation “A Just Russia” and regional authorities were unable to propose a uniform legislative bill, even though majority of the bills did not contain insurmountable differences. The authors of the initiatives also failed to overcome the law enforcement issues before them, but the failures of legislative bills also reveal common problems of the work of the State Duma of the Russian Federation, such as misuse of the right of legislative initiative by the deputies, weakness of the financial and economic bases, as well as lack of regulation of the conciliation procedures on controversial legislation. The relevance in passing this legislation still persists, as the current local legislative framework contains contradictions and requires unification on the federal level, but its timely implementation is doubtful without a compromise-based version of the bill with precise financial calculations.

Abstract: One of the vectors of the state social policy is care for the people who survived the Great Patriotic War. Social protection of this category of citizens prompted active discussion in the recent decade of the legislation on the so-called “children of war”, people whose childhood fell on the years of the Great Patriotic War. Legislative bills on “children of war” are founded on a new approach towards social support: instead of principles of deserving or need, they are based on belonging to a certain generation. The struggle for passing a uniform federal law started in 2006, and continues until present day. The goal of this article is to study the set of issues associated with passing of this federal law. The main initiators of this legislation, which were the Communist Party of the Russian Federation “A Just Russia” and regional authorities were unable to propose a uniform legislative bill, even though majority of the bills did not contain insurmountable differences. The authors of the initiatives also failed to overcome the law enforcement issues before them, but the failures of legislative bills also reveal common problems of the work of the State Duma of the Russian Federation, such as misuse of the right of legislative initiative by the deputies, weakness of the financial and economic bases, as well as lack of regulation of the conciliation procedures on controversial legislation. The relevance in passing this legislation still persists, as the current local legislative framework contains contradictions and requires unification on the federal level, but its timely implementation is doubtful without a compromise-based version of the bill with precise financial calculations.

Abstract: On the background of the Russian economic crisis, the family policy takes on an even greater relevance. The subject of this research is the proposals of political parties in the area of family policies. The object of this research is the election campaigns of the political parties at the 2016 Russian legislative elections. The author carefully examines such aspects of the topic as the significance of family policy in the election programs, establishment of the political parties’ attitude towards the institution of family, determination of the key vectors of political activity with regards to family policy. Due to the recentness of the events under consideration, the question has been thinly studies in the historiography. The author is first to explore specifically the attitude of the political parties towards family policy in the course of the 2016 legislative elections. Neither party has chosen family policy as the background of their political campaign; however multiple initiatives were launched concerning the support of families. The main attention of the political parties is focused on increasing family wealth and solution of housing problem.

Abstract: On the background of the Russian economic crisis, the family policy takes on an even greater relevance. The subject of this research is the proposals of political parties in the area of family policies. The object of this research is the election campaigns of the political parties at the 2016 Russian legislative elections. The author carefully examines such aspects of the topic as the significance of family policy in the election programs, establishment of the political parties’ attitude towards the institution of family, determination of the key vectors of political activity with regards to family policy. Due to the recentness of the events under consideration, the question has been thinly studies in the historiography. The author is first to explore specifically the attitude of the political parties towards family policy in the course of the 2016 legislative elections. Neither party has chosen family policy as the background of their political campaign; however multiple initiatives were launched concerning the support of families. The main attention of the political parties is focused on increasing family wealth and solution of housing problem.

Abstract: The article makes an attempt to systematise the scientific literature regarding women's issues, placing at its heart the topic of the women's movement in Russia. The women's movement is reflected in a wide spectrum of topics, not only directly related to the position of women in various spheres of life, their role and place in society, and their assertion of economic and political rights, but also related to the general patterns of social progress with the perspective development of civil society in Russia. The analysis of the existing historiography on this question was conducted using the principle of chronology, defining the main directions in the study of the women's movement. In describing the information value of the literature concerning "women's issues", it is necessary to underline that this literature is in general limited to understanding the main conceptual approaches. The most popular topic remains the question of men and women's equal rights in diverse life spheres, the changes in gender roles, women's emancipation, and the fight for the right of having a free choice and the liberal political involvement of various unions and leaders of the women's movement. The history of the women's movement maintains scholarly interest, as well as its experience and achievements in historical retrospect.

Abstract: The extent of participation of women in a political process is one of the most important markers of development of democratic institutions in Russia. The female movement reflects a wide range of problems, which concern both the position of women in various spheres, their role and place in the society and general patterns of social process, perspectives of political process development in Russia. The article contains the results of studied of female movement in the modern Russia, which were performed with the use modern informational technologies. The authors shows the possibilities for a researcher capable of using novel methods for the analysis of the mass data  of a complicated social and political matter, such as female movement in Russia. At the same time, the use formal quantity methods and computer technologies for the representative data on mass events requires that the problems of comparability be faced and solved. The mass data should be compared and such data should be combined within a database for the further mathematical and statistical processing.

Abstract: Issues relating to the aims and strategies of women's groups are of interest to modern researchers and generate much discussion and reflection on the nature of women's social groups, their activities, methods, and means of defending their interests. The use of material from a database of feminist non-governmental organisations to study the complex, multi-purpose phenomenon that is feminism has allowed for a detailed analysis of its various parties and constituents as well as the application of methods of statistical analysis, which have led to a deeper understanding of the topic.