Razin A.V., Avdeeva I.A. Resolution of Value Conflicts in the Process of Political Decision Making

Abstract: The object of the research is the political sphere of the society and politically motivated behavior of the actors of polilitical activity. The subject of the research is the problem of conflict resolution in the political sphere associated with the contradictory value content of socio-political actions. The conflicts of this kind are a natural condition for the functioning of the political sphere and they are directly dependant on different social-political interests and political decision-making purposes. The subject of the research, as it is known, always contains some degree of idealization associated with the identification of the parts of an object under research. This is achieved by the authors of the article through considering well-known ethical concepts and analysis of these concepts from the point of view of absolutist and utalitarian approaches. At the level of decisions concerning particular political actions, the subject under review is a specific model of the decision making process based on the methods suggested in Western literature. The methodology is based on the application of the systems method of social researches, comparative analysis, history of ethics and analysis of contemporary ethical concepts as well as step-by-step and value-analytical concepts of the political decision making process under particular circumstances. The novelty of this research is based on the consideration of the political decision making process in relation to global processes in the development of society and peculiarities of the modern political system. The authors of the article demonstrate that political interests are not always associated with the protection of the interests for the majority of society members, but often represent the interests of particular groups. For this reason, participatory democracy is not only a mean of limiting such manipulations, but is also a remedy to make a certain ethical influence on politics based on the principles of openness and discourse. This is one of the ways to discover the value content of political decisions as well as to resolve value conflicts in this sphere. The authors of the article also offer a number of models for resolution of value conflicts through analysis of their actual value content. These models are to be considered and analyzed further. The authors also show that it is possible to range priorities in applying either absolutist or utilitarian approaches to the political decision making process. 

Keywords: