The role of advisory bodies in the democratization of social and humanitarian policy mechanisms in Ukraine

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Institute of Public Administration and Civil Service Taras Shevchenko Kyiv National University

The role of advisory bodies in the democratization of social and humanitarian policy mechanisms in Ukraine

Yaroslav Chepurko

Graduate student of the Regional Policy Department

Educational and Scientific

Abstract

The article examines the role of advisory bodies in the democratization of social and humanitarian policy mechanisms in Ukraine. The article provides classification and differences of types of democracy and ways of democratization. It is noted that the democratization of mechanisms in the social and humanitarian sphere should become the basis for the development of an effective social and humanitarian policy, close to the demands of the population, able to take into account and express the interests of the person, community, and society as fully as possible. The assumption was put forward and proven that the nature of direct democracy is revealed in its functions - directions or types of direct manifestation of the will of the people, which mediate its content and forms by subjects, objects, methods, means of direct people's rule and other features. It was concluded that the current stage of democratic transformations in Ukraine requires strengthening the mechanisms of democratization of social and humanitarian policy through direct participation of citizens in socio-political processes, since the inefficiency of the main institutions of the political system is largely due to the lack of public control over their activities in the inter-election period and the limitation ofpolitical participation of citizens only through electoral processes. It is substantiated that the task of democratization of social and humanitarian policy requires the use of a whole set of mechanisms, namely: I. General mechanisms of democratization of state administration (social and humanitarian sphere as a subsystem of state administration); II. Special mechanisms for the democratization of social and humanitarian policy; III. Mechanisms of democratization of social and humanitarian policy at the local level. It is emphasized that the democratization of mechanisms of social and humanitarian policy is impossible without democratization of the entire political system, the main ones of which are: mechanisms of direct democracy; mechanisms of delegated democracy; mechanisms of citizen participation democracy.

Keywords: consultative and advisory bodies, social and humanitarian policy, democratization of mechanisms, social and humanitarian development, public administration, direct democracy, delegated democracy.

Роль консультативно-дорадчих органів у демократизації механізмів соціальної і гуманітарної політики в Україні

Анотація

democratization humanitarian policy community

У статті досліджується роль консультативно-дорадчих органів у демократизації механізмів соціальної і гуманітарної політики в Україні. В статті наведено класифікацію та відмінності типів демократії та шляхів демократизації. Зазначено, що саме демократизація механізмів у соціальній і гуманітарній сфері має стати основою для розбудови дієздатної соціальної і гуманітарної політики, наближеної до запитів населення, спроможної якнайповніше враховувати та виражати інтереси людини, громади, суспільства. Висунуто і доведено припущення, що характер прямої демократії виявляється в її функціях - напрямках або видах безпосереднього волевиявлення народу, які опосередковують її зміст і форми за суб'єктами, об'єктами, способами, засобами безпосереднього народовладдя та іншими ознаками. Зроблено висновок, що сучасний етап демократичних трансформацій в Україні потребує посилення механізмів демократизації соціальної і гуманітарної політики шляхом безпосередньої участі громадян у суспільно-політичних процесах, оскільки неефективність основних інститутів політичної системи великою мірою обумовлена саме недостатністю громадського контролю за їх діяльністю у міжвиборчій період та обмеженням політичної участі громадян лише електоральними процесами. Обґрунтовано, що завдання демократизації соціальної і гуманітарної політики потребує використання цілого комплексу механізмів, а саме: І. Загальних механізмів демократизації державного управління (соціальна і гуманітарна сфера як підсистема державного управління); ІІ. Спеціальних механізмів демократизації соціальної і гуманітарної політики; ІІІ. Механізмів демократизації соціальної і гуманітарної політики на місцевому рівні. Підкреслено, що демократизація механізмів соціальної і гуманітарної політики неможлива без демократизації усієї політичної системи, основними серед яких є: механізми прямої демократії; механізми делегованої демократії; механізми демократії участі громадян.

Ключові слова: консультативно-дорадчі органи, соціальна і гуманітарна політика, демократизація механізмів, соціальний і гуманітарний розвиток, публічне управління, пряма демократія, делегована демократія.

Formulation of the problem

The role of consultative and advisory bodies in the democratization of mechanisms in the social and humanitarian sphere should become the basis for the development of an effective social and humanitarian policy, close to the requests of the population, capable of taking into account and expressing the interests of a person, community, and society as fully as possible. The introduction and functioning of effective democratic mechanisms of social and humanitarian policy is also one of the central tasks of the European progress of the Ukrainian state. Recognizing the European aspirations of Ukraine, the EU imposes "obligations to build a developed and sustainable democracy" and "to ensure the stability and effectiveness of democratic institutions", - "democracy, respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms and the rule of law, ... are key elements" of the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the EU.

Analysis of recent research and publications

The topic of interaction between public authorities and institutions of civil society in the democratization of social and humanitarian policy mechanisms has been studied abroad for a long time. In Ukraine, it is becoming increasingly popular and controversial. Among the foreign scientists who study the mechanism of interaction between local authorities and civil society, we can single out N. Alfasi, N. Borjeli, V. Bright, W. Cameron, J. Van der Meer, A. Edwards, O. Smolyanko, Y. Habermas, etc. Among domestic scientists, T. Andriychuk, A. Bukhanevich, A. Didukh, O. Sambuk, L. Usachenko, D. Ionenko, Yu. Shaigorodskyi and others are engaged in the study of this issue.

Also, among the domestic researchers who raised the issue of social and humanitarian development in Ukraine in various aspects of state policy, it is necessary to mention Yu.V. Kovbasyuk, M.V. Kravchenko, V.S. Kuibidu, and V.M. Kupriychuk, O.M. Petroye, V.A. Skurativskyi, V.P. Troshchynskyi, G.P. Chmil, N.P. Yarosh, and others.

The purpose of this study is the theoretical substantiation of the role of consultative and advisory bodies in the democratization of social and humanitarian policy mechanisms in Ukraine.

Presenting main material

The democratization of social and humanitarian policy mechanisms is a kind of process of successive institutionalization of the transition from totalitarian or authoritarian forms of governance to democracy, the establishment of democratic mechanisms of power on the basis of a conscious choice by the political forces of society. Democracy is the most effective, but also the most complex, form of public administration in the modern civilized world. The difficulty of democracy for both people and politicians lies in the fact that today in the world there is no single defined model with a clearly defined structure. Both in theory and in practice, there are as many systems of democracy as there are democratic countries. These are direct democracy, indirect democracy, representative democracy, liberal democracy, delegated democracy, consolidated democracy, transitional democracy, deliberative democracy and others [1].

At the same time, it is difficult to imagine that each of the named or other forms of democracy would exist in their pure form in the modern globalized, integrated world. Therefore, more and more often, when analyzing democratic systems, they talk about the development of "flexible", "liquid" democracies, as such, which include elements of various forms of democracy.

The content of democratization is primarily issues of domestic and foreign policy, economic, social, cultural, environmental and other issues. Therefore, the situation regarding the identification of such phenomena as democracy and democratization is significantly complicated by attempts to extrapolate it to separate spheres of social relations, in particular, to the sphere of social and humanitarian policy. After all, the system of general mechanisms of democratization of power is superimposed on special ones - mechanisms of social and humanitarian policy's democratization, mechanisms of local government's democratization.

Therefore, the task of consultative and advisory bodies in the democratization of social and humanitarian policy requires the use of a whole set of mechanisms, namely:

І. General mechanisms of public administration democratization (social and humanitarian sphere as a subsystem of public administration);

ІІ. Special mechanisms for the social and humanitarian policy democratization;

ІІІ. Mechanisms of social and humanitarian policy democratization at the local level [1, 2].

It is important to consider the structure and content of these mechanisms in more detail.

І. General mechanisms of democratization of public administration (social and humanitarian sphere as a subsystem of public administration).

Policy in the social and humanitarian sphere as a component and one of the priority areas of state policy is, at the same time, its product. Therefore, the democratization of the social and humanitarian policy's mechanisms is impossible without the democratization of the entire political system, the main of which are: mechanisms of direct democracy; mechanisms of delegated democracy, as well as mechanisms of citizen participation democracy.

The character of direct democracy is revealed in its functions - directions or types of people's will direct expression, which mediate its content and forms by subjects, objects, methods, means of direct people's power and other features.

The main subjects of the mechanism of direct democracy are: the people (Ukrainian people); citizens of Ukraine (voters, candidates, proxies, etc.); territorial communities; communities of Ukrainian citizens from among voters by place of work or residence, etc.; political parties and electoral blocs of parties; NGOs; state authorities and officials; local governments; election bodies (election commissions); mass media; state and non-state enterprises, institutions, organizations and their officials; international bodies and organizations and international observers; other organizational and legal institutions that contribute to the implementation of direct people's power [3].

Depending on the object (sphere) of direct democracy, a distinction is made between the political, economic, social, cultural (spiritual, ideological) and ecological functions of direct democracy, as those that belong to the number of internal functions, and foreign economic, foreign policy, humanitarian and defense, which belong to the number of external ones.

Therefore, subjects of social policy (person (personality), state, society, political parties, public organizations), in accordance with the content of the provisions of the Constitution and the relevant legislation of Ukraine, exercise their right to direct democracy through the system of socio-political communities, citizens of Ukraine, their associations, as well as state bodies and organizations and other organizational and legal and normative and legal institutions [4].

The content and effectiveness of social and humanitarian policy fundamentally depends on direct democracy as a result of choosing social and humanitarian guidelines for the political development of society. Direct democracy is carried out in the following forms, that is, ways of expressing the will of the people for the purpose of carrying out public functions that have legal consequences: elections, referenda, revealing public opinion, plebiscites, popular discussions, popular initiatives, petitions (collective written appeals), meetings, rallies, marches , demonstrations, as well as such exceptional, mostly non-peaceful forms as revolutions, uprisings, civil wars, national liberation movements and political strikes, protests, actions of civil disobedience, hunger strikes, picketing, etc. [1].

Among the democratic freedoms of direct action, a prominent place in the system of mechanisms for the democratization of social and humanitarian policy is the provision of the right of citizens to peaceful assembly. Peaceful assembly is one of the constitutional guarantees of solving the problems of social and humanitarian development, which guarantees the right to freedom of one's worldview and religion, thought and speech, to the free expression of one's views and beliefs, to the use and dissemination of information orally, in writing or in another way on one's choice, the right to free development of one's personality, etc. [5].

In delegated democracy (it is also called representative) as a mechanism for the democratization of public administration in the social and humanitarian sphere, the will of the people is expressed not directly, but through the institution of intermediaries. Deputies, political leaders, having received a “mandate of trust” from the people through the voting procedure, are called to embody this will in the laws and decisions that are made. Relations are established between people's representatives and those whom they represent, based on the authorities' powers and responsibilities to the people.

Delegated (representative) and direct participation are different forms of democracy and complement each other in the process of ensuring the effective development of the political system. In particular, the implementation of direct democracy mechanisms contributes to:

implementation of the principle of people's sovereignty, which is key in building a democratic state;

increasing public participation in the adoption of important sociopolitical, including social and humanitarian decisions, control over their implementation;

legitimization of power as a whole, the state system, the activities of individual bodies of state power and local self-government, as well as certain socio-political decisions;

ensuring constant communication between the government and society;

creation of effective levers of citizens' influence on politics in the interelection period [2, 6].

Delegated democracy as a mechanism for the democratization of social and humanitarian policy has gained significant development in the field of social-labor and socio-economic relations. A separate example of delegated democracy is the activity of: trade unions, delegated to represent the interests of employees in relations with the state, employers and other interest groups; associations of employers, delegated to represent the interests of employers in relations with employees (trade unions), the state and other stakeholders.

As we can see, the current stage of democratic transformations in Ukraine requires the strengthening of mechanisms for the democratization of social and humanitarian policy through the direct participation of citizens in socio-political processes, since the inefficiency of the main institutions of the political system is largely due to the lack of public control over their activities in the interelection period and the limitation of citizens' political participation only through electoral processes.

Under these conditions, there is an urgent need to increase and strengthen the mechanisms of direct influence of citizens on the political process, in particular, in the inter-election period. Such a task fully corresponds to the basic principles of a democratic state system, which, in particular, provides for the exercise of power by the people both through the election of representative bodies and their direct participation [7].

Among the various forms of democracy, researchers and scientists single out participatory democracy (as a mechanism for the democratization of public administration in social and humanitarian policy) or "participatory democracy" as the highest form. Participatory democracy is a type of democracy that involves the direct participation of the population (citizens - in state management, territorial communities - in local level management, social groups and interest groups - in the management of the social and humanitarian sphere) in the processes of decision-making, implementation of decisions and control over their implementation [8].

Democracy mechanisms of participation in the social and humanitarian sphere are only those types (methods) of citizen participation in management that have certain legal consequences.

ІІ. Special mechanisms for the democratization of social and humanitarian policy.

The need to use special mechanisms for the democratization of social and humanitarian policy is due to the specificity of the elements on which it is directed - subjects, objects and directions of social and humanitarian policy. The tasks of forming and implementing the policy of democratization of public administration mechanisms in the social and humanitarian sphere are entrusted to the Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine as the central body of the executive power, which ensures “the involvement of citizens in the management of state affairs, effective interaction with institutions of civil society, and the implementation of public control over activities of the Ministry, taking public opinion into account during the formation and implementation of state policy on social and humanitarian development” [1].

ІІІ. Mechanisms of social and humanitarian policy's democratization at the local level.

Democracy in the social and humanitarian sphere at the local level can be defined as the involvement (through various forms and means) of community members in the process of development and decision-making related to the social and spiritual life of the community and its development. Social and humanitarian issues (issues of labor, employment, social protection, education, health care, culture, sports, social infrastructure, etc.) make up a significant share of the total number of decisions at the local level.

Public hearings on issues of social and humanitarian development of the community are primarily a dialogue between local authorities and the community itself. It is the dialogue that forms the community's trust in the government and restrains the government from rash decisions.

General meetings are an effective mechanism for discussing and solving current social and humanitarian problems. Participatory democracy through such a mechanism as local initiatives reflects the right of the community independently, bypassing local council deputies, to introduce draft decisions on social and humanitarian issues for its consideration [1, 9].

Bodies of self-organization of the population ensure the participation of residents of villages, towns, cities or their parts in the implementation of social and humanitarian development in the relevant territory, other local programs to meet social, cultural and other needs. Bodies of self-organization of the population play a significant role in involving citizens in the process of making administrative decisions on issues of local social and humanitarian development and improving the quality of services that their local self-government provides to the population.

The problems of social and humanitarian development are an important issue to be resolved within the framework of public consultations with the aim of involving citizens to participate in the management of state affairs, providing the opportunity for their free access to information about executive authorities, as well as ensuring publicity, openness and transparency of the activities of the specified bodies. The consultations are designed to facilitate the establishment of a systematic dialogue between the executive authorities and the public, to improve the quality of the preparation of decisions on important issues of state and public life taking into account public opinion, and to create conditions for citizen participation in the development of such decisions ' drafts [10].

Open public discussion contributes to the improvement of the quality of preparation and decision-making of social and humanitarian development, taking into account public opinion, to the creation of conditions for citizens' participation in the development of such decisions' drafts.

On top of that, public examination of the executive authorities' activities is a component of the democratic state management mechanism, which implies the assessment of executive authorities' activities by institutions of civil society, public councils, the effectiveness of decision-making and implementation by such authorities, as well as the preparation of proposals for solving socially significant problems for their consideration by executive authorities in their work.

An important component of the protection of social and humanitarian rights and freedoms of a person and a citizen in Ukraine is the institution of appeals by citizens, which is the main channel of communication between a citizen and the state, a citizen and local authorities. This right provides Ukrainian citizens with opportunities to participate in the management of state and public affairs, to influence the improvement of the work of state and local self-government bodies, enterprises, institutions, and organizations regardless of the forms of ownership, to defend their rights and legitimate interests and to restore them in case of violation.

Despite the difference in the types of democracy and ways of democratization, the value of active citizenship and civil society is inherent in all democratic societies [11].

The institutional basis of civil society in the social and humanitarian sphere consists of public associations, religious, charitable organizations, creative unions, professional unions and their associations, employers' organizations and their associations, bodies of self-organization of the population, non-state mass media, other non-entrepreneurial societies and institutions legalized in accordance with legislation.

The development of democracy in Ukraine as a whole, and in the sphere of social and humanitarian policy, in particular, requires the introduction of an appropriate effective mechanism of interaction between state authorities and local self-government bodies with representatives of various interest groups (business, community, expert environment - both domestic and foreign) in the processes of development and implementation of management decisions, ensuring their control, on the basis of partnership and mutual responsibility, guarantees of implementation and protection of human and citizen rights and freedoms.

The democratization of society requires such a policy that would ensure a reasonable compromise between the growth of political activity of people, on the one hand, and the preservation of order, compliance with the law, and the exclusion of violence during the resolution of emerging conflicts, on the other. For this, it is also necessary that citizens, all subjects of political activity, learn to live in the conditions of democracy. Only then will the process of democratization ensure the formation of a legal state and civil society. Any attempt to restrain democracy or resort to its imitation will mean the inhibition of social progress [1].

Conclusions

The key condition for the institutionalization of an effective national model of consultative and advisory bodies in the democratization of social and humanitarian policy mechanisms in Ukraine is the systematic development of its democratic institutions: both formal (legal, programmatic, organizational, financial, informational) and informal - raising the general and special culture of democracy through the set of measures' implementation aimed at the dissemination of ideas, values, principles and the widespread introduction of technologies and methods of democratic governance into the state- management relations' practice.

References

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