Довіра до суспільно-політичних інститутів в Україні і наслідки її дефіциту для країни

Анотація

As usual during reforms, first of all the reformers are trying to develop a reform strategy and to find the right financial and human resources. However, the social support for reforms and public confidence in reforms and reformers are equally important resources in carrying out reforms. Therefore, public trust is an equally important resource for reform, such as finance or staffing. Instead a lack of public confidence in reform processes can be an invisible barrier, an indicator of their effectiveness or inefficiency. Public trust is not an abstract concept. Public trust is a condition for the integration of society around a number of socially significant problems, the successful reformation of the country.

The article analyzes public trust in Ukraine and outlines the consequences of its shortage in the processes of reforming society. For this purpose, the theoretical foundations of the phenomenon of public trust were defined, the notion of «institutionalized trust», «political alienation», «externalization of trust», «social capital» were distinguished; analyzed the state of institutionalized trust in Ukraine; the consequences of a deficit of institutionalized trust for the reform processes in Ukrainian society are analyzed. Such research makes it possible to understand the problems of the development of social capital in Ukraine and, in the light of this knowledge, to adjust the development of social development strategies, that is, the actual processes of reformation.

Summing up, the author stated a significant deficit of institutional trust in Ukrainian society. It concerns both the basic organs of state power and the instruments of democracy. The deficit of institutionalized trust in Ukraine is converted into three phenomena: 1) political exclusion (citizens try to distance themselves from the state as much as possible); 2) in the radicalization of society; 3) externalization of trust (hence the popular opinion in the society about the expediency of «external management», faith in the «collective action», in the «collective Saakashvili»). Also, a lack of trust in society exacerbates radical sentiment and radical actions in society.

It should be understood that Ukrainian society after EuroMaydan and Ukrainian society during the presidency of L. Kuchma, are qualitatively different societies. This confirms the dynamics of institutionalized trust. That is, EuroMaydan 2014 and Russian military aggression became a kind of «moment of great upheaval», which confirmed the demand for the revitalization of democratic institutions and elementary social justice. This means that in the near future one should expect the growth of civic activity and a surge in the demand for a radical change in the rules of the game - political institutions. Therefore for Ukraine is very important to maintain a balance between intensive political and public participation, but necessarily in a conventional way, and with an adequate response from public authorities to social inquiries.