METHODS OF NEUTRALIZATION OF THE DESTRUCTIVE ASPECTS OF THE POLITICAL ACTIVITIES OF STUDENTS

Abstract

The relevance of the topic of political activity of students has acquired in recent years increased in importance. Since the spring of 2017, it is increasingly involved in the political processes taking place in the country, often under the influence of populist politicians. The department of political science of the Financial University within the framework of the state task conducts a large-scale study of students’ activity and their social and political orientations. One of the main elements in this study is a large-scale sociological survey of the target group. The results allow us to conclude that students do not have a positive image of the future. This, however, is typical for most social groups in modern Russia and in conjunction with some features of the psychological perception of reality makes this group very susceptible to the influence of manipulative techniques, including populists’ ones. This is also due to the fact that the student youth is mainly concentrated in large cities. In addition, young people, including students, are much more exposed to manipulative methods, as they have not yet signed a social contract with the society. As case studies for verification of the proposed theoretical structures, we used the analysis of mass protest activity in the major cities of Russia in 2017. We analyze both the actions of the protesters and the dynamics of the government’s actions aimed at neutralization of protest. The analysis is based on sociological research conducted by specialists of the Financial University and third-party researchers. As a result of the article, we propose, as recommendations, two ways of neutralizing the destructive aspects of the political activity of students. The first is derived from theoretical findings; the second from the analysis of sociological indicators.