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Genesis of Russian political denunciation

Verkhovskaya Zh.A.,

MGIMO University, Moscow, Russia, verkhovskayazhanna01@gmail.com

elibrary_id: 1140965 | ORCID: 0000-0002-3229-0415 |

Kovtonyuk A.I.,

MGIMO University, Moscow, Russia, a.i.kovtonyuk@my.mgimo.ru

Article received: 2024.11.15 18:54. Accepted: 2025.04.16 18:57


DOI: 10.17976/jpps/2025.04.12
EDN: UYAVBB

Rubric: History recent and remote

For citation:

Verkhovskaya Zh.A., Kovtonyuk A.I. Genesis of Russian political denunciation. – Polis. Political Studies. 2025. No. 4. https://doi.org/10.17976/jpps/2025.04.12. EDN: UYAVBB

Abstract

The authors formulate and substantiate the hypothesis that political denunciation became one of the compulsory elements of traditional bureaucratic governance in Russia between the 12th to the 20th century. They examine the metamorphoses of this political phenomenon, its historical dimension, including the history of the institutionalization of denunciation, and establish the patterns of development and consolidation of informant practices in Russian political life. By using a cluster of related concepts and an analysis of their functionality, a distinction is made between “selfish” and “disinterested” denunciations. The political culture of denunciation as a construct created and used by government structures in certain socio-cultural contexts is studied by the authors using the archeology of knowledge, taking into account the political and social institutions and practices specific to each particular historical era. The authors conclude that political denunciation in Russia is primarily a form of cooperation between the state and its patrials. At the same time, one of the main reasons for the spread of the practice of denunciations at the individual level is the insufficient degree of institutionalization of the communication environment that ensures interaction between the authorities and the patrials. And this, in turn, gives rise to a deep internal conflict resulting from the insufficient institutionalization of the forms of communication between the population and the authorities, which is based on the contradictions of collective and individual motives and goals of the individual.

Keywords

denunciation, Russian political denunciation, institution of denunciation, institution of informing, motivational component of denunciations, culture of denunciation, means of political communication.

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