print

Strategic planning in economy as a political phenomenon

Jakobson L.I.,

Doctor of Economics, HSE University, Moscow, Russia, ljakobson@hse.ru

elibrary_id: 501286 | ORCID: 0000-0002-2057-2888 | RESEARCHER_ID: E-9450-2014

Article received: 2025.09.12 15:32. Accepted: 2025.11.17 15:32


DOI: 10.17976/jpps/2026.01.07
EDN: NJGKQN

Rubric: Laboratory

For citation:

Jakobson L.I. Strategic planning in economy as a political phenomenon. – Polis. Political Studies. 2026. No. 1. https://doi.org/10.17976/jpps/2026.01.07. EDN: NJGKQN (In Russ.)

The study was implemented in the framework of the Basic Research Program at the HSE University.

Abstract

The paper identifies both the strengths and weaknesses of the organizational-structural approach to the study of the system of economic development strategic planning (EDSP) predominant in the relevant academic literature. Although this approach has demonstrated its potential for resolving many practical issues, it has significant limitations, which result from the fact that the subjects of the system are viewed as a personification of their functions and overlooks individual agency. This approach also is not conducive to addressing how the EDSP system manages to balances the competing interests of different social groups. The article shows that in order to overcome these difficulties, we should cross the boundaries of the “plane” delineated by the organizational-structural approach and enter the interdisciplinary “space,” especially the part that corresponds to political problems. At the same time, it is noted that moving beyond the organizational-structural perspective should, as a rule, be followed by a return to it with an adaptation of the extrinsic material. This may pose some difficulties. The expediency of considering specific EDSP specific problems within political contexts is substantiated. This statement is illustrated by examples of issues discussed in the literature and relating to the composition of EDSP top-level documents and a potential separation of economic development administration from current activities dealing with the regulation of economic processes. The paper makes a case for involving political scientists and experts from other social sciences to collaborate with specialists in economic strategic planning. This would require an appropriate fine-tuning of the system of EDSP research and methodological support.

Keywords

strategic planning, economic development, interdisciplinary approach, organizational structure approach, political context, competition of interests, organization of research.

Alston, L.J. (2008). New institutional economics. In The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics. Vol. 6 (pp. 32-39). Macmillan Publishers.

Tullock, G. (2008). Public choice. In The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics. Vol. 6 (pp. 722-727). Macmillan Publishers.

Azhimov, F.Ye. 2016. What is interdisciplinarity today? (An experience of cultural-historical interpretation of foreign studies). Voprosy Filosofii, 11, 70-77. (In Russ.)

Dmitriev, M.E. (Ed.). (2016). Analiz faktorov realizatsii dokumentov strategicheskogo planirovaniya verkhnego urovnya [An analysis of factors of implementation of top-level strategic planning documents]. St. Petersburg: TsSR. (In Russ.)

Buchwald, E.M. (2025).Goal setting as the core of strategic planning. Vestnik instituta ekonomiki rossiyskoy akademii nauk, 1, 7-21. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.52180/2073-6487_2025_1_7_23

Gurvich, E.T. (2017). Institutional framework and economic development. Social Sciences and Contemporary World, 1, 20-45. (In Russ.)

Dmitriev, M.E., & Krapil, V.B. (2020). Thorny way of strategic planning in modern Russia. Public Administration, 22(2), 22-34. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.22394/2070-8378-2020-22-2-22-34

Dynkin, A.A., & Milovidov, V.D. (2023). The science of foresight: how to succeed in strategic forecasting and planning. Problemy prognozirovaniya, 3, 6-23. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.47711/0868-6351-198-6-23

Kapustin, B.G. (2010). Theses on political philosophy. Polis. Political Studies, 2, 22-30. (In Russ.) https://www.politstudies.ru/en/index.php?page_id=453&id=4253&at=a&pid=

Kapustin, B.G. (2017). Interdisciplinarity as a research and teaching strategy. Polilog, 1(2). (In Russ.) https://polylogos-journal.ru/s258770110000021-5-1/

Kasavin, I.T. (2010). Mezhdisciplinarnye issledovaniya v kontekste refleksii I gabitusa [Interdisciplinary studies in the context of reflection and gabitus]. In I.T. Kasavin (Ed.), Mezhdisciplinarnost’ v naukakh i filosofii [Interdisciplinarity in Sciences and Philosophy] (pp. 15-35). Moscow: The Institute of Philosophy. Russian Academy of Sciences. (In Russ.)

Kleiner, G.B., Rybachuk, M.A., & Karpinskaya, V.A. (2022). Strategic planning and systemic optimization of the national economy. Problemy prognozirovaniya, 3, 6-15. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.47711/0868-6351-192-6-15

Lenchuk, E.B., & Filatov, V.I. (2023). Strategic planning as a tool for reducing uncertainty in conditions of global economic transformation. Vestnik instituta ekonomiki rossiyskoy akademii nauk, 4, 7-24. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.52180/2073-6487_2023_4_7_24

Nazarov, V.P., & Afinogenov, D.A. (2022). Strategic planning in Russia: a new stage of development. Polis. Political Studies, 4, 32-46. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.17976/jpps/2022.04.04

Polterovich, V.M. (2015). On the formation of national planning system in Russia. Journal of The New Economic Association, 2, 237-242. (In Russ.)

Sharkanski, A. (2003). Chto mozhet skazat’ politolog razrabotchiku strategii o veroyatnosti udachi ili neudachi [What a political scientist can tell a policymaker about the likelihood of success or failure]. In Klassiki teorii gosudarstvennogo upravleniya: amerikanskaya shkola [Classics of public administration theory: American school] (pp. 683-696). Moscow: Moscow University Press. (In Russ.)

Smirnova, O.O., Belyaevskaya-Plotnik, L.A., & Bocharova, L.K. (2020). Methodological approaches to implementing the principles of forming a strategic planning system in the Russian Federation. Innovations, 2, 37-42. (In Russ.)

Shvetsov, A.N. (2017). Strategic planning in the Russian way: the triumph of the centralized bureaucratic choice. ECO, 8, 114-127. (In Russ.)

Tambovtsev, B.L., & Rozhdestvenskaya, N.A. (2018). Institutional planning theory as a general planning theory: state of the art and further development. Terra economicus, 2, 27-45. (In Russ.) http://dx.doi.org/10.23683/2073-6606-2018-16-2-27-45

Tambovtsev, B.L., & Rozhdestvenskaya, N.A. (2020). Strategic planning theory: an institutional perspective. Terra economicus, 2, 22-48. (In Russ.) http://dx.doi.org/10.18522/2073-6606-2020-18-2-22-48

Tikhomirov, B.I., & Frenkel, A.A. (2017). On unified socio-economic policy and strategic planning. Economic Policy, 12(4), 82-117. (In Russ.)

Jakobson, L.I., & Burakov, N.A. (2025). On the culture of economic development strategic planning. Voprosy Ekonomiki, 9, 27-42. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.32609/0042-8736-2025-9-27-42

See also: