Social modelling as a public administration component

. The dynamics of social processes in post-Soviet Russia has actualized the importance of the population's assessment of the authorities' performance. In this context, the stabilization of the situation in society, achieved through targeted resolution of the problems relevant to the population under their control, seems to be an essential aspect. Such activity, being a multidimensional phenomenon, is based, among other things, on a multifaceted knowledge of the situation in a certain area of public life. Social modelling is one way of understanding it. Its application to the data analysis on the population's attitude to the activities of public authorities at various levels allowed not only to identify its problematic aspects. It was also the foundation for determining the basic elements of the model of power depending on the hierarchical level - functionality, for the federal level (President of the Russian Federation) - representativeness. At the same time, the activities of the governors are much better evaluated than those of the two chambers of the Parliament of the Russian Federation. The population is least aware of its contents and results.


Introduction
The high dynamism of processes in modern society determines the rate of development of its individual elements. The speed of development depends on the actual needs of individuals or their groups, external conditions, available resources and other characteristics. In this context, the results of management interventions are often ineffective and not conducive to a real resolution of problematic situations. In some cases, the consequence can be the complication of contradictions, the formation of stable negative trends, and the degradation of the social system. In order to avoid or minimise such negative aspects, it is necessary to improve the quality of managerial impact. This can be achieved through various innovative methods, one of which is social modelling.
In essence, this is one of the research activities that contributes to the knowledge of complex non-linear systems based on the consistent disclosure of interaction processes and behavioural mechanisms. Based on the various characteristics of the phenomenon or process under study, social modelling allows us to identify the main aspects of the existence of such an object. The information obtained, in the context of research tasks, contributes to the formation of an averaged scheme of interactions between the elements.
The complexity of this method of cognition lies in the specificity of the object. Social phenomena and processes, characterised by rapid change, the specificity of the resulting situations, and the characteristics of the interacting elements, appear as such. These are individuals, possessing desire and will, and social groups, contributing to the empowerment of the individuals who comprise them. In addition, a significant aspect of social modelling is its direct impact on the behaviour of the elements of society. This is realised through the main factors, the totality of which is the system of human relations. The ability to influence them purposefully is management, which allows, in whole or in part, to transform the situation. Thus, the practical aspect of social modelling is revealed.

Materials and methods
The specificity of social modelling is not only determined by the field of application. It is also influenced by the set of views and concepts that form the basis of this method of cognition. Thus, one of the modern economists, R. Axelrod, interprets it as a separate research method that combines deductive and inductive logics. This allows a set of empirical data to be reduced to a generalized theory in a particular realm of reality [1].
Of no less importance are the ideas of L. von Bertalanffy, who applied the systems approach to the study of processes in biological systems in the 30s-40s of the 20th century. Based on his results, he proposed the concept of a general theory of systems [2].
Its main objectives are: 1) determination of the general principles 2) To formulate such laws for social systems; 3) To synthesize such scientific knowledge from different spheres of social interaction.
In the second half of the XX century, this problematic was developed in the context of the urgent tasks to restore the national and world economies in such fields of knowledge as philosophy (G. Shchedrovitsky, I. Blauberg, E.Yudin, R.Ackoff, V.Sadovsky), mathematics (A.Lyapunov, A.Kolmogorov, R.Kalman), biology (P.Anohin, Y.Urmantsev, A.Malinovsky), psychology (W.Ashby, A.Rapoport), organization studies (K.Weik).
The latter field is of particular practical relevance, as it is directly related to ordered interaction. This allows the results to be extended to any social formations, with the exception of groups. This is due to the nature of relations between their elements (individuals), which are mainly based on interpersonal, informal relations.
The success of any organisation is revealed through indicators of managerial effectiveness. These are various indicators that describe the conditions and state of social mechanisms that promote equal participation of all actors in the life of society. This is achieved through the detailed design of strategic development programmes, which ensures high quality links between the interacting elements. At the same time, a significant aspect is the level of relevance of various problems arising in the process of social life and having a significant impact on the state of stability of a particular system of social relations. This is also an indicator of the quality of functioning of management structures.
The empirical basis of our study is based on examples from early studies in which the author was directly involved. In his study of the processes of functioning of state institutions on federal and regional levels in contemporary Russia, the author analyses data from surveys carried out from 2000 to 2008 regarding attitudes of the population to the activities of governing structures.
Each year, three or four surveys of 15-20 thousand people each were conducted. Being refracted through the totality of current socio-economic problems, such information allows us to detect and objectively reveal the processes of relations between the subjects and objects of state power.
The use of objective mathematical tools in the form of the method of principal components makes it possible, with a sufficiently high degree of probability, to identify the main problem areas in the activities of public authorities. These, we hypothesised, were price increases, which far outstripped income growth, and corruption, which interfered with the stable operation of the state apparatus. The culprits are governors and individual representatives of ministries and agencies.

Results
The following conclusions were drawn as part of the research into the issues outlined: 1. The quality of activity of the President of the Russian Federation in the direction of stabilizing social relations, during the period of existence of this public office, has improved significantly. This is reflected in an increase in the level of public support for the head of state, which was particularly evident during the reign of Medvedev; 2. At the same time, the performance of the President is always better evaluated by the population than any other element of the power and management system in Russia; 3. the performance of the lower house of the Russian parliament, the State Duma, is rated worst by the public. At the same time, a significant part of society is poorly or not at all aware of the content of the work and tasks of the upper house of parliament -the Federal Assembly. These results point to insufficient state coverage of the activities of the domestic parliament; 4. Governors, as one of the links between the authorities and the population, are perceived by the latter as a representative of the supreme power on the ground. For this reason, not only regional, but also federal power is evaluated through its actions. Formed on paternalistic principles, the relationship between the governor and the population reveals the importance of functional orientation. This has the consequence of nonrecognition of the regional power only representational functions; 5. The said aspects become the basis for personalisation of the supreme power in the public consciousness. Its representative is perceived as an exponent of the people's truth and he/she is held responsible for the decisions made. Responsibility for the results obtained in their implementation in the public consciousness is assigned to the heads of different levels of the regional management hierarchy; 6. This is a direct consequence of the weak differentiation of regional power. The lack of sufficient information about this aspect among the population contributes to the formation of the image of the authorities of this level as a closed element. This seems to be one of the reasons of its alienation from the population with prevailing negative or cautious attitude towards the implemented projects and ideas. The results of the analysis of objective data, obtained after the application of social modeling, allow us to state the following. The modern perception of power was formed in the conditions of large-scale socio-cultural crisis, caused by a sharp transformation of the traditional system of relations in the 1990s. The lack of adequate alternatives to norms and values that did not fit the new conditions led to an identity crisis. Developed at all levels of social life, such processes have actualised the significance of arch-typical patterns and the forms of organisation of everyday life based on them. This is a natural defence of traditional patterns that are collapsing.
Under such conditions, emerging phenomena and processes of social life are perceived by ordinary people as a manifestation of someone's will.
In fact, if to compare the mentioned context with frequency and quantity of appearances of various visionaries, prophets and soothsayers, a certain regularity is revealed. In our opinion, this is an objective indicator of the lack of stability, a clear plan of societal development, a firm hand. It is this context that actualizes the practical relevance of social modelling as an element of public administration system. This way of knowing social reality allows combining various factors of interest to the researcher. The application, in the context of the actualized problems, of the mathematical apparatus allows to objectify the data. This has the effect of shaping an approach that takes into account the many relevant aspects of the phenomenon or process in question.

Discussion
Modern society is qualitatively different from previous ways of living together. This is reflected in various aspects, one of which is the state of social relations and the social institutions based on them. The latter, with their mainly formal character, are formal relations and nadindividual restrictions, which order a set of contacts to a particular sphere of social life. One such large-scale social formation is the state.
The body of works by domestic thinkers devoted to the analysis of the processes of functioning of such a social institution can be rightly divided into six groups. The first group consists of works analysing social mechanisms of power. These, depending on the conditions of origin, can be normative-volitional [3][4], psychological [5], S.L. Frank [6] and force [7].
The second group of works is based on the Marxist-Leninist view of the state as a mechanism of suppression by the dominant social class against the rest of society [8][9][10].
The third group of works contains the results of comprehension of election campaigns in the 1980s-90s of the 20th century, when the domestic society actively expressed its attitude to the processes in the country and the state by means of democratic procedures. This contributed to an objective description of the new state of the social order.
The fourth group includes studies of the processes and mechanisms of political socialisation of the population in the context of transformation of the system of relations and values underlying them. The resulting "cultural trauma" [11] has an impact on the processes of organising the everyday order.
The fifth group combines the results of various studies of the processes of formation of civil society and its relationship with state power. Based on the ideas of M.K. Gorshkov [12] and V.K. Levashov [13], the relevant body of information helps to reveal the mechanisms of the formation of the rule of law in conditions of the influence of ideas and attitudes from another culture on the Russian social political life organisation.
The sixth group consists of studies of the institutions of political governance system, its key actors, and the content of the mechanisms of their influence on the population under their control. Based on the works of V.G. Baikov, V.E. Boikov [14], V.N. Vasiliev, they focus on political exclusion, the nature of emergence and mechanisms of functioning of bureaucracy, and the content of the role of the state in these processes.
However, in the context of social modelling, this problem has not received adequate coverage. This seems to be the result of insufficient understanding of the practical potential of this method of knowledge. The proposed study is aimed at eliminating this shortcoming and expanding the epistemological capabilities of science in general and sociology in particular.

Conclusion
In the context of contemporary dynamic social processes in the world and in Russia, power in general is perceived on the basis of archetypal elements. These are the basis for the formation of expected behavioural patterns of representatives of the authorities at various levels in the population. Despite the fact that the prevailing aspect is the implementation of the functions initially assigned to them by the authorities, nevertheless, the population expects this to happen not only in the legal, but also in the moral and cultural field. Profound cultural and historical tendencies determine many parameters of the social model being formed.
The results obtained after applying the appropriate method of cognition allow us to state the perception of regional authorities by the population exclusively in the functional aspect. This is possible because its actions have a direct impact on the situation in a particular subject of territorial division of the state. Such an instrumental orientation disregards the exclusively representative function of regional authorities.
At the same time, the state's purposeful impact on these aspects of social reality has so far not yielded any significant results. The relevant problems remain topical, but the level of this parameter for many of them has decreased slightly in comparison with the previous decade. This situation does not diminish the value of the measures taken in this direction by the various public authorities. On the contrary, it reveals the complexity of the issues touched upon in this material.