The axiological function of the president's press conferences in the public policy of Russia

The big press conferences of the President of Russia over the past two decades has become a tool for expressing the official position, public goal-setting, as well as a kind of «reconciliation» of the values of the political elite and Russian society. In this paper we purpose to identify value connotations in the discursive practices of participants of these press conferences in the 2001–2021. We want to complement ex- isting empirical studies of public policy and adapt well-known theories of political axi- ology to Russian practice. We use such methods as cross-cultural research; content analysis; clustering and mapping; analysis of secondary sociological data; analysis of macroeconomic statistics; correlation analysis etc. We revealed the strengthening of the materialistic component of public discourse (by Ronald Inglehart) during periods of economic crisis. Generational gap is also influence on the structure of political values. Also we confirmed the Geert Hofstede’s thesis about the collectivist values dominance and high power distance in Russian society. Russian political discourse gravitates to- wards both egalitarian values (by Shalom Schwartz) and liberal values (by Milton Rokeach). We found a negative statistical relationships between the frequency of public mention of political values and their approval by the respondents, as well as between the frequency of using axiologemes with the dynamics of key macroeconomic indica- tors. The increase in the frequency of mentioning political values during periods of economic recession we interpret as attempts by the elite to rally around the flag in the face of economic difficulties. Persistent negative connotations between the public voicing of political values and their perception by respondents indicate the existence of a latent value conflict between the elite and society, which manifests itself in an increase in the demand for change.

1. Evans G., Neundorf A. Core political values and the long-term shaping of partisanship. British journal of political science. 2020, Vol. 50, N 4, P. 1263–1281. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0007123418000339

2. Gonyea J.G., Hudson R.B. The meaning of age or generational differences in U.S. political values and priorities. Innovation in aging. 2020, Vol. 4, N 1, P. 680. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/geroni%2Figaa057.2368

3. Gu J.C. Mediating ‘face’ in triadic political communication: a CDA analysis of press conference interpreters’ discursive (re) construction of Chinese government’s image (1998–2017). Critical discourse studies. 2019, Vol. 16, N 2, P. 201–221. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/17405904.2018.1538890

4. Hofstede G., Van Deusen C., Mueller C., Charles T. What goals do business leaders pursue? A study in fifteen countries. In: Di Domenico M.L., Vangen S., Winchester N., Boojihawon D.K., Mordaunt J. (eds). Organizational collaboration: Themes and Issues. 2 nd ed. London: Routledge, 2020, P. 35–48.

5. Ilyin M.V., Pakhalyuk K.A., Fomin I.V. Discourse analysis. In: Gaman-Golutvina O., Nikitin A. (eds). Modern political science: methodology. 2 nd ed. Moscow: Aspectpress, 2019, P. 464–483. (In Russ.)

6. Inglehart R.F. Cultural evolution: people's motivations are changing and reshaping the world. Cambridge: Cambridge university press, 2018, 274 p. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108613880

7. Lindgreen A., Koenig-Lewis N., Kitchener M., Brewer J.D., Moore M.H., Meynhardt T. (eds). Public value: deepening, enriching, and broadening the theory and practice. London: Routledge, 2019, 414 p.

8. Mareeva S., Ross C. The political values of the state and private sectors of the Russian middle class. Demokratizatsiya: the journal of post-Soviet democratization. 2020, Vol. 28, N 4, P. 565–594.

9. Mitrokhina T.N. Values and meanings of modern Russian politics: discourse analysis of press conferences of the head of state. Bulletin of the Saratov state socio-economic university. 2014, N 2, P. 141–146. (In Russ.)

10. Nedopekina E.M. The culture of modern media discourse in the context of the press conference by the president of the Russian Federation. In: Malisheva A. (ed.). Medialinguistics. Saint Petersburg: Mediapapir, 2021, P. 278–282. (In Russ.)

11. Petukhov V.V. Request for change: Political value dimension. Polis. Political studies. 2020, N 6, P. 103–118. DOI: https://doi.org/10.17976/jpps/2020.06.08 (In Russ.)

12. Pchegatluk S.K., Lysenko A.I. Coverage of international relations in the speeches of the President of the Russian Federation (on the example of a large press conference with Vladimir Putin and a direct line with Vladimir Putin). Scientific works of Kuban State University of Technologies. 2018, N 4, P. 168–174. (In Russ.)

13. Rokeach M. Understanding Human Values. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2008, 230 p.

14. Romanova T.V. Institutional Political Discourse: Linguistic Analysis. In: Russian language in a multicultural world. Simferopol: Crimean Federal University Publishing House, 2020, P. 263–270. (In Russ.)

15. Russell N.A., Johnson A., Stewart P.A. Talking half answers: Examining President Donald Trump’s joint press conference equivocation during his first year. In: Browning R.X. (eds). President Trump’s first term. New York: Purdue University Press, 2020, P. 191–220. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvh9w11h.15

16. Sagiv L., Schwartz S.H. Personal values across cultures. Annual Review of Psychology. 2022, Vol. 73, P. 517–546. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-020821-125100

17. Smorgunov L.V. (ed.). Public Policy: Institutions, Digitalization, Development: monograph. Moscow: Aspect-Press, 2018. (In Russ.)

18. Smorgunov L.V., Volkova A.V. (eds). Public Values, Personnel Policy and Political and Administrative Processes: monograph. Moscow: Aspect-Press, 2014. (In Russ.) Solovyov A.I. Frontier zones of public policy. Political Science (RU). 2021, N 3, P. 183–204. DOI: https://doi.org/10.31249/poln/2021.03.08 (In Russ.)