Volume 2017, Issue 1, 2017

The paper deals with the matters of structure and functions of political culture, which present a holistic system that consists of various levels and constituents linked by feedback and co-subordination relations. Culture is a composition of specific ideal content (the meaning-generating elements) and form (structure, practical implementation), which are inseparable from each other. Their correlation can be represented as the interaction of the ideal and the real models of political culture. The author identifies a variety of elements in its structure, including political language, standard value system, models of political participation, etc. All these constituents are interrelated and coordinated, and their combinations form a particular configuration of culture. They make a perfect complex which contains a general programme of political legacy and development of the society. The social mission of political culture is manifested in its functions (identification, integration, socialization, etc.) which help reproduce the current governance system and implement new political projects and decisions.

The paper deals with some theoretical and methodological issues of political culture typology. It examines the principal approaches and classifications and elicits their fractionality, eclecticism and diversity of criteria. It is emphasized that the differentiation of political cultures is supposed to occur on political grounds. The author understands the concept of culture as a specific system of values and models of political participation which are widely recognised in society and serve to structure the political process. Originally, they are not perfectly homogeneous and often act in various combinations with other types. The research proposes a typology of political culture based on the content-related and formative characteristics of the social phenomenon in question. The identified types present complex theoretical constructs which include variegated and non-random combinations of system-forming attributes and features. The author studies the role and types of political subcultures reflecting the impact of social, national, religious, geographic and other factors. He also substantiates the possibility of the esthetic evaluation of politics.

The article reveals the position of the prominent American sociologist in matters of knowledge sociology. It gives the description C. W. Mills’s views on the origin of the pragmatism theory popular in the United States. The article highlights C. W. Mills’s original position in the matter of the attitude to the concepts of structural functionalism and empiricism, which were popular in his lifetime. The work reveals C. W. Mills’s views on the place and role of sociology in the United States, as well as on the social scientists’ role as intellectual craftsmen. C. W. Mills believes that sociology must proceed from the problems formulation in the valuation context of the whole mankind, so a social scientist cannot write only for intellectuals.

The article is devoted to the analysis of modern trends and problems of implementing social policy in the Kemerovo Region. But their description is preceded by the substantiation of the importance of social policy for normal functioning of the society and some of its conceptual aspects: the interpretation of social policy, its subjects and levels. The paper also features the regional experience of social support for different population groups and the implementation of social programs. To assess the effectiveness of the social policy, a statistical analysis of the indicators of the social living standards, public health, accommodation, as well as education and culture has been carried out. Such aspects as the increase in poverty incidence and the high level of morbidity of the regional inhabitants are named as the most problematic ones. However, the high pace of real estate development has made it possible, in recent years, to significantly reduce the proportion of the people who need better housing conditions. In conclusion, it is deduced that social policy should remain the most important component of the state policy in general and the central task of regional authorities, especially if the territorial community is in difficult socio-economic conditions.

The article features the interrelation of personal socialization are studied in sociology. The objectives are achieved by addressing the following tasks: consideration of theoretical approaches to understanding of socializational trajectory; analysis of the ratio of vital and socializational trajectories and description of features of the mechanism of a socializational trajectory. The vital trajectory of a person is defined by the social differentiation of society. Many aspects of personal development (social relations, social advance, inclusion in the certainsocial groups, including closed ones, etc.) depend on the social stratum he belongs to and the fact whether the person has an opportunity to influence behavior and consciousness of other people influence. While analyzing a vital trajectory, the researcher has to consider various bases of social differentiation. The article states specifics of socializational trajectory. A socializational trajectory is a graphic representation of development of the personality that reflects the influence of both adaptive and maladaptive practices and the measure of institutional maintenance. The starting points for the analysis of the process of socialization are the personality and the social space in which social interaction is implemented. When creating a socializational trajectory, studying happens from the outside: features of the personality, his or her ability, affirmations and the purpose of development are analyzed

The article considers the current state of insurance market in the Kemerovo region, as well as trends affecting the market. In the crisis year of 2015, the insurance market of Russia and Kemerovo region was developing due to the growth of compulsory insurance and life insurance, whereas classical insurance saw a decline. Comparative analysis of insurance market in Russia showed a preferential development of optional medical insurance and compulsory third party car insurance in the regional insurance market. The article features an analysis of the structure of the insurance portfolio of the regional insurance companies, the place and the role of the regional insurance companies in the insurance market of the Kemerovo region. Regional insurance organizations specialize in voluntary health insurance, which reflects the specifics of the regional insurance risk, but its overall development is not steady, without regard to regional peculiarities. Conclusions are drawn about the lack of a regional perspective, the need for the development of regional insurance, since regional insurance organizations are able to take into account the specifics of the site and agree to cover relevant risks. An example is the compulsory insurance of civil liability of owners of hazardous production facilities, where a significant role belongs to the regional insurance organizations.

The article deals with the problem of banks’ active entering on the microfinance market through bank-affiliated microfinance institutions (MFI). The subject of this article is Russian MFI’s market; aims of this article are to reveal consequences of bank’s expansion on microfinance market and to develop recommendations for further functioning considering current trends. During the research there has been shown a specificity of MFI’s functioning; also there have been considered MFI’s functions and there has been given a description of MFI’s main forms, i.e. microfinance company and microcredit company. Reasons of banks’ entering on MFI’s market have been analyzed. Actual consequences of “bank” MFI’s entering the microfinance market have been reflected. As a result of the research, a conclusion has been drawn about the fact that banks’ presence on microfinance market is at variance with its origins – microcrediting of population and subjects of small and medium business on reductive conditions. For the protection of MFI’s market’s origins it has been advised to divide this market into two segments (“bank” and “non-bank” segments) with their own approaches in regulation. Such market’s segmentation would allow one to ensure competitive advantages for different kinds of MFI which should provide profitable condition of crediting for multiple groups of borrowers.

The article is devoted to the experience and problems of interaction between the authors of educational and scientific literature and publishers. It examines the types of educational and methodological and scientific publications, such as scientific article, monograph, textbook, manual, as well as the specifics of collective work preparation and the stages of interaction between authors and publishers. Particular attention is paid to the increasing role of authors in the promotion of their books, as well as in the preparation of supplemented and revised publications. The problems of modern book publishing are identified, in particular the slowdown in sales, pricing in book publishing, new opportunities for using electronic library systems, the use of scientific journals controlled by the publishing house to promote books of the publishing house. The article is based on the thesis of the author's speech at the round table of the allRussian conference "Book Publishing and Professional Education: Priorities for Interaction and Cooperation", conducted by the INFRA-M research and publishing center in cooperation with the Russian State Humanitarian University.

At the present stage of integration of the financial statements in Russia the question of legislative consolidation and modernization of the basics of management accounting becomes relevant. While the experience of foreign countries shows a high level of management accounting regulation, Russian companies lack a clever vision of its mechanism of action. The purpose of this article is to analyze the weaknesses of the national system of management accounting and identify their current causes, the subject of the research is comparative characteristics of Russian and foreign models of management accounting. The authors consider the basic criteria of the differences of these models and come to the conclusion that the mechanism of action of management accounting will be most effective, not only in the revision of normative and legal acts regulating the accounting and reporting, but also in improving the legislation concerning confidentiality of accounting information. Nevertheless, the restoration of economic relations with the US and European states also plays a relevant role in the issue of the adaptation of management accounting under International Standards.

Subject. The article is devoted to the implementation of investment activities of central banks. Goal and objectives. The article reveals the content and gives a comparative analysis of the investment activity of central banks in the different countries of the world. It defines the role of the central bank and its status in the country's financial and economic policy. Methodology. The methodological basis of the research is the general scientific method of cognition, as well as comparative, systemic and logical-structural analysis. Results. The analysis allowed the authors to structure the investment activity of central banks and to explain its individual components. The article gives a detailed analysis of motives for conducting currency intervention, instruments of investing in the foreign exchange market, as well as the role of the central bank as a lender of last resort and the crisis state of the economy as an impetus to the development of refinancing of credit institutions. It reviews various methods of refinancing and the effectiveness of their application in various economic conditions. Conclusions and significance. The research has allowed the authors to identify new tendencies, features and some contradictions of investment activity of central banks in the national economy.

The article features the currently used assessment indicators of the sustainable development of developers in the field of housing construction. It describes the features of housing construction that affect the financial stability of real estate developers. It was determined that to achieve sustainable development of the construction organization, one has to create a strategic management system based on the provisions of national standards of the Russian Federation. The paper identifies problems of information transparency and accounting- analytical maintenance of activity of developers and proposes directions for their solution. It reviews calculation ratios for assessing financial stability of developers' activity. Conclusions about the necessity of expanding the list of standards were made according to the analysis of the currently used indicators of assessing sustainable development of developers.

The collective monograph «Sociology of Nutrition: Traditions and Transformations» is reviewed under the general editorship of N. N. Zarubina and S. A. Kravchenko. The work raises relevant and socially significant problems and prospects for the development of an interesting sociological trend – the sociology of nutrition. In the system of the consumer society, food industry has recently undergone significant transformations associated with risks, vulnerabilities, and new public expectations. The authors of the collective monograph cover a specific sphere of social relations as a cohesive whole, considering a bunch of traditional and alternative social nutrition practices, taking into account the Russian specifics. The monograph notes the resource nature of the «food addiction» of modern society in the socio-economic, political (global), as well as informational and communicative aspects of the development of modern society. Nutrition, being an integral part of the system of social relations, is subject to modern challenges and vulnerabilities of our world. Finally, the authors offer some perspective «menu» for the development of nutrition practices in modern Russia.