In many countries, national separatism has become a real threat to their integrity. For example, we can cite the long-term conflict in Ulster (Northern Ireland), but there, in addition to national contradictions, there is also a religious confrontation between the Catholic Irish and the British Protestants. When trying to resolve this conflict by force, the British authorities ran into resistance from Irish terrorists. The largest group is the IRA - Irish Republican Army. Particularly high-profile terrorist acts took place in the UK in the 1980s and 1990s. And police and military forces were brought into Northern Ireland. Belfast has become a frontline city. However, it was not possible to break the resistance of the separatist groups, and in the end both sides had to sit down at the negotiating table. Until now, a solution that would suit both sides has not been worked out. However, the terrorist acts have stopped. Equally complex relations developed between the Spanish government and the Basques, a people living in northern Spain. There, too, due to the ineffectiveness of other methods of influencing the central authorities, the formation of terrorist organizations began. The most famous of them - ETA - still continues to carry out terrorist attacks. In addition to openly bandit groups, there are many others in Spain, the requirements of which are very diverse: from national or cultural and linguistic autonomy to independence. During the reign of Franco, all attempts at national or linguistic isolation were suppressed. They are not welcome now. Therefore, I do not consider the national policy of Spain to be correct. If the country is multilingual, then this should always be taken into account. Therefore, in Canada, the government made numerous concessions to the French-speaking province of Quebec when demands for sovereignty began there. As a result, Quebec remained part of Canada, and now this problem has been practically solved: the majority of the inhabitants of the province now speak out for the unity of the country. However, separatist sentiments are still not uncommon there.
The national policy of the United States can also be considered successful. Starting from the 50-60s. there was a tense struggle for racial equality. And to date, at least, it has been possible to remove an open confrontation between white and colored Americans. And the riots on this ground have generally ceased, groups like the Black Panthers have gone into the past, however, the assimilation of national diasporas living rather apart has not happened. Therefore, it would still be wrong to say that "American" is a nationality. Native Americans - Indian tribes - still live on reservations, and living conditions there are by no means the best. This question, most likely, requires a slightly different solution than assimilation. With the collapse of the socialist camp, all previously suppressed interethnic contradictions erupted. As a result, the USSR, Yugoslavia, and Czechoslovakia collapsed. But if in Czechoslovakia the “divorce” took place peacefully, then the SFRY was plunged into a civil war for many years. The interethnic armed conflicts did not bypass the former republics of the Soviet Union, South Ossetia, Abkhazia, Ingushetia, Karabakh, Transnistria, Ferghana, Osh, Uzgen.
Oddly enough, the supranational United Nations was guided in its actions by the correct national policy. It was her armed units that stood between the conflicting parties and thus forced them to sit down at the negotiating table. Unfortunately, in the last Balkan conflict, NATO forces took only one side in the inter-ethnic confrontation in Kosovo. As a result, a powerful bomb has been planted under the European security system. A hotbed of terrorism has been created almost in the center of Europe, and so far even heavy weapons have not been taken away from the militants of the UCHK. In general, the situation there is developing according to the Chechen scenario, and what will happen next is unknown.
The problem of the Kurds stands apart. This nation does not have its own state, although it has more than a million people living mainly in Turkey, Iraq and Iran. None of these states wants not only to give part of their land for the creation of an independent Kurdistan, but also (for example, in Turkey and Iraq) forbids speaking the Kurdish language. As a result, the Kurds have been waging a guerrilla war with all three states for decades and do not stop carrying out terrorist acts. True, the UN pays too little attention to this problem. And these countries are pursuing a national policy aimed, it seems to me, at the disappearance of the people (its resettlement around the world and the extermination of those who do not agree to assimilate). Afghanistan is also distinguished by the fact that there an aggressive national policy is intertwined with the use of Islamic fundamentalism as a state ideology. And the civil war there can last there for many more years. It is very difficult to find any acceptable or workable solution here.
The concept of suffrage and the essence of elections. Elections are carried out at various levels of society: in public organizations, their management is elected, in joint-stock companies - the board of directors or another body, in cooperatives - boards, etc. Many state bodies are also elected in the center (parliaments or at least their lower chambers, presidents), local self-government bodies are elected locally - councils, mayors, etc. Most of the bodies elected by citizens are called generalized representative. In rare cases, the prime minister is directly elected by the citizens: in 1996, such elections were held for the first time in Israel. Elections are the most important instrument of the legitimacy of state power, they ensure the selection of the political elite, they are one of the defining characteristics of public life, the state regime.
Elections of state bodies and officials of the state are: general (throughout the state) and regional;
regular (within the established period) and extraordinary, repeated (if the elections are declared invalid), etc.
Direct and indirect elections. Direct elections are the direct election by citizens of their representatives to state bodies, individual officials (for example, the president). Almost always (with the exception of, for example, the Kingdom of Bhutan), deputies of the lower house of parliament, a unicameral parliament, grassroots local governments (community councils), and other local governments are elected by direct elections. However, in this case there are exceptions. In some Muslim countries (Bangladesh, Pakistan), a certain number of women deputies to the lower house are elected by the parliament itself, and in a unicameral parliament there may be a small number of deputies appointed by the president from among the prominent citizens of the country (for example, up to 10 people in Egypt). In many countries, the upper houses of parliaments (Brazil, the United States, etc.), presidents (Mexico, France, etc.), lower houses of legislative assemblies, or unicameral assemblies in the subjects of the federation, in autonomous entities are elected by direct elections. In the only country - Israel since 1996, the prime minister has been elected by direct elections.
At the same time, many higher state bodies and officials, including those in democratic countries, are elected by indirect elections. In theory, direct elections are more democratic, but indirect elections may be more appropriate if they provide a more professional, balanced approach to filling such high posts. v officials influencing the life of the country. Therefore, the question of the application of this or that system of elections is a question of expediency, connected with the specific conditions of the country, with its history, national specifics.
There are two types of indirect elections: indirect and multistage (they are sometimes called multistage). indirect elections, have two options. In the first option, elections are held by an electoral college specially created for this purpose. An example of this is the election of the President of the United States, when voters vote for electors from one party or another, and then the electors, having gathered in their state capitals, vote for a pre-announced presidential candidate from one party or another. State electoral votes are summed up in Washington DC. A similar procedure exists in Argentina, until the 90s it was applied with certain amendments in unitary Finland. The Senate is elected by indirect elections in France, where they vote for candidates: a) members of the lower house of parliament, elected from this department - an administrative-territorial unit; b) members of councils - local self-government bodies of the region - the largest administrative-territorial unit; c) members of the general councils of departments; d) members specially elected for such voting by municipal councils. Indirect elections also elect the upper house of parliament in India, the president in Germany, and so on. In the second option, elections are held not by a specially created electoral college, but by a permanent body. The clearest example of this is the election of presidents by parliaments in Greece, Turkey and other countries.
The electoral system plays an important role in the political life of any country. Features of the electoral system can have wide-ranging consequences, from a split in a party to the disintegration of a country. So, due to the shortcomings of the electoral system in 1970, a bloody dictatorship was established in Chile. It is generally recognized that the ideal model of the electoral system does not exist. More than 100 types of electoral systems are used in the world. But majoritarian and proportional remain basic. Historically, the first was the majority system.
Majoritarian electoral system(majorite - majority): the winner is the one who received the most votes. In this case, three options are possible:
plurality system when the winner is the candidate who receives more votes than any of his opponents. It was used by 43 states, including the USA;
absolute majority system, at which more than 50% of the votes cast in the elections (minimum - 50% plus 1 vote) must be collected to win;
mixed majority system, when an absolute majority of votes must be obtained to win the first round, if not, a second round is held, in which the candidates who take the first two places participate. To win in the second round, it is enough to get a relative majority of votes (more than a competitor).
Votes are counted in single-member constituencies. Only one candidate can be elected from each of them. The number of single-member constituencies is equal to the constitutional number of seats in parliament. In the election of the President of the country, the whole country becomes a single-mandate constituency.
Advantages majority system:
Universality, allows you to elect both individual representatives (president, governor, mayor), and collective bodies of state power or local self-government (country parliament, city municipality);
Specific candidates are nominated and compete, the voter can take into account not only their party affiliation (or lack of it), political programs, adherence to the ideological doctrine, but also personal qualities, professional suitability, reputation, compliance with the moral criteria and convictions of the voter;
Representatives of small parties and non-partisan independent candidates can really participate and win, and not just representatives of large parties;
Deputies elected in single-mandate majoritarian districts do not depend on political parties and their leaders, as they received a mandate directly from voters. This allows us to more correctly observe the principle of democracy - the source of power is the voters, not party structures. The elected representative is much closer to his constituents, they know who exactly they are voting for;
Allows large, well-organized parties to easily win elections and establish one-party governments.
These advantages are not realized automatically, they depend on the political regime. Under the conditions of a totalitarian regime, any electoral system ensures the implementation of the will of political power, and not of voters.
disadvantages majority system:
A significant part of the country's voters remain unrepresented in the authorities, they disappear, they are not converted into power powers of the votes cast for the losing candidates, despite the fact that in the total amount of votes cast in the elections they can make up a significant part, sometimes not much less than the votes that determined the winner;
A party that receives fewer votes in an election than its rivals may be represented in parliament by a majority of seats;
Two parties that have received an equal or close to equal number of votes put an unequal number of candidates into government bodies;
A more expensive, financially costly system due to the possible second round of voting and the fact that instead of election campaigns of several parties, there are numerous election campaigns of individual candidates;
The victory of independent candidates and candidates of small parties increases the likelihood of the formation of poorly structured and therefore poorly managed authorities, the effectiveness of which is reduced because of this. This is typical for countries with a poorly structured party system and a large number of parties.
proportional electoral system: deputy mandates are distributed in proportion to the votes cast for the parties. Votes are counted in multi-member constituencies. Voters do not vote for specific candidates, but for political parties, for the lists of their candidates. The parties include in the lists as many candidates as there are deputies sent to the representative body from the given constituency. Candidates standing first in the list become deputies.
Voting is carried out in one round. A barrier of passability is being introduced - 4-5% of the number of votes cast on a national scale. Small and badly organized parties are unable to overcome it. The votes cast for them and the corresponding deputy mandates are redistributed in favor of the parties that have scored a passing score. Basically, they go to the parties that received the largest amount of votes. Therefore, the proportional system is primarily interested in mass (centralized) parties, which focus not on the attractiveness of bright personalities, but on the massive support of their members and supporters, on the readiness of the electorate to vote not for personalized, but for ideological and political motives. In the established authorities, a real picture of political life and the alignment of political forces are presented. This system promotes the development of a multi-party system.
Election by party lists is cheaper. But between the people's representative (deputy) and the people (voters) themselves, a political intermediary appears in the person of the party leader, whose opinion the listed deputy has to reckon with in much more than the deputy from the majoritarian district. Direct communication between deputies and voters is weak.
It is difficult to say which electoral system is more democratic and more accurately reflects the opinion of voters. At first glance, it seems that the proportional system captures the whole range of opinions, but the majority system makes voters think more thoroughly before choosing. In an effort to combine the advantages of the majoritarian and proportional systems, a mixed electoral system was formed, in which part of the mandates is distributed according to the majority principle, and part - proportionally. Experience shows that this option is more democratic and effective in achieving political stability.
Mixed majority-proportional system when two main systems operate in parallel as a result of a political compromise between the parties - supporters of each of them. The constitutionally designated number of parliamentary mandates is divided in a certain proportion between the majoritarian and proportional systems - most often 1:1. With this ratio, the number of single-mandate constituencies in the country is equal to half of the mandates in parliament, the other half is played according to the proportional system in one multi-mandate constituency. Each voter votes both for a particular candidate in his single-seat constituency and for a list of one of the political parties in the nationwide constituency. Thus, deputies of the State Duma of Russia and the parliaments of some other countries are elected.
The preference for a particular electoral system often depends on the balance of political forces in the legislature. These or those methods of summing up the results of elections are more beneficial for individual parties, and they seek to include them in the electoral legislation. But there are cases when the issue is decided by a national referendum. So in 1993, Italy moved from a proportional system to a mixed, predominantly majoritarian system, and New Zealand, on the contrary, from a majoritarian to a proportional system.
The nuances of the electoral systems of developed countries
Electoral system of Great Britain
Elections in the UK (parliamentary republic) are held in single-member constituencies according to majority system. In parliamentary elections, the country is divided into 659 districts: 529 - in England, 72 - in Scotland, 40 - in Wales, 18 - in Northern Ireland. Each constituency elects one member of parliament, each elector receives one ballot in his hands. A simple majority of votes of registered voters is enough to win, even a minimal majority provides the candidate with a parliamentary mandate.
This system is criticized mainly by small parties that have little or no chance of getting into parliament, although in total they can receive a significant percentage of the vote. On the contrary, parties that lag behind in the total number of votes cast for them can receive a majority in parliament if their candidates receive a majority in certain constituencies. The party that wins the most seats in parliament forms the government.
In the UK there is no day of silence, political agitation is not prohibited even on election day. In addition to observers, the voting process is monitored by "vote counters" - party volunteers who keep records of all registered voters at polling stations, identify potential supporters of their parties who did not vote and urge them to come to the polling station. They are prohibited from campaigning inside the polling stations. By tradition, since 1935, all parliamentary elections are held on Thursdays. UK citizens have the right to vote by mail.
Electoral system of Canada
In Canada (a parliamentary republic), as in other Anglo-Saxon countries, plurality electoral system. The candidate who receives more votes than each of his opponents separately, even if this is a majority and less than half, is considered elected. This system is efficient because someone always gets a relative majority. The House of Commons usually has a strong majority, which ensures the stability of the government. However, the system deprives small parties of representation and distorts the correspondence between the number of votes cast and the number of mandates won by one party or another. The House of Commons is elected for a term of 5 years.
Political parties do not receive official recognition in the electoral process, all candidates act as individuals. The candidacy must be supported by 25 voters, their signatures are certified by witnesses. The candidate must take an oath that he agrees with the nomination of his candidacy and post a deposit of 200 Canadian dollars. The pledge is intended to protect the election campaign from "frivolous" candidates. It is returned to the candidate if at least 15% of the voters who took part in the voting in this constituency voted for him.
Elections in Canada are held in single-member constituencies. They are determined by special "border commissions" created by Parliament, one for each province. They draw up and refine maps of the results of the next census of the population, held every 10 years, and must guarantee the approximate equality of all districts in elections to the House of Commons. If necessary and at the request of 10 deputies, the issue of the boundaries of the districts may be discussed at the meetings of the chamber.
Election officials, judges appointed by the governor general, sheriffs, and civil servants are prohibited from nominating candidates. Officials can nominate their candidacies only if they take vacations at their own expense for the period of the election campaign, and lose their public office upon election.
Electoral system of Sweden
Sweden (parliamentary republic) uses proportional representation system. General elections are held every 4 years simultaneously for the national (Riksdag), regional (Council of the Region) and local (Council of Municipality) levels of government. The territory of the country is divided into 29 large electoral districts, coinciding with the administrative-territorial division of the state, which allows for greater proportional representation in comparison with small districts.
The Swedish Parliament Riksdag has 349 seats (310 permanent and 39 adjustment, equalizing). No later than April 30 in the election year, the Electoral Commission is required to determine for each of the 29 electoral districts the number of permanent seats, based on the number of voters, for a total of 310 permanent seats. The remaining 39 mandates are equalizing and are filled according to the overall voting results throughout the country.
The voter has the right to vote for a political party, but within this choice, he has the opportunity to influence the ranking order of candidates by putting a check mark next to the name of one of them. A personal vote can only be cast for one candidate. Parties that receive at least 4% of the total number of votes or at least 12% of the votes in any constituency have the right to be represented in Parliament. The mandates assigned to constituencies are distributed among the parties in each constituency in proportion to the results of the elections in that constituency.
Once all permanent seats have been allocated to the parties in each constituency, those seats are aggregated across all constituencies. A new distribution of seats is then carried out, which is based on the majority vote in the country. Thus, 349 seats are distributed, considering the whole of Sweden as one large constituency.
The results of the two representation methods are compared. Parties that win more seats in the second way (where all of Sweden is treated as one constituency) are eligible for additional (adjustment) seats. Political parties place adjustment seats in those electoral districts where they have the largest relative number, following the distribution of permanent seats. If a party does not win any additional seats in any constituency, the total number of votes cast for it is used as the relative number in those constituencies where it did not win seats in the allocation of adjustment seats.
In Sweden, since 1976, polling stations have used perforated cards instead of ballots and counting machines instead of ballot boxes. Allowed to vote by mail. The voter, in the presence of the postman and witnesses at home or at the post office, places his ballot papers in special envelopes with a certificate of the right to vote attached and hands them over to the postman. The witnesses, by their signatures on the envelopes, confirm that the given person voted by himself. The Post Office is opening temporary liaison offices in hospitals and other institutions. Sweden does not have mobile operational election brigades. Every citizen has the right to be present at the polling station after its conditional closing in order to personally observe the counting of votes. The Swedes managed to ensure a high level of public confidence in the organization of elections and the electoral process.
Electoral system of Switzerland
In Switzerland (parliamentary republic), elections to the National Council are held according to , thanks to this, small parties also get a chance. Until 1919, elections to the federal parliament were held according to the majoritarian system.
Parties nominate their candidates, submit lists and finance election campaigns. There are as many candidates on the electoral lists as there are vacancies in the elections. At the polling station, each voter receives all the voter lists submitted by the parties in the form of ballots and one blank ballot. He is allowed to draw up his own electoral list or rely on the received lists of candidates, delete some candidates from them and add new ones. If he wants to especially support one candidate, he can write his name on the ballot twice, crossing out the others.
When counting the election results, along with the lists, the votes for individual candidates are counted. The candidates who receive the largest number of votes are considered elected. The seats of those members of the Soviets who for some reason leave before the expiration of their term of office are occupied by candidates who have not been previously elected, but who follow the retired deputies in terms of the number of votes cast for them.
Majoritarian system, as opposed to the described proportional one, is used when elections are held for only one seat or a small number of candidates are required to be elected (for example, in elections to the Government Council, the Council of Cantons or the judiciary). To be elected in the first round, an absolute majority of 50% of the valid votes plus one vote must be obtained. If more than one candidate passes the absolute majority barrier, the one with the most votes wins. If none has received an absolute majority, then a second round of elections is needed, where a relative majority wins.
Electoral system of Germany
In Germany (a parliamentary republic), elections are held at three levels: federal (Bundestag, European Parliament), regional (land parliaments (landtags), civil assemblies of land-cities) and local (county, zemstvo, community councils, burgomasters of cities). The country is divided into 299 constituencies, each of which elects one deputy to the Bundestag. Party list voting takes place in 16 multi-member constituencies. Each federal state is a separate multi-member district, from which a certain number of deputies are elected in accordance with the population of the federal state. In each multi-member constituency, parties represent separate party lists, that is, a party represents 16 party lists - one in each constituency (federal state).
The German electoral system is sometimes mistakenly considered mixed(50% of deputies are elected from single-mandate constituencies, 50% - from party lists). In fact, in elections to the Bundestag, the proportional system, the role of the "first" votes comes down to the fact that voters can directly determine the personnel of half of the parliament.
It is more correct to call the German electoral system personalized proportional. All 598 deputies of the Bundestag are elected on a proportional basis on party lists, but the staff of half of them (299 deputies) is determined by the voters themselves. To do this, each voter in the elections casts two votes: "first" - for a deputy in his single-mandate constituency, "second" - for a party list. The composition of the Bundestag reflects the balance of power between the parties on a national scale, determined by the results of voting on party lists. It is believed that the presence of two votes for one voter introduces a personal factor into the electoral system and strengthens the relationship between voters and deputies. In addition, such a mechanism for the formation of the Bundestag provides the leaders of the largest political parties with a deputy mandate even if they are defeated in the territorial constituencies. In order to participate in the distribution of mandates, a party must receive at least 5% of the votes for the party list in Germany as a whole or win at least 3 deputies in single-mandate districts throughout the country.
Other electoral systems (cumulative voting) are also used at the regional level. The electoral legislation of the regions differs in details from the general federal one.
Voting is voluntary, there is no turnout threshold, but the Germans traditionally go to the polls with discipline. Even the lowest turnout in post-war history in the 2009 elections reached 70.8%. Voting by mail is allowed. Electronic voting is practiced, although there are occasional concerns about maintaining the secrecy of the vote.
Electoral system of Japan
Japan (parliamentary republic) uses mixed electoral system. The lower house of parliament - the House of Representatives (500 members) is elected for 4 years. The candidate pays an electoral deposit of 3 million yen. It is not returned if the candidate did not receive 1/5 of the votes from the quota in the given constituency, which is determined by dividing the votes valid in the constituency by the number of seats due to the constituency.
The upper house of parliament - the board of advisers (252 deputies) is elected for 6 years. Half of the councilors are re-elected every 3 years. 152 councilors are elected from districts based on prefectures and in the capital according to the same system as deputies of the House of Representatives, 100 councilors - according to proportional representation system. A candidate for the House of Councilors must contribute 2 million yen. The amount is doubled if the candidates are nominated by a list. Refund of the electoral deposit is possible. Thus, an independent candidate, in order to get his deposit back, needs to collect 1/8 of the votes from the quota, which is determined in the same way as the quota for elections to the lower house. In other words, the entire House of Representatives and most of the House of Councilors are formed under the "single non-transferable vote" system, which encourages parties to be careful about the number of candidates nominated in the districts.
In Japan, in contrast to Western Europe, it is forbidden to go round the houses of voters, campaigning at home and against other candidates. During the election campaign (which lasts a month), access to television is extremely limited, daily 8-hour trips around cities are practiced on campaign buses equipped with sound-amplifying equipment. Candidates speak directly from the roof of the bus, hold press conferences, communicate directly with voters (thousands of handshakes).
Elections to local authorities and administrations are held in the same manner. They are elected for a term of 4 years.
Electoral system of France
In France (presidential republic) there is no single centralized system of permanent electoral bodies. The preparation and conduct of elections is provided by the Ministry of the Interior (calculates votes in elections, except for parliamentary and presidential elections, receiving information from precinct election commissions), the Supreme Council of Television and Radio Broadcasting and the National Accounts Commission (verifies financial reports on pre-election expenditures and financing of parties). The National Accounts Commission includes 9 members (3 each from the State Council, the Court of Cassation and the Accounts Chamber), appointed for 5 years.
President of France elected by majority system by direct vote for 5 years. If in the first round none of the candidates receives an absolute majority of the votes, then a second round is held two weeks later. The two candidates who received the largest number of votes participate in it. A candidate for the presidency must collect 5,000 signatures from persons holding high elective offices (members of parliament, general councils, the council of Paris, territorial assemblies and mayors). All signatories must represent at least 30 departments and overseas territories and their names are published. Candidates must submit to the Constitutional Council a declaration of their property status, and if elected, an obligation to submit a new declaration before the expiration of their mandate. The declaration is published in an official body. A pledge of 2,000 euros has been set for presidential candidates.
National Assembly of France (lower house of parliament) elected by mixed majority system for 5 years. To be elected in the first round, you need to get an absolute majority of the votes cast (more than 50% of the votes cast and at least 25% of the number of voters registered in the constituency), since one deputy is elected from the constituency. If no one has received an absolute majority, then a second round is held a week later. Candidates who receive at least 12.5% of the votes from the number of voters included in the lists participate in it. If there is only one candidate in the constituency with 12.5%, then the candidate with the next highest number of votes will also participate in the second round.
For elections to the National Assembly, 577 constituencies have been formed: 555 constituencies in continental France and 22 constituencies in French overseas territories, each of which elects one representative. Districts for elections to the lower house are calculated taking into account residents, not voters. Each department must be represented by at least two deputies, even if the population does not allow this.
Senate provides representation of the administrative-territorial formations of the country. 348 senators are elected for 6 years in 108 electoral districts on the basis of indirect (indirect) general elections by the Electoral College (college), which consists of approximately 145 thousand people, 95% of them are delegates from municipal councils. This is the only election where voting is compulsory for members of the Electoral College. Thus, senators are effectively elected by numerous municipal councillors. 1/3 of the Senate is re-elected every 3 years. Unlike the National Assembly, the Senate cannot be dissolved by the president.
In 85 departments, from which no more than 4 senators are elected, and in all French overseas territories, senators are elected by absolute majority system, and in 14 departments represented in the Senate by 5 or more senators - by proportional system(only 69 senators). Voting takes place in the main city of the department (aka the main city of the region). From the department, members of the collegium elect 2, 3 or more senators.
In electoral colleges, where senators are elected by proportional system, voters vote for party lists. Their votes are divided by the number of mandates reserved for the department (electoral quota). To determine the number of seats a party receives, the votes cast for the lists are divided by the quota. In the electoral colleges, which elect senators by majority system, elections are held in the same way as the procedure for electing members of the National Assembly, that is, in two rounds.
Candidates for senators are nominated by political parties or are self-nominated. The candidate pays an electoral deposit of about 400 euros, which is returned if more than 10% of all votes of voters are supported by him during self-nomination or if the party list where he is included has won at least 5% of the votes cast.
The United States has the most developed economy in the world. China, Japan and Germany follow.
| State | GDP (given in USD) |
| United States of America | 18153487 |
| People's Republic of China | 11393571 |
| Japan | 4825207 |
| Federal Republic of Germany | 3609439 |
| United Kingdom of Great Britain | 2782338 |
| French Republic | 2605813 |
| India | 2220043 |
| Italian Republic | 1914131 |
| Brazil | 1835993 |
| Canada | 1584301 |
| Russian Federation | 1425703 |
| South Korea | 1414400 |
| Australian Union | 1313016 |
| The Kingdom of Spain | 1277961 |
| Mexico | 1152770 |
| Republic of Indonesia | 888958 |
| Turkish Republic | 888818 |
| Holland | 788108 |
| Saudi Arabia | 702099 |
| Swiss Confederation | 680113 |
| Kingdom of Sweden | 540960 |
| Argentine Republic | 524532 |
| Republic of Poland | 481280 |
| Kingdom of Belgium | 475046 |
| Federal Republic of Nigeria | 456389 |
| Kingdom of Norway | 430823 |
| Islamic Republic of Iran | 511755 |
| Republic of Austria | 395634 |
| Kingdom of Thailand | 388308 |
| United Arab Emirates | 375190 |
| Philippines | 369969 |
| Arab Republic of Egypt | 331297 |
| Kingdom of Denmark | 325104 |
| Hong Kong | 317690 |
| State of Israel | 309342 |
| Republic of Colombia | 307430 |
| Malaysia | 307242 |
| South Africa | 306555 |
| Pakistan | 291845 |
| Republic of Singapore | 290909 |
| Republic of Ireland | 250866 |
| Finland | 245784 |
| Chile | 242312 |
| Bangladesh | 216291 |
| Portugal | 204909 |
| Greece | 203733 |
| Iraq | 202002 |
| Vietnam | 190497 |
| Peru | 189001 |
| Romania | 186559 |
| Czech | 185560 |
| New Zealand | 183341 |
| Algeria | 173452 |
| Qatar | 187756 |
| Kazakhstan | 154947 |
| Kuwait | 141738 |
| Hungary | 123400 |
| Morocco | 102159 |
| Angola | 98982 |
| Ukraine | 98629 |
| Ecuador | 95343 |
| Slovakia | 91237 |
| Sudan | 84876 |
| Sri Lanka | 80110 |
| Uzbekistan | 70841 |
| Oman | 75934 |
| Dominican Republic | 68030 |
| Ethiopia | 67515 |
| Kenya | 66886 |
| Myanmar | 62401 |
| Guatemala | 62846 |
| Bulgaria | 53239 |
| Belarus | 53200 |
| Costa Rica | 52644 |
| Uruguay | 52449 |
| Croatia | 50491 |
| Panama | 48989 |
| Tanzania | 48539 |
| Azerbaijan | 46455 |
| Lebanon | 46129 |
| Slovenia | 44721 |
| Luxembourg | 44691 |
| Lithuania | 42423 |
| Tunisia | 42123 |
| Ghana | 38864 |
| Turkmenistan | 37762 |
| Macau | 38809 |
| Serbia | 37258 |
| Jordan | 37057 |
| Ivory Coast | 35968 |
| Bolivia | 33403 |
| Democratic Republic of the Congo | 32705 |
| Bahrain | 31205 |
| Yemen | 28774 |
| Latvia | 28685 |
| Cameroon | 28226 |
| Paraguay | 27339 |
| Uganda | 27296 |
| Salvador | 24849 |
| Estonia | 23369 |
| Zambia | 21643 |
| Trinidad and Tobago | 21397 |
| Nepal | 21062 |
| Cyprus | 20105 |
| Afghanistan | 19937 |
| Honduras | 19579 |
| Iceland | 19049 |
| Cambodia | 17934 |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | 17171 |
| Papua New Guinea | 16724 |
| Zimbabwe | 15230 |
| Botswana | 14879 |
| Palestine | 14715 |
| Senegal | 14643 |
| Laos | 14538 |
| Gabon | 14270 |
| Georgia | 14157 |
| Mozambique | 13788 |
| Mali | 13551 |
| Jamaica | 13424 |
| Brunei | 16085 |
| Nicaragua | 12599 |
| Mauritius | 12325 |
| Albania | 12219 |
| Burkina Faso | 11937 |
| Namibia | 11457 |
| Armenia | 11006 |
| Mongolia | 10742 |
| Malta | 10548 |
| Macedonia | 10374 |
| Chad | 10367 |
| Madagascar | 9877 |
| Tajikistan | 9662 |
| Benin | 8939 |
| Congo | 8770 |
| Haiti | 8488 |
| Rwanda | 8393 |
| Bahamas | 8223 |
| Equatorial Guinea | 7995 |
| Niger | 7712 |
| Moldova | 7513 |
| Kosovo | 7000 |
| Kyrgyzstan | 6714 |
| Guinea | 6090 |
| Malawi | 5833 |
| South Sudan | 9704 |
| Mauritania | 4805 |
| Fiji | 4346 |
| Montenegro | 4340 |
| Barbados | 4226 |
| Togo | 4088 |
| Suriname | 3947 |
| Swaziland | 3803 |
| Sierra Leone | 3606 |
| Guyana | 3284 |
| Maldives | 3100 |
| Burundi | 2934 |
| Lesotho | 2662 |
| Aruba | 2543 |
| Timor Leste | 2708 |
| Butane | 2000 |
| Central African Republic | 1723 |
| Liberia | 1720 |
| Belize | 1618 |
| Cape Verde | 1604 |
| Seychelles | 1459 |
| Antigua and Barbuda | 1352 |
| Solomon islands | 1128 |
| Grenada | 947 |
| Republic of the Gambia | 895 |
| Saint Kitts and Nevis | 869 |
| Independent State of Samoa | 801 |
| Comoros | 608 |
| Commonwealth of Dominica | 496 |
| Kingdom of Tonga | 430 |
| micronesia | 386 |
| Kiribati | 272 |
| Palau | 268 |
| Marshall Islands | 236 |
| Nauru | 140 |
| Tuvalu | 57 |
Each individual country has its own economic policy, which inherently has both strengths and weaknesses. If the state is rich in minerals, then most often the economy is built on the export of resources, which weakens the production component.
10 largest world economies in 2018
USA
The most stable economy in the world belongs to the United States, it has held its leading position for more than 100 years. A comprehensively developed economic policy is based on the banking system, the largest stock exchange, advanced IT technologies and agriculture, which is not devoid of innovative solutions and progress.
America, thanks to its significant coverage of fields of activity and advanced technologies in them, has great influence in the world and enjoys it.
The dollar has been a world currency for many years and is quoted in all countries. for 2017 amounted to 19.284 trillion dollars, which makes it possible to understand: why the US economy is the first, leading the ranking.
China
The fastest growing economy, which can soon displace America and move it from its leading position in the TOP of the largest economies in the world. In China, industry, agriculture and technology are actively growing. The automotive market is larger than the American and Japanese combined.
Chinese clothing and technology enter the markets of most countries, exports are very developed in all directions. China provides food for 1/5 of the world's population, while using only 9% of the land intended for agriculture.
Annual GDP growth is 10%, which gives America cause for concern. represented in the TOP economies of the world in the face of China, as the strongest and most developed power, the rest of Asia has weaker performance.
Despite the crisis that Europe has been experiencing in recent years, it is still on its feet steadily and provides itself with an annual increase in GDP, which at the moment has amounted to 3.591 trillion dollars.
United Kingdom
The economy of Western Europe in the face of the participating countries presents a blurry picture, but the undisputed leader is, which was included in the overall rating for all countries of the planet. The country is poor in natural resources, so its economic policy is based on services, industry and tourism.
In terms of industry, the leaders are the following areas: aviation and pharmaceuticals, as well as the automotive and textile industries. The UK attracts investment infusions from business representatives of other countries with its liberal banking policy, which allows money laundering to take place.
But in 2018, the country leaves the composition, and experts find it difficult to guess: what damage will this bring to the state's economy and how its position in the world will change.
Which can be found on our website.
France
The economic position of the country has been achieved thanks to the industrial-agrarian policy. At the expense of agriculture, France provides EU countries with products, ¼ of all supplies fall to the share of this state.
The best performance in terms of attendance of the country was achieved largely thanks to the Eiffel Tower, its recognizability and the atmosphere of romance associated with it.
But having a high attendance of the country, tourism does not come up. The fact is that the funds left by tourists in the country have a smaller volume compared to America, this is due to the fact that tourists in France do not linger, but when they see the main attraction, they leave for neighboring countries. France's GDP is currently $2.537 trillion. 
It is possible on our website.
The question of the prospects for integration into Western societies of people belonging to a different cultural tradition has become one of the key ones today. Already in 2000, the total number of international migrants exceeded 175 million people, but today all developed countries have become multicultural and immigrant. As a result, compact communities of a different cultural orientation are being formed in large European cities, with a fundamentally different system of legal norms and ethical guidelines, which is often seen by the Western community as a threat to its social stability and national identity. Polit.ru publishes an article Irina Semenenko dedicated to the problem of "cross-cultural identity". The author discusses how to overcome the civil and social exclusion of those who are oriented towards a different cultural tradition, as well as the very content of national identity in the modern world. The material was published in the collection of articles “Governance of the State: Problems and Development Trends. Political Science: Yearbook 2007 (Moscow: ROSSPEN, 2008), published by the Russian Association of Political Science.
The complex of problems associated with the growth of migration flows to the countries of the "golden billion" from the developing world today firmly holds the leading positions in a number of issues that concern both the population of the West and its political elite. And this despite the fact that even at the end of the past century, when the prospects of globalization were at the center of not only scientific, but also political discussion, there was widespread confidence in the coming qualitative change in political reality and in the ability to effectively use political, political, and separatism to overcome xenophobia, racism and separatism. economic and cultural potential of the globalizing world.
Indeed, immigration, being a necessary resource for economic development, gives rise to such problems for the host countries, which today are considered by a significant part of public opinion and the political elite as a threat to their social stability and national identity. The seriousness of the risks associated with foreign cultural migration is exacerbated by the spread of anti-Western sentiments in the Islamic world and the growing concern of the West itself about the "Islamic threat." The question of the prospects for integration into Western societies of people belonging to a different civilizational tradition has become one of the key issues on the political agenda today. Ensuring the viability of Western democracy and the continuity of the European civilizational tradition largely depends on the successful solution of the problems of regulating immigration and the creation of effective mechanisms for the integration of migrants and their descendants.
The quality of political discourse on the complex problems of migration and integration is becoming increasingly important. None of the influential political forces today can afford to ignore such a key topic as the importance of immigration for national development. Anti-immigration sentiment dominates the extreme right of the political spectrum and is used by the right as an effective means of mobilizing political support for those who disagree with government policy in this area. But priorities and optimal ways to regulate immigration and integrate migrants are the subject of heated discussion in the highest echelons of power and opposition in all developed countries without exception. The impact on public opinion that this discussion is reflected in the media and in scientific developments should also not be underestimated. Thus, in the UK, the problems of national identity and cultural diversity have become one of the main areas of research for the scientific and expert community. According to colleagues from the London-based Institute for Public Policy Research (Institute for Public Policy Research), stated to the author, the results of the expert-analytical activities of this scientific center are widely available and in demand in the socio-political discussion. I would like to hope that the Russian scientific community will also be able to make a significant contribution to the intensification of the discussion of the problems and prospects of immigration for Russia and to the formation of the foundations of state policy in this area. Therefore, it is important to analyze the experience accumulated in developed countries and assess the prospects regarding the formation of regulation models and directions for their adjustment.
The scale of the challenges generated by migration turned out to be largely unpredictable, although they can hardly be called unexpected. Some experience in resolving ethno-social contradictions has been accumulated in those countries where autochthonous ethnic minorities live compactly. The growth of ethno-national conflicts over the last decades of the 20th century stimulated the search for a settlement between the majority and minorities that claimed political and cultural autonomy. The creation of mechanisms for the partial implementation of such claims has brought tangible, albeit limited, results. By the end of the last century, political agreements were reached in Northern Ireland, institutions were formed to maintain cultural autonomy, along with elements of political self-government (in Scotland and Wales, in the Basque Country and Catalonia, in the Belgian provinces, in Corsica, in Francophone Quebec in Canada). At the same time, the most important factor in the political mobilization of autochthonous minorities was the demand to preserve their language and cultural traditions (especially in Wales and French Brittany, as well as in the north of Finland, Norway and Sweden - in the areas inhabited by the indigenous Sami people). The decrease in intensity in the confrontation between "nations without a state" (ethnic minorities in the composition of national political communities) and the nation-state was observed precisely in the last decade, although this process was not without serious disruptions. This transition of the confrontation into the phase of dialogue (and the conflict into a smoldering form) can be viewed as a positive result of inter-elite agreements. As a result of the political agreements reached, compensatory mechanisms for maintaining ethnic identity began to work. Their functioning was ensured on the basis of the recognition of the language, cultural practices, forms of social and political self-organization of various ethnic communities that belonged to the same civilizational tradition.
These shifts, however, coincided with the rise of ethno-social tension caused by the growing unresolved problems of integration into Western national communities of migrants of a different, non-Western civilizational affiliation. The civic and political participation of those who did not identify themselves with the European cultural tradition faced serious limitations rooted both in the subjective perception of "others" by the host community and in the inertia of the tradition itself. For some migrants, "cross-cultural" (that is, absorbing elements of different cultural traditions and "melting" them into a single whole) identity became a conscious choice, a form of adaptation to life in a new cultural environment. But for many others, the values of the Western community remained unconditional, and often unacceptable, and they not only did not seek to "dissolve" in the Western world, but in every possible way emphasized the intention to maintain their own identity. The inevitable consequence of cultural isolation was social marginalization. At the same time, not all immigrants were ready to put up with securing their position on the social periphery of the host community.
It is known that democratic institutions function effectively on the basis of a "social contract", the important elements of which are mutual trust and mutual obligations of the participants. And in this sense, "the intrusion into society of new members, the entry of immigrants, the change in the civilian composition of the population are a challenge to democracy," to which an answer must be urgently sought. Because "the exact content of mutual understanding, the foundations of mutual trust and the form of mutual obligations - everything is now subject to revision." The question of how to overcome the civil and social exclusion of those who are oriented towards a different cultural tradition has become acute for the modern nation-state in the context of the fragmentation of the social and cultural experience of a person and that "weakening of the social field", which A. Touraine considers "the brightest feature of modernity." The national question (in terms of the significance of the values of the nation-state and in their correlation with the values of the community, group, individual) returned to public discourse in the form of debates about identity. The very content of national identity is undergoing a deep rethinking in a globalizing world, where, according to Z. Bauman, “those who can afford it live exclusively in time. Those who cannot live in space. For the first, space does not matter. At the same time, the latter struggle with all their might to make it significant.
The state in these conditions is not the only, and often not the main reference system of personal identification. In a multi-component, according to A. Leiphart, society, the nation itself becomes multi-component and multicultural. As a result, national identification is often replaced by ethnic one, since more specific cultural meanings and symbolic meanings are associated with ethnic identity. It is the categories of ethnicity that in the modern world are again, as at the dawn of human civilization, given "universal explanatory functions". Ethnic content is often embedded in the very concept of "national" (this was characteristic of the period of nation-building in the USSR and passed "by inheritance" into Russian political vocabulary). But such an approach is fraught with undermining the unity of the political nation, which requires a clear "breeding" of the national and ethnic components of identity.
The crisis of a modern political nation is exacerbated by uncontrolled migration flows that change the composition of national communities and erode their sociocultural field. In the open space of communications, ethnic identity becomes a potential factor in social mobilization in the information age. Cross-border spaces of social communication and resource exchange are being formed, sealed by a common language, culture, religion and information field. Such areas have appeared on the territory of the United States and border Mexico, in the European Mediterranean and the countries of the Maghreb, in that part of the post-Soviet space where there is an active exchange of human capital. These are zones where the legal regime of the nation-state turns out to be largely ineffective and requires other, interstate agreements, for example, on the status of border areas and on a special regime for the transit of people, goods and services. It is no coincidence that the issue of dual and even multiple citizenship de facto changes the jurisdiction of the nation-state.
Supranational regulation is by no means always capable of developing effective mechanisms for coordinating multilevel interests. General problems associated with the reception of human flows from third countries and the movement of people (especially illegal migrants) within the EU are gradually expanding the area of common European agreements, but this process is slow and difficult. The regulation of labor migration remains within the competence of national states. But the last stage of EU enlargement can also be seen as a concerted attempt to partly compensate for foreign cultural migration to the Old World - at least in the current generation - at the expense of culturally close and, accordingly, more integrable social flows. In the immediate wake of the latest EU enlargement, only three countries (UK, Ireland and Sweden) allowed its new citizens unfettered entry, while others introduced a seven-year transitional or quota system. But already in 2006, Finland, Portugal and Spain abandoned the restrictions, and a number of other "old" EU members also announced their intention to open their labor markets. Labor migration from the countries of Central and Eastern Europe has become a reality of everyday life in "old" Europe. Its prospects and potential risks are being actively discussed in the press, despite the fact that expectations and fears of a rapid growth in the flow of labor from CEE seem to be overstated (according to expert estimates, in 2006, labor migrants accounted for only 1% of the economically active population of 10 new countries -members).
MIGRATION WITH INOCULTURAL PERSON
The total number of international migrants in 2000 was more than 175 million, and their share in the world's population was 2.9% (against a stable 2% in 1965-1990). Australia and North America firmly hold the lead in terms of received migration flows. In Western Europe, the proportion of first-generation migrants in its population ranges from 2 to 8-10%, and taking into account citizens with one foreign parent (and, accordingly, automatically obtaining citizenship), it reaches 15-20%. The proportion of foreigners in the population continues to grow in most Western countries (see Table 1). All developed countries have become multicultural and immigrant, with the exception of Iceland. The first group includes the former metropolises (Great Britain, Holland, France), which throughout the 20th century received people who came from the colonies in search of work. To the second - the countries of traditional labor immigration (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Luxembourg, Germany, Sweden). To the third - the states, which until recently remained suppliers of cheap labor. In the 80s, Italy, Spain, Portugal and Greece became immigrant, and in the next decade, Finland and Ireland. The CEE countries face the prospect of becoming the fourth group of migration recipients, but today they mainly export human capital to Western Europe. At the same time, although the influx of foreign labor is an important source of replenishment of the labor resources of the developed world, "the stable dynamics of immigration indicates that it has become an autonomous process, little dependent on the economic situation" .
Table 1. Share of foreigners in the population of developed countries, % (data on recorded migration)
| 1993 | 2003 | 1993 | 2003 | ||
| Austria | 8,6 | 9,4 | Portugal | 1,3 | 4,2 |
| Belgium | 9,1 | 8,3 | Finland | 1,1 | 2,0 |
| United Kingdom | 3,5 | 4,8 | France | 6,3 (1) | 5,6 (2) |
| Germany | 8,5 | 8,9 | Switzerland | 18,1 | 20,0 |
| Denmark | 3,6 | 5,0 | Sweden | 5,8 | 5,1 |
| Ireland | 2,7 | 5,6 | Australia (3) | 22,9 | 22,8 |
| Spain | 1,1 | 3,9 | USA (3) | 8,2 | 12,1 |
| Italy | 1,7 | 3,8 | Canada (3) | 16,1 (4) | 18,2 (5) |
| Netherlands | 5,1 | 4,3 | New Zealand (3) | 1,1 | 19,5 (5) |
| Norway | 3,8 | 4,5 | Japan | 1,5 |
(1) 1990.
(2) 1999.
(3) Proportion of persons born abroad.
(4) 1991.
(5) 2001.
Compiled by: OECD Yearbook 2005.
However, even these impressive figures do not give an exhaustive idea of the scale of the problem. The statistics are deceiving. It does not take into account second and third generation immigrants. A significant part of them are full citizens in terms of legal status, and their ethnicity is not recorded in population censuses. A more real ethnic image of states that receive migrants is drawn by social statistics (prisoners, hospital patients), where available. But any reliable picture of the formation of communities of other cultures is just beginning to take shape as a result of the targeted efforts of expert analysts. Thus, in the Netherlands the total number of first-generation migrants and those with one of the parents of foreign origin exceeds 16-17% today, and in large cities the share of the population of other cultures is noticeably higher than this level. More than a third (37%) of Canadian Vancouver residents are of non-European origin, according to the latest census. Although communities of migrants from different cultures have been compactly formed primarily in traditional countries of immigration and in former metropolises over several generations, in recent years the problems of integrating such groups have become particularly acute in all developed countries. Affects critical mass effect migrants and refugees, which is actively discussed in the media.
Basically, we are talking about groups of a civilizational affiliation that is different from the European Christian tradition. The difficulties of integration today are associated primarily with the influx of millions of Muslims into developed countries. They form compact communities in large European cities, consolidated by the Islamic faith and the norms of behavior prescribed by it, although adhering to its various interpretations. Islam has become the second most adherent religion on the European continent. The number of Muslims living in Europe has already exceeded the population of countries such as Finland, Denmark and Ireland combined, and is, according to rough estimates, 15-20 million. Their most significant share in the population of France, Holland, Germany and Austria (see Table. 2).
Table 2. Population of European countries and its Muslim part, thousand people
| The population of the whole country | Muslims* | The population of the whole country | Muslims* | ||
| Austria | 8103 | 300 | Italy | 56778 | 700 |
| Belgium | 10192 | 370 | Netherlands | 15760 | 695 |
| Denmark | 5330 | 150 | Portugal | 9853 | 30-38 |
| France | 56000 | 4000-5000 | Spain | 40202 | 300-400 |
| Germany | 82000 | 3040 | Sweden | 8877 | 250-300 |
| Greece | 10000 | 370 | United Kingdom | 55000 | 1406 |
* Estimates for the first half of the 2000s.
A source: Dittrich M. Muslims in Europe: Addressing the Challenges of Radicalization // European Policy Center Working Paper. 2006. No. 23 (www.theepc.be).
The Muslim world has become the main source of labor and humanitarian migration of the last generation. As a result, communities of a different cultural and civilizational orientation have formed in the host countries. Islam for a significant part of the new migrants is not only a religion, but also another, often incompatible with the Western system of values. Such a conflicting perception of "one's own" culture in an "alien" world supports the existence of closed communities that fall outside the social and legal field of the host state (even if, according to formal signs, their members are "ordinary" citizens). It is precisely as a system of legal norms, ethical guidelines and cult practices that is different from the system of legal norms, ethical guidelines and cult practices familiar to Europe, that Islam is perceived today in Western society. A regimented way of life clothed in religious forms, unusual patterns of behavior and an unfamiliar worldview erect a wall of misunderstanding and alienation between the "majority" and the "other" - Muslim - population in immigration countries overseas, and especially in secular Europe. It is not surprising, therefore, that the negative perception of the Roma remains so stable in Europe, for example. (rota), while racial characteristics have largely ceased, despite the remnants of everyday racism, to play the role of the main factor in the division into "us" and "them".
Under these conditions, the erosion of the value and spiritual orientations of the host communities themselves turns out to be another major obstacle on the way to establishing interaction with groups from other cultures. Human values do not create a sufficiently solid foundation for the social cohesion of the national community and for the implementation of a long-term development project. The advent of the information society is changing not only the usual landmarks, but also social and cultural mechanisms for maintaining identity. The distinctive features of individual identity are dynamism, amorphousness and instability. As a result, the state of an atomized society is reproduced. It becomes all the more problematic to include in its composition groups of other cultures that have stable value attitudes. Overcoming social exclusion is a necessary condition for establishing intercultural dialogue. But no less important is its value content, the dialogue of cultures, religions and traditions.
Such a dialogue involves interaction both at the interpersonal level and at the level of structures of civil society and the state. The authors of the report on new immigrant communities in the UK, taking 1990 as a starting point (when noticeable changes in the geography of migration flows took place in the conditions of the end of the Cold War), came to the conclusion that ingrained ideas about the origin, characteristics and socio-economic behavior of immigrants require serious revision and appropriate adjustment of the legal framework and practical policy. On the territory of this and other European countries, there is a process of consolidation and fragmentation of communities and groups of other cultures, primarily among Muslim immigrants. Different communities are distinguished by different religious practices, norms of everyday behavior, the degree of openness towards the host community and readiness to interact with it. In addition, along with visitors who want to stay, in recent years there has been a steady increase in the number of those who arrive in developed countries in search of temporary work and are not at all aimed at deep integration into the host community. Particular difficulties arise due to the growth in the number of illegal migrants - those who do not have a legal status of residence (10-15% of migrants living in Europe) . They perform low-paid jobs in construction, seasonal work, and the service sector, but have virtually no access to social services themselves. A very dynamic group is made up of foreign students: in the EU alone, the number of students from third countries today exceeds 750,000 (although the level of student exchange between EU countries is incomparably higher). For countries such as Ireland or New Zealand, the education of foreign students has become an important part of the national economy.
Each of these groups requires a targeted policy and a differentiated approach to solving the problems of inclusion in the host community. Although the unemployment rate among immigrants and their children is stable and often many times higher than the European average, the flow of labor migration does not dry up. Many (by choice or by choice) live on welfare benefits. At the same time, birth rates in these groups are several times higher, and population growth in developed countries is primarily due to migrants and their offspring. The task of using migration to solve the problems of national development is becoming a priority of the state policy of many European countries.
But achieving this goal faces a whole range of problems. The integration of a population of other cultures is impossible without the mobilization of the resources of the welfare state, since progress in this direction is directly related to solving the problems of poverty. The question arises of developing mechanisms for social adaptation, including to such stable political institutions as civil and legal consciousness. There is an urgent need to develop new forms of social communication in the public sphere. How do such adaptive mechanisms correlate with the cultural identity of new citizens, which is oriented toward other forms of interaction that are characteristic of a traditional society?
The search for mechanisms aimed at the realization of human rights, which were going on in Europe at the end of the last century, led to the accumulation of a seemingly inexhaustible potential for tolerance. Back in the 1990s, the Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden were leaders in these indicators, while the countries of Southern Europe were distinguished by a noticeably lower level of tolerance for unusual behaviors and foreign traditions. The murder of right-wing politician P. Fortuyn and director T. Van Gogh in the Netherlands and the so-called caricature scandal that broke out in the world in early 2006 showed the fragility of the achieved balance. "Old" Europe does not withstand the trials and challenges that are generated by the unethical and often thoughtless application of the principles of political correctness. The streamlining of migration policy and the development of effective ways of integrating communities of other cultures that have developed in the host countries have become urgent issues on the current political agenda. The problems of interaction with Muslim communities and the search for answers to the challenges (real or imaginary) posed to Europe by the rapid spread of Islam, the religion of the majority of migrants accepted by European countries, turned out to be at the center of public discussion.
METAMORPHOSIS OF MULTICULTURALISM
Until the second half of the last century, the alternative to the segregation of ethnic minorities was their consistent assimilation, that is, the unconditional acceptance by members of such groups of cultural patterns and behavioral patterns of the majority. This approach received a political and cultural form in the well-known metaphor of the American "melting pot" in the conditions when in the United States at the beginning of the 20th century the process of formation of the nation-state was actively going on. It was assumed that the formation of a political nation should be based on a common system of values and a single cultural tradition. But already in the 1920s, the question of the need to preserve the cultural identity of ethnic groups living in the United States was raised by the American philosopher H.M. Cullen. Consistent opponent of the "melting pot" idea. Cullen believed that the demand for "Americanization" of all migrants arriving in the US was contrary to democratic tradition. However, these problems remained on the periphery of not only political but also scientific thought. Democracies of the pre-war period were characterized by an orientation towards the ideal of the nation as a cohesive community of citizens. Cultural differences were seen as surmountable, and the question of their compatibility was not a matter of public debate.
As the welfare state emerged in the 1960s, social and political divisions within Western societies began to wane. An important stimulus for a closer examination of the problems of cultural diversity and political sovereignty was the development of integration processes within the EU and, then, the onset of a period of "Eurosclerosis" (slowdown) of integration on the threshold of the 70s. At the same time, the high level of ethno-national conflict in Europe and Canada has become a serious test for democracy. Growing concern about persistent manifestations of discrimination and segregation has drawn attention to the problems of indigenous peoples. The result of the social gains of the workers' and youth movement, which culminated in the events of 1968-1969 in France and Italy, was the introduction of strict rules for regulating the labor market and a system of social guarantees. This opened the way for a new wave of labor immigration, mechanisms were launched to attract cheap and socially unprotected labor from Third World countries. The flows of foreign cultural migration began to grow, and the problems of racism, segregation, and discrimination received not only economic, but also sociocultural content.
Public sentiment began to change towards greater tolerance in the public sphere. The idea that maintaining the cultural diversity of communities formed on the basis of ethnicity and identity is not contrary to the principle of maintaining the unity of a political nation has gained wide acceptance. T. Parsons drew attention to the problems of the position of ethnic groups within the nation-state. From his point of view, such inclusion does not require the "dissolution" of ethnic groups in the national community, but ethnic pluralism is a serious challenge for modern democracies. In order to avoid ethnic conflict and overcome the dominance of ethnic loyalty, he considered it necessary to strengthen the common civil foundation of the modern nation. J. Habermas insisted that the state has the right to demand political loyalty from its citizens, but in no case cultural assimilation.
The explanation of social and political transformations both within Western societies and on the periphery of the post-industrial world - in the post-Soviet space or in the countries of South Asia - through the prism of cultural differences rallied both adherents (such as S. Huntington) and opponents of the absolutization of the idea of cultural predetermination of social changes. Such concepts as "diversity", "ethnic identity", "tolerance", "inclusion-exclusion" dichotomy have become the focus of public policy.
As an alternative to the doctrine of cultural assimilation, the concept of multiculturalism appeared, combining the recognition of both the individual rights of citizens and the rights of ethnic communities to maintain cultural identity. Its theorists C. Taylor, U. Kimlichka, B. Parekh and a large group of researchers who studied individual countries and regions proceeded from the dialectic of cultural diversity (diversify) and identity. "Multiculturalists" insisted that "there is no alternative to the shared use of the space of identity", and proposed mechanisms for organizing the "hostel" of groups and individuals of different ethno-cultural orientations within the framework of a political nation.
Multiculturalism has become one of the most controversial concepts of modern political thought. On the question of the content of the concept itself, there has not been a single point of view either in the political or in the academic community. Fierce disputes are caused by the projection of this doctrine into multicultural social practices. Despite this (and largely as a result of such ambiguous interpretations), the term is very widely used in political and scientific discourse. Search engines on the Internet give more than 12 million references to "multiculturalism" (as of April 2006), and this number is growing like a snowball. There is also growing concern about uncontrolled migration and the aggravation of social conflicts, in which there is a clear (and sometimes imaginary, but actively discussed in the media) ethnocultural motivation. These are the challenges that the doctrine of multiculturalism is trying to answer. Ethnic and cultural components are persistently put forward among the most significant characteristics of individual identity. Russian researcher V. Malakhov describes these processes in terms of "revision of the traditional ideal of the national community" . Indeed, nation-states, as political communities, require new institutional "supports" for their consolidation, and multiculturalism can be considered as one of the mechanisms for such consolidation on a basis that incorporates both cultural (ethnic, religious, etc.) and political factors.
The doctrine of multiculturalism arose as a response to the need to regulate conflicts in states that include several ethno-national communities, including indigenous peoples. On the other hand, its appearance was the reaction of the Western community to the problems that are generated by mass migration caused by the depletion of human resources in the developed world and the demographic pressure of the South. The ultimate goal of this choice is to ensure the progressive economic development of the host country. In the most general terms, multiculturalism can be viewed as a political ideology and as a social practice that organizes and maintains a common space for political and social communication for the nation state. Moreover, this is an acceptable model of regulation for Western democracy, based on the recognition of the right of the individual and the group to maintain their own identity and tolerance in the public sphere.
One of the most famous theorists of multiculturalism, B. Parekh, insists on the need to "divorce" "multiculturalism" as a concept meaning the state of cultural diversity of the national community, and "multiculturalism" as "a normative response to the presence of such a state." "Like any other society, a multicultural society needs values shared by the majority in order to maintain itself. Such a culture, which includes many cultures in its context, can only appear as a result of their interaction and must support and nurture cultural differences. For those who are used to considering culture as a more or less homogeneous whole, the idea of a culture consisting of many cultures may seem incoherent, strange. But in reality such a culture is characteristic of societies where there is cultural diversity. For theorists of multiculturalism, this doctrine serves to strengthen the institution of a civil nation while maintaining ethnic and cultural diversity within the nation itself.
Ethnic identity is considered within the framework of this approach as a category inherent in the process of self-identification. It is ethnic characteristics that enable the individual, according to this logic, to assert his own individuality in a society of uniform consumption standards and impersonal behavior patterns. An ethnic group as "an involuntary association of people who share a common culture, or their descendants, who identify themselves (and/or who are identified by others) on the principle of belonging to such an involuntary group" consolidates around cultural characteristics and reproduces such characteristics itself. Among them are a common language, religion, a sense of belonging to tradition and historical memory, common values, myths, rituals of recognizing "us" and "them."
"Multiculturalists" focus on positive political and social actions, using the concepts of "inclusion" and "involvement", "recognition", "cultural pluralism". Thus, the theory lays the foundation for political practice, which, in the narrow sense, is considered as "multiculturalism" in modern political discussion. The main goal is to organize cohabitation and interaction of individuals, groups, communities of different cultural and religious orientations. We are talking about establishing mechanisms for combining different values, ideas, traditions, ways of life within the framework of a civil nation. Among the arguments of the supporters of the multicultural doctrine is the opportunity to gain knowledge about other cultures and ways of life. On the basis of such knowledge, openness towards "others", tolerance in the public sphere, rejection of racism and discrimination in everyday communication are formed. As a result, a common space for national and political communication is reproduced for the nation state.
The very concept of multiculturalism came into political use in the late 60s and early 70s, when Canada was looking for ways to resolve contradictions and organize a peaceful "hostel" of two communities - Francophone and English-speaking. In 1971-1972, multiculturalism was proclaimed the principle of public policy in Canada, then in Australia. In the following years, it was overgrown with political rhetoric and became synonymous with the practices of managing cultural diversity in a multi-ethnic society. At the same time, in none of the countries, even among those that have proclaimed the corresponding orientation, multiculturalism exists in its pure form. Everywhere multicultural practices are accompanied by elements of assimilation or segregation of representatives of "other" ethnic communities.
The main direction remains economic, social and cultural adaptation and integration representatives of other cultural communities at the individual level. The result of the initial adaptation to life in the host community should be functional integration, that is, the acquisition of skills to serve the essential needs of life and the provision of employment. The success of multicultural practices themselves can be measured by the level structural integration ethnic minorities - the degree of their involvement in educational and cultural initiatives, competitiveness, overcoming their discrimination in the labor market, providing them with equal social guarantees. In the course of structural integration, these minorities have access to public resources outside and in addition to targeted social programs. Political and legal integration implies not only their recognition of existing legal norms and the development of appropriate forms of social behavior, but also their involvement in various forms of political and civic participation. Socio-cultural integration focuses on individual involvement in the system of social relations and in the cultural field of the host society. This level of integration involves interaction with the local community, and in essence - active participation in its daily life. Ultimately, integration implies full participation in all forms of social life, but does not require the abandonment of one's own cultural identity (that is, it does not require assimilation).
In real life, various levels and forms of integration coexist, but not everyone becomes (and cannot become) an object of regulation. The result of sociocultural integration is the most problematic. Its success largely depends on the moods and attitudes of the host community and, to no lesser extent, on the readiness of representatives of the groups of other cultures themselves to interact. In the absence of such a movement towards each other, the implementation of multicultural practices turns into the conservation of "exclusion" in the name of preserving cultural identity.
Such a danger is, in fact, one of the weighty arguments of the opponents of multiculturalism in the scientific and expert community. Sociocultural determinism preserves social backwardness and gives rise to ethnic balkanization that is disastrous for modern society. According to critics of the multicultural doctrine, this approach ignores social problems, replacing the need to solve them with arguments in favor of maintaining traditions and customs. Part of this kind of customs goes against not only the norms of everyday behavior customary in Europe, but also with the ideas of ethics and morality rooted there. We are talking about religious rituals that are incompatible with the rules of everyday community life, about the practice of marriages predetermined by the family. (prearranged), and polygamy, about the use of non-traditional products. Emerging ethical conflicts create difficulties in relations between people, increase the feeling of insecurity and social tension for those who in everyday life are faced with manifestations alien to their usual culture.
At the same time, the members of the ethnic community themselves also do not always have the right to choose cultural landmarks; they are a priori considered as representatives of "special" groups, as objects of social initiatives aimed at maintaining such "specialness". In particular, the unconditional support of traditions cannot but violate the rights of women. The conflict between the fundamental commitment to the idea of gender equality in Western democracy and the desire to respect the customs of ethnic minorities, motivated by the maintenance of cultural traditions, is a serious challenge for democratic institutions. In many European countries, due to a misunderstood respect for "other" cultures, the regulation of behavior within Muslim communities has been placed at their own disposal. Such an approach, according to F. Fukuyama, corresponds to the "corporatist logic of social organization common in Europe" and is fraught with serious consequences for the national communities of democratic countries.
Correct political rhetoric, adherence to post-national values and deliberate silence on the role of Christianity in the development of European civilization, adopted in the official political discourse, reproduce the blurred civilizational identity of the host community. In conditions of cultural fragmentation, its landmarks lose their former attractiveness. And this - if representatives of other cultural minorities, showing an interest in asserting their values, tend to reject the values of the society in which they live - gives rise not only to worldview, but also to legal conflicts. Solutions must be tailored to the specific situation. The fierce discussion around the problem of headscarves in France has once again shown what difficulties one has to face along the way. A. Touraine warns about the danger of "transforming the secular nature of society into a principle of public morality", warning that "at best, this can lead to conformism, at worst, to repression."
Scenarios of potential conflicts on ethnic and cultural grounds are actively used in the rhetoric of the right-wing spectrum of political forces. Alarmist sentiments are fueled in the media and reduce the level of tolerance. The very reality of a multicultural society is assessed positively, according to polls, but the growth of crime and social tension is often interpreted in terms of the conflict of cultures and civilizations. It is characteristic that studies of public sentiments devoted to the attitude towards multiculturalism state the coincidence of the arguments of specialists, its consistent critics, and citizens. These arguments revolve around issues of threats to social stability, national identity, and security.
In "protected" ethnic communities, a breeding ground for religious fundamentalism is maintained. According to French researchers, the reason for such radicalism is the lack of those social supports among Muslim groups in Europe on which everyday life is built in the Islamic states of the East. In host countries, such pillars can only be recreated in isolated, "closed" communities. The multiple identity that multiculturalism focuses on turns out to be an unbearable burden for those who are excluded from the system of social ties outside their ethnic group and live on welfare, and an unwanted irritant for those who consciously seek support exclusively in their traditional culture. "Extraterritorial Islam" as a way of life cut off from its roots can transform into radical religious fundamentalism with a falsely understood system of symbols and landmarks. As a result, appeals offering a simplified interpretation of the foundations of the dogma find a wide response among Muslim immigrants. This applies primarily to the descendants of immigrants (those who grew up surrounded by European culture, but for whom it never became their own) and the majority of temporary migrants who seek to maintain their "speciality" and strong ties with traditional culture.
Purposefully maintaining an identity that does not correspond to the values and traditions of the host community undermines its social cohesion. The head of the British Commission on Racial Equality T. Phillips (himself a black Briton) believes that multiculturalism is "a child of a bygone era. All citizens should be guided by a common British identity." Australian researcher C. Mackenzie directly writes about the threats of multiculturalism both for the social institutions of modern democracy and for the culture of the majority. He gives interesting data on the cost of implementing government programs that provide such a policy for Australia - 7.2 billion dollars a year (about 2% of GDP) .
How effective are such social programs? Arguments in favor of the fact that multicultural initiatives can reproduce cultural identity and, on this basis, social segregation, are actively used in the political discourse of representatives not only of the conservative, but also of the left political spectrum. Fragmentation into linguistic, ethnic and religious communities makes it difficult to unite the efforts of interest groups, trade unions, social movements to fight for social equality and, as a result, hinder the strengthening of social solidarity. As a result, multiculturalism as an ideology of interaction turns out to be an ideology of fragmentation and maintenance of social exclusion. An attempt to consolidate the nation-state turns out to be the reproduction of a blurred identity, weakly rooted in the political and cultural tradition of the host nation.
Both the concept itself and the results that the implementation of multicultural practices brings are subject to more and more massive criticism within Western societies themselves. We can talk about the crisis of the multicultural doctrine. At the same time, the controversy is overloaded not so much with rational arguments as with emotional assessments. But, although in recent years multiculturalism has become the object of the most fierce discussions, alternative models for the integration of communities of other cultures have not been found. Achieving results along this path directly depends on the quality of migration flows.
At the individual level, skilled migrants mostly find their place in the host community. But the question of whether such integration occurs as a result of or in spite of multicultural practices remains open. Moreover, the fate of a significant part of the citizens of other cultures in Europe and America is still social marginalization.
Corrections are being made to current social practices, and migration legislation is becoming more selective and targeted. An analysis of current national practices of regulation related to the integration of communities of other cultures makes it possible to classify its existing models and assess the prospects for their revision.
NATIONAL MODELS OF INTEGRATION REGULATION
Approaches to the inclusion of immigrants in the life of host countries have changed markedly over the past half century, when labor migration has become a vital resource for the economic development of the West. Receiving states are faced with the need to expand state participation in solving a complex of problems related to the reception of migrants. In recent years, the most noticeable component of such a policy has been the streamlining of national migration legislation in order to severely limit the influx of immigrants. To meet the needs of national labor markets, a diversified approach to the reception of labor migrants was developed almost everywhere, preferential quotas were established for highly qualified specialists from third countries in order to meet the needs of an innovative economy. By themselves, these measures cause, however, ambiguous assessments, since the needs of the labor market are by no means limited to such specialists, and vacancies are not limited to the high-tech sector of the economy. A special priority was the regulation of humanitarian migration - the acceptance of asylum seekers, refugees and family members of already living foreign citizens.
The wave of terrorist attacks that swept through the United States and Europe at the beginning of the new century stimulated the introduction of strict formal criteria for entry: more and more common requirements for issuing a permit are the knowledge of the language of the host country, knowledge of the basics of its legal and historical and cultural traditions, as well as the obligation to follow them. Security concerns have now come to the fore in immigration-related risks, and governments are being forced to crack down on expanding police powers and spending more on public security. Such steps, however, provoke a negative reaction from Muslims, who note the growth of distrust in themselves both in everyday life and in communication with representatives of law enforcement agencies.
Tighter immigration regulations and heightened security measures reflect the growing concern about the complex problems generated by migration in all developed countries. At the same time, a noticeable discrepancy arose between the economic need for foreign labor and the prejudice of the population regarding the migrants themselves. The problems of race relations, immigration and migrants are named among the main ones for the country even by residents of such a state of traditional migration from former colonies like Great Britain. In May 2006, they were considered "most important" or "important" by 41% of Britons (in the 90s - only 5%). The discussion involved not only state structures and the media, but also such interested parties as employers' associations, trade unions and non-profit organizations (including those uniting migrants themselves), as well as local authorities. The question of how the protection of the rights of communities of other cultures, that is, the interests of a group nature, correlates with the protection of individual rights, which is the cornerstone of democracy, has become one of the key in the political confrontation between supporters and opponents of social deregulation.
Multiculturalism in the system of state regulation. In the countries of traditional migration in the last quarter of the 20th century, various models of adaptation of migrants to the host community were tested. Such mechanisms were especially actively developed where there was a need for multi-level integration of groups and communities of different social status and cultural orientation. Canada, where the confrontation between the Francophone minority and the English-speaking majority turned into a serious threat to the political unity of the country in the 60s, became a pioneer of the state policy of multiculturalism. But this policy also had other targets - the indigenous peoples (Innuit and Iroquois, who made up about 2% of the population) and first-generation migrants, whom Canada continued to accept under labor migration quotas.
The launching pad for a multicultural policy was the recognition in 1969 of the state status of the French language. A year later, Canadian Prime Minister P.E. Trudeau declared a de facto orientation towards multiculturalism in public policy. The necessity of state support for cultural diversity as a key resource for the development of Canadian society was declared. It is cultural diversity that has been and continues to be seen today as that special component of national identity that distinguishes Canadians from other nations.
Canadian identity was formed in the interaction of political and ethno-cultural factors. Multicultural practices were legalized in a number of legislative acts of the 1970s and 1980s, including the Charter of Rights and Freedoms (Constitution). At the same time, it was not possible to eliminate the smoldering confrontation: in the referendum on the political status of Quebec in the fall of 1995, the proponents of independence lagged behind the supporters of maintaining its status within the Canadian federation by only 1% of the vote. True, in subsequent years, the number of supporters of independence began to decline. But in the same Quebec, for example, a fierce discussion was caused by numerous cases of migrants being denied a free choice of school for their children in order to force them to study French, which once again testified to the complex interaction of national and ethnic components of identity within a multicultural nation.
However, at the national level, significant progress has been made in integrating immigrants and in maintaining on this basis a "special" multicultural identity, primarily due to the improvement of social services and conditions for highly educated immigrants. Canadian society is usually described by metaphors of "multicultural mosaic" or "bowl of lettuce": here cultures mix, coexist, but do not dissolve in the dominant culture, oriented to the Anglo-Saxon tradition.
A kind of laboratory of multiculturalism has become in the last three decades of the XX century. Australia. Unlike Canada, the issue of protecting the rights of aborigines was on the agenda here. At the same time, being a country of traditional immigration, Australia until the 60s pursued a discriminatory policy against non-European visitors. For a long time, she adhered to the course of replenishing the ranks of her citizens exclusively at the expense of the mother country and the Anglo-Saxon cultural tradition. The dominant trend was the assimilation of newcomers to "white Australia" and the segregation of representatives of other cultural minorities, including the indigenous population.
In the 60s, when economic ties with the countries of the Asia-Pacific region began to expand, immigrants of a different cultural orientation were drawn from there. The flow of those arriving from the metropolis by that time began to dry up. By the middle of the decade, the policy of maintaining a "white Australia" was put to an end, and integration became the main direction of regulation. In practice, it turned out to be a stepping stone towards the adoption of multiculturalism as a state strategy for the development of the nation, which was adopted with an eye on the Canadian experience. Such a policy was supposed to help preserve and strengthen the ethnic identity of communities formed by migrants of non-British origin, and protect the cultural identity of the indigenous people.
The implementation of this policy in both Canada and Australia has grown into a dense network of political and non-political institutions at the federal and local levels. Particular attention was paid to publishing and broadcasting in the languages of other cultural communities and the training of specialists in the field of education, as well as symbolic unifying initiatives, such as the Australian Day of Harmony. In recent years, in the context of a rapid increase in the number of Muslim migrants, national institutions have emerged to represent the interests of Muslim communities.
Multicultural practices in these countries have become part of everyday life. They form the information field, are prescribed in a special line in the national budget, determine the content of educational and educational projects. In the course of the implementation of such programs, a new generation of people has been formed, for many of whom, as survey data show, ethnic identity no longer plays such a significant role as in the previous generation. Supporters of the policy chosen by the state point to social peace and cultural diversity as its main achievements; numerous opponents bring weighty counterarguments - up to the infringement of human rights and the lack of freedom of individual choice of cultural and religious practices. In addition, concerns have been raised about the viability of the mainstream (Anglo-Saxon) cultural tradition, which allegedly came under the dual pressure of multiculturalism and mass culture.
The social demand for the integration of minorities who did not belong to the dominant cultural tradition was also formed in such a country of traditional immigration as New Zealand. However, here the focus of regulation turned out to be interaction with the indigenous population, for which the right to preferential state support was recognized.
New Zealand is the only country of traditional immigration where the principle of public policy was proclaimed biculturalism. According to this model, the content of national identity is determined by the experience of interaction between two cultures - the descendants of European immigrants and the indigenous Maori people. This course replaced the policy of assimilation and segregation of the indigenous population. The change of emphasis occurred in the context of the massive migration of Maori from the countryside to the cities, where employment and social infrastructure have grown rapidly since the 60s. The gradual weakening of ties with the former mother country, especially after the 1975 closure of programs to support white settlers from the United Kingdom, brought the question of the content of the New Zealand identity to the center of political discourse. This was all the more important because the sovereignty of the country was based on a treaty signed in 1840 by the Maori tribal leaders and the British Crown, which gave the natives a certain autonomy and special rights to the lands of their original residence and their resources. The significance for the national history of this document, previously forgotten, has been revised. It became a weighty political argument for introducing the idea of partnership between two communities - European and indigenous - as the basis of national identity. This was accompanied by the introduction of "positive discrimination" practices for the indigenous population, the creation of a network of relevant state and municipal institutions, and large-scale social initiatives in the field of education and culture. Maori were guaranteed representation in Parliament (seven seats).
However, in recent years the need to maintain such a quota has been called into question. Founded in 2004, the Maori Party, regardless of the quota system, won four of the seven seats in the parliamentary elections and became the fourth most influential in the country. In the process of implementing bicultural initiatives, the degree of public discussion around the expediency of a unilateral protective policy and the artificial construction of national identity began to rise rapidly. This was all the more relevant because outside the two communities that were recipients of bicultural practices, the number of first-generation immigrant groups of other cultures continued to grow, replenishing the labor force of a dynamically developing economy. The ethnic composition of the New Zealand population has become more diverse due to immigrants from the countries of the Asia-Pacific region. Critics of the official course have argued for the importance of individual rather than group rights in the construction of identity.
Multiculturalism as a social practice. In the country of the most massive immigration - USA - the nation was formed in the process of influx of different ethnic, racial and linguistic groups in the "melting pot" of American statehood. At the beginning of the last decade of the 20th century, the level of migration began to rise. In addition to officially registered migrants, in 2005 between 7 million (government statistics) and 12 million people lived illegally in the country (data Pew Hispanic Centre). Whites made up more than two-thirds of the total population - 69.1%, African Americans - 12.1, Hispanics - 12.5, Asians and Pacific Islanders - 4.0, representatives of indigenous peoples - 0.7, mixed race - 1, 7, others - 0.4%.
The main direction of state policy in recent decades has become "positive discrimination" against socially disadvantaged groups. It provided for the provision of benefits in the social sphere, primarily in admission to the civil service (the police, local governments, etc.) and in the higher education system. Although such programs had other target groups, they were more often directed at African Americans as a kind of compensation for segregation (unequal access to social benefits) that had been practiced for generations. The targeted support policy has produced notable results. But the implementation of "positive discrimination" has drawn criticism for "discrimination in reverse." The very principle of group rather than individual targeting of social assistance was called into question.
The aesthetic and ideological poverty of the cultural baggage that was accumulated during the period of the colonization of the "Wild West" stimulated the formation of a demand for integration into the national culture of the customs and traditions of different ethnic communities. Maintaining elements of the cultural traditions of ethnic groups and communities has become an organic part of the process of its formation, and cross-cultural practices have become part of the American way of life. Modern mass culture successfully exploits interest in ethnic styles in music, clothing, food - consumption areas that determine individuality through personal choice. This interest received an impulse precisely from the depths of American culture, or rather, the traditions of its ethnic groups. Modern youth subcultures also feed from this source.
However, multiculturalism has not established itself in the United States as a component of the ideology of national development, although multiculturalism was an objective state of American society. First of all, because in the ideological support of the national development strategy, the group identity, which multicultural practices are aimed at maintaining, traditionally occupied a subordinate position in relation to the individual identity. The American nation was seen as a "common home" of citizens - members of a political nation, but not communities of culturally close citizens. The logic of the "melting pot", in which, ideally, a new identity should have been formed, formally corresponded to such an approach. But only as long as ethnic identity was associated with backwardness and a lower standard of living.
The development of American culture stimulated the transformation of ethnicity into a distinctive feature of individuality, and such a dialectic already in the 70s called into question the vitality of the "melting pot" metaphor. This became especially noticeable when the number of temporary (including illegal) migrants from Latin America who arrived in search of work began to grow rapidly. Having compactly settled in the states bordering on Mexico, they, as bearers of the Latin cultural tradition, did not aspire to become "Americans". The majority maintained and maintains close ties with their "small homeland", which are not limited to the transfer of funds to families left at home. For example, there are more than 600 Mexican hometown associations in 30 US cities. They help organize and finance public works in their home countries, donate equipment for the development of the social sphere, sponsor educational programs, that is, they work mainly within the framework of humanitarian and cultural projects.
Discourse on cultural pluralism has become an integral part of political rhetoric, but it has not translated into political practice at the federal level. Another thing is the level of the states, especially such ethnically diverse ones as California or New Mexico. In the latter, the work of social services is organized, among other things, by invited specialists from Spain. The study of the Spanish language and culture is supported through educational and outreach programs. They prefer not to talk about the "melting pot" here. In California, even constituencies are divided in such a way as to ensure the political representation of minorities.
The events of September 11, 2001 sharpened the perception in American society of the problems associated with illegal immigration. In a country where the institutions of the rule of law are regarded as a basic value and an indisputable achievement of democracy, large groups of people continue to remain outside the legal field. Of no less concern are the difficulties of integrating new immigrants, primarily Muslims. Even in the data on the size of the Muslim population in the United States, there are noticeable discrepancies, especially since the question of religious affiliation was not included in the census questionnaires. According to expert estimates, in 2005 there were over 5.5 million Muslims living in the country, and there were 1,751 Islamic organizations (Islamic centers and mosques, schools, societies of American Muslims, etc.). The most significant group lived in New York (more than 0.5 million people); the largest communities were Asians (32%) and American Muslims, mostly African Americans (29%). Most of the employed Muslims worked in mechanical engineering, the electronics industry, in the field of computer technology and medicine, that is, they were highly qualified.
Interaction with consolidated groups of Muslims was established at the local level, primarily through inter-religious dialogue, which was initiated by the "other" side - Christians and Jews. But the vast majority of imams (77%) believed that Muslims should be actively involved in the life of American society. And first of all - in work for the benefit of the community and in the activities of the media, churches and educational institutions to improve the image of Islam in the country. “In several cities, Muslims and Christians are working together to help settle Muslim refugees. Some of them have found that while working on projects together can be more rewarding than "one more conversation," the challenge is to find the real deal that will get everyone to take it seriously, and find ways to reflect on what's been done together. » . Establishing such a dialogue is always painstaking daily work, and it is especially difficult when a high level of wariness in society towards visitors from Islamic countries remains.
In the postmodern era, the discussion about the vector of development of the nation-state and the influence of cultural factors on the consolidation of the political nation has become relevant for most European countries. First of all, it was reflected in the social policy of such former colonial powers as Great Britain and Holland. It is in these ethnically diverse countries that multiculturalism has become the principle of the social and cultural policy of the state.
AT Great Britain during the period of strengthening the welfare state, a purposeful policy was pursued to maintain "unity in diversity". Ethnic groups received support for their cultural initiatives from local communities (communities), delegated their representatives to the education and healthcare system. Religious schools have grown in popularity (faith schools), they adhered to the state standard of education and were financed from the state budget, but they had religious disciplines in their programs and were managed with the participation of confessional communities. In 2005, every third elementary school and every fifth secondary school (including 62 Muslim schools) had this.
The vast majority of these schools are run by the Anglican Church. According to the Spanish researcher, the traditional British institutionalization of relations between the state and the Anglican Church (which, however, does not provide for state funding of church organizations), as well as an active dialogue between them, lay the foundations for recognizing the right of other religious and cultural communities to maintain their own identity. It is these communities (Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Indian Sikhs, etc.) that turned out to be the recipients of targeted municipal support programs. Their cultural and religious centers have become part of the landscape of cities and towns, traditions and customs - a familiar part of everyday life.
Such a policy, however, could not eliminate the existing isolation of ethnic communities, especially in areas densely populated by non-European populations. Thus, in Leicester, about 80% of the population came from former colonies, primarily from India and Pakistan. Migrants made up the majority of the population of the outskirts of London and other large cities, where zones of compact habitation of various ethnic groups formed. Therefore, one of the priority objects for the implementation of social programs was the "internal ghettos" formed as a result of the construction of social housing. (inner cities) in major industrial centers. To end this stronghold of hidden segregation, measures were taken to disperse social housing, improve the quality of education and increase access to various educational programs. New cultural objects - museums, exhibition and concert halls - were removed from the historical center.
Integration policy in the UK was carried out in a broader context of combating social discrimination. The emphasis, especially in recent years, has been less on the special rights of immigrants and their descendants than on equal opportunities. These efforts have produced tangible results. It was possible to literally breathe new life into some depressed areas. Ethno-social tension at the turn of the 20th century. was visibly asleep. The report of the Commission on the Future of a Multiethnic Britain (2000) stated that the latter is "a community of citizens and a community of communities, both a free and multicultural society, and there is a need to reconcile and reconcile such interests of different groups that may conflict with each other" . This assessment, however, caused very contradictory responses, especially since, according to polls, every fifth Englishman has not overcome racist views.
Surveys of the income and skill level of the so-called new immigrants who arrived in the country after 1989 showed contradictory trends in the social development of such groups. They are more highly educated and their incomes have grown faster than comparable UK-born groups. At the same time, in most regions, the share of immigrants with incomes below the average level is noticeably higher than in the same group of natives of the country, and the share of the unemployed is higher. Even in such an "open" profession as journalism, only 1.8% of those employed are non-Europeans.
In the bowels of the rapidly growing Muslim community, closed communities were consolidated - inaccessible to the outside world, including law enforcement agencies, and connected by family ties or organized according to a network principle around a religious center, groups that practically did not maintain contact with outsiders. Outside the institutions of primary socialization, the level of interaction between representatives of different ethnic groups is low. According to polls, 4 out of 10 whites in the country have a negative attitude towards the possibility of the appearance of "black neighbors". Only 1% of native Britons have close friends from other cultural communities (among the representatives of such communities themselves, the picture is more varied - outside their community they maintain wider ties).
After the London Underground bombings in the summer of 2005, attitudes towards the notorious "Islamic threat" became a watershed in the country's public opinion - all the more important because these events gave impetus to the assessment of the effectiveness of multicultural practices by political and scientific circles. According to polls, about half of the British (but 2/3 of Muslim citizens) do not consider Islam "incompatible with the values of British democracy." Most citizens firmly believe that immigrants need to be "fully integrated into British society". 62% of Britons (and 82% of Muslims) support multi-cultural policy because it makes the country "a better place to live". More than 2/3 of Britons (and 74% of Muslims) do not agree with the thesis about the need to revise the policy of multiculturalism. But the government's immigration policy is described as "chaotic."
Responding to public demand, the Blair government responded by streamlining the regulation of immigration. In 2005, control over the granting of refugee status was tightened, a points system (similar to the Canadian one) was introduced for "attestation" of those entering for permanent residence, a classification of labor migrants by skill level was introduced (only holders of the highest qualification are allowed free entry, others must enlist support " sponsor") and reduced access to the labor market for low-skilled people. The system of work permits was abolished, which gave employers the right to invite non-citizens to work if there were no local applicants for a vacancy. These measures are ambiguously perceived by employers - as not always meeting the needs of the labor market and not allowing flexible response to them. There are active discussions on the legalization of people who have a job, but stay in the country illegally, and on the introduction of an English language exam for immigrants. Reduced (to five) the number of checkpoints for those entering the United Kingdom. The streamlining of legislation is in line with those changes that are expected (or have already been adopted) in most European countries.
Towards a revision of national models? Adjusting multicultural practices is inevitably a long and painful process. One of its directions is the active involvement of communities of other cultures in the implementation of social programs and the strengthening of their interaction with local authorities, national public organizations and state social institutions. In public discussion, calls are increasingly louder to study the positive experience of the communities themselves, for example, the traditions of supporting family members in need of protection - the elderly and children - and other forms of everyday communication and mutual assistance that are being lost in the West. Ways of combining civil and ethnic identities are also widely discussed, in relation to both foreign cultural and autochthonous ethno-national communities.
Until very recently, the model of European tolerance was considered Holland. She was known for her uncompromising commitment to a policy of respect for human rights. Having successfully overcome religious confrontation on the eve of the industrial revolution, this country most consistently pursued a policy of multiculturalism. At the same time, according to leading experts on migration issues, its authorities proceeded from the expectation that immigrants who managed to preserve their ethno-cultural identity would return home. But the calculation turned out to be a miscalculation: in the 90s, about a fifth of the country's population was of non-Dutch origin, and all large cities began to look like ethnic ghettos. The rightists started talking about the prospects for the complete Islamization of the country. After the murders of P. Fortuyn and T. Van Gogh, there were changes in the mood of the intellectual elite and the middle class, as well as the ideological adherents of the right-wing parties (especially among young people). In a country where any critical statement about immigrants until recently could be regarded as racist, the opinion that the attitude towards visitors, especially Muslims, was too soft prevailed. A report prepared in 2002 by a parliamentary commission on the experience of integration of migrants over the past three decades stated the failure of the state's multicultural policy. According to him, if integration did take place, it was rather in spite of state initiatives than thanks to them.
As a consequence, a radical revision of the policy of multiculturalism began. The main direction is not support, as before, for the self-organization of ethnic groups, but their involvement in national organizations at various levels. In addition, newcomers to the country must, under the new legislation, pass an exam in the Dutch language and the basics of national history. Holland is the most striking example of the revision of the ideology and practice of multiculturalism under the pressure of changes in political discourse and public sentiment.
Much attention is paid to solving integration problems in Belgium. In terms of the quality of legal regulation of migration and integration, it leads among the EU countries (see Fig.). At the same time, there is no special national model for the integration of communities of other cultures in Belgium. Wallonia gravitates towards the French approach and focuses on individual integration. Flanders - to the Dutch model and the granting of greater rights to communities. Brussels is trying to combine the advantages of both approaches, especially since many Muslims live here compactly. Islam was recognized as one of the official religions back in 1974, and religious institutions are supported by the state. The implementation of the integration program relies on a network of advisory bodies. In 2005, for the first time, a committee of the Muslim community was elected to represent the interests of Muslims in government. Permanently resident immigrants gained the right to vote in municipal elections.
The same rights are enjoyed by non-citizens permanently residing in Ireland. This country is one of the "youngest" in Europe in terms of the age structure of the population, the birth rate in it is still noticeably higher than the average for the EU-25 (1.98 versus 1.48), the need to replenish the labor market through migrants appeared here recently. Only in the mid-90s, due to the economic recovery and relatively lenient immigration laws, Ireland became an attraction for settlers from other countries. The national system of social protection extended to visitors. The attitude towards labor migrants was and generally remains benevolent, which is largely facilitated by the factor of historical memory of several generations of compatriots who went overseas in search of a better life. But this also predetermines the tacit attitude of Irish society towards the assimilation of those arriving for permanent residence.
Until now, immigration is not named among the Irish as a top priority. To a certain extent, this is due to the relatively small number of migrants from other cultures. At the same time, Ireland has received and continues to receive many visitors from the CEE countries, as well as foreign students (educational services are an important part of the national economy). Although there is no comprehensive program for regulating immigration and integration, the problems of protecting the rights of migrants in the labor market have been discussed in recent years within the framework of successfully functioning institutions of social partnership. In the future, organizations representing the interests of immigrants may join their work. There is a National Advisory Committee on Racism and Intercultural Dialogue that stimulates public debate on these issues. In recent years, measures have been taken to tighten immigration laws, but legal regulation in this area, due to the peculiarities of interstate relations with the UK, is coordinated with it.
AT Sweden The immigrant adaptation policy has been actively pursued since the mid-1970s. With an increase in labor immigration, the “community of migrants” was recognized as the addressee of this policy, and belonging to it positioned people as “other” in relation to the Swedes. In 1997, an integration course was taken, in which the needs and problems of migrants began to be addressed in the general context of social and cultural policies. Immigrants are considered in the light of this approach as one of the socially unprotected groups. According to the government, integration policy should proceed from general human rights, and not from the special rights of communities of other cultures, respect the rights of the individual, and not just the rights of ethnic and religious groups. In the debate on migration and integration issues, trade unions and the left in general take a defensive position, consistent with the mentality of the majority of the population. Right-wing parties, by contrast, are generally in favor of managed labor migration in the interests of labor-starved businesses. This is reflected in the political controversy, but not in the funding of various local programs aimed at immigrants.
Finland occupies the last line among the "old" EU members in terms of the number of foreign citizens living in it (the relative majority of whom are Russians). Finnish society is distinguished, according to survey data, by a high degree of social cohesion. This gives grounds to interpret the "Finnish miracle" of recent years (the highest indexes of competitiveness of the economy, low levels of corruption, success in education) in terms of social solidarity, as well as effective targeted regulation of social problems by the state. A significant contribution to their solution is made by local communities that implement a wide variety of social and cultural initiatives.
One of the objects of such initiatives is the Saami ethnic group - an indigenous people and, at the same time, an ethnic minority living in the north of Finland (as well as Sweden, Norway and our Kola Peninsula). The Saami of these countries have their own representative body in the person of the regional parliament. Finnish law guarantees them cultural autonomy, provides education in their native language, and also recognizes its use and the presence of Sámi ancestors as significant landmarks of their ethnic self-identification. Indigenous traditional occupations are also supported, but the issue of ownership of historic habitat lands remains unresolved and causes friction in society. Another problem, for which there are no mechanisms for solving it, is the wary attitude in the culturally homogeneous Finnish society towards immigrants as carriers of a "different" and alien tradition.
The most stringent legislation to regulate migration is in force today in Denmark. Human rights are cultivated here as an indisputable and paramount value of democracy. But the so-called caricature scandal once again reminded us of the limits of freedom of speech and the dangers of using such freedom to incite ethnic discord and fuel religious fundamentalism.
Due to the deterioration of attitudes towards migrants in political circles and in society as a whole, there was a conviction that the integration policy was a failure. None of the leading parties is opposed to tougher immigration laws, and migration itself is seen as "a threat to the future well-being of the country in economic, cultural and religious terms." The reception of refugees is sharply limited; for family reunification, the age limit (24 years) is set for Danish citizens. Strengthened sanctions against employers who hire illegal migrants. At the same time, quotas have been introduced to facilitate the arrival of engineers and high-tech specialists. The main efforts are supposed to be focused on the integration of those who are already in the country. There are the Ministry of Refugees, Immigration and Integration and the Council of Ethnic Minorities. Plans for the restructuring of urban areas where migrants live compactly, programs for vocational education, and the recruitment of representatives of the non-Danish population to serve in municipalities are financed (however, the share of such employees remains stably low - 2.2%). The experience of Denmark, within which the attitudes of previous decades are most radically revised, is of keen interest outside of it; its elements are being introduced, in particular, in Holland.
In France all problems related to the regulation of the integration of the population of other cultures - immigrants from the former French colonies, are considered in the context of their inclusion in the political nation. The state has not yet had a targeted program to overcome social exclusion or curb the radical manifestations of the "diversity" of its citizens. In practical politics, the main attention was paid to individual integration, while communities of other cultures as such did not become a priority addressee of regulation. The Government Committee for Integration and the State Council for Integration, established in 1989, hardly involved representatives of those with whom they should work in their activities. There is still not a single representative of the multi-million Muslim population of the country among parliamentarians. There are not even statistics on the ethnic and religious affiliation of the inhabitants - it is believed that such calculations impede the implementation of the integration strategy. Accordingly, the problems of social marginalization that arose as a result of the failure of strategies for assimilation and integration into the civic nation are hushed up. And the suburban riots that swept across the country in 2005 can be seen as a way to "be heard", to show solidarity with all those who find themselves in the social ghetto.
P. Bourdieu called migrants in France a Socratic term atopos(from the Greek "out of place"). There is a marked difference between the political rhetoric of a common civic identity of "all French" and the everyday experience of second-class citizens. Ethnic and class characteristics retain their significance in the system of individual identity components, and this hinders integration. Cases of hidden discrimination based on ethnicity in employment are not uncommon. Adjustments in the regulation of migration issues today provide for a more selective approach to the reception of migrants and preference for those who "are easier to integrate into French society" .
The dichotomy "political nation" - "ethnic nation", describing the processes of formation and development of the nation-state in France and Germany, became a stereotype during the Franco-Prussian war of 1870-1871. Even then, the Germans on the issue of Alsace and Lorraine brought linguistic and cultural arguments, and the French - political ones. In the first case, the construction of a nation-state takes place on the basis of belonging to a single ethnic group, in the second, a community of citizens professing common political ideals stimulates the formation of a common cultural identity. As a gross oversimplification, the opposition between "political" and "ethnic" nations applies in Weber's sense of "ideal type." It can be used to explain the differences in the policies of states that are similar in terms of the level of development and the nature of problems in the labor market, as well as receiving comparable human flows from third countries (see Table 1 in the first part of the article).
Germany Until recently, it was guided by the model of "ethnic nation". The only recipients of the integration programs were ethnic Germans arriving from abroad for permanent residence. A country of mass labor immigration, Germany received guest workers, primarily from Turkey, whom it hoped to return home. As in the Netherlands, this calculation did not materialize, but the answer was not the introduction of multicultural practices, but restrictive citizenship legislation. This approach was based on the anti-immigration rhetoric of the main political forces, reflecting the degree of public sentiment.
Noticeable changes took place in the 1990s, when Germany finally recognized itself as an immigration country, and the regulation of labor migration became part of the integration policy. Quotas were introduced to attract highly qualified specialists from abroad. The labor migrants themselves were proposed to be divided into three categories: in addition to the “wanted” workers, the categories of “useful” (those who fill unclaimed vacancies) and “inevitable” (persons without qualifications, members of immigrant families) were singled out. At the turn of the 21st century, legislation on citizenship and naturalization was brought into line with the norms adopted in most EU countries. In the context of a reorientation towards jus soli(“right of the soil”, that is, the right to citizenship by birth in a given country), immigrant children born in Germany finally have the opportunity to choose citizenship, although dual citizenship is still not recognized. These measures, however, were accompanied by a reduction in social spending in areas that are necessary for the successful integration of migrants, primarily in education. The discussion about the expediency and possibility of applying multicultural practices was more active than in neighboring France. It was initiated by business representatives who were concerned about the situation on the labor market and the unwillingness of society to realize the coming problems. But, as before, the discussion was distinguished by high political intensity, and the policy in the field of migration regulation and integration remained a zone of delimitation of society into supporters and opponents of the prospect of turning the nation into a multicultural one. In both countries - both in France and in Germany - "there were serious ideological barriers that made it difficult for the emergence of such a phenomenon as a multicultural nation" .
Southern Europe itself has in the recent past been a supplier of cheap labor to other regions. By the 1990s, all the countries of this region that joined the EU had become immigration. This social metamorphosis was not supported by a targeted policy of regulation of migration and integration. Therefore, the measures taken were mainly a reaction to the current situation, and their object was not so much groups of other cultures as immigrants in general (although some targeted adaptation policies were carried out, for example, in Spain in relation to the Roma). The main method of regulation was one-time amnesties, the purpose of which was to recognize the actual status of labor migrants living in the national territory. The legalization of those who had a job allowed them access to a number of vital social services. Amnesties have been carried out repeatedly in the last 10-15 years and in Italy, and in Spain. In this regard, the opinion of the authors of the report of the Global Commission on International Migration is interesting: such actions and the "certain tolerance" of states for illegal migration "can be considered in some respects as a de facto liberalization of the global labor market" . Another method was the strengthening of border controls, including maritime borders. However, it was the South of Europe that remained a transit point for the penetration of illegal immigrants into other European countries, and mass amnesties provoked protests from EU partners, especially France.
In recent years, attempts to institutionalize the interaction of representatives of the most numerous communities, primarily Muslim ones, with the state are obvious in the southern European countries. AT Portugal in 2003, the National Immigrant Support System was established, which provides legal and other assistance to those arriving in the country, relying on a network of agencies that assist migrants in the field. In turn, these bodies actively cooperate with non-profit associations, with Catholic church communities and with organizations that protect the interests of migrants. Such support services have begun to appear in a number of regions of Italy, especially where problems related to the reception of immigrants are particularly acute (for example, in Veneto).
The effectiveness of the activities of such structures, as well as the effectiveness of measures to regulate immigration, directly depends on the effectiveness of state and municipal government. Greece here is the most striking example. Despite the impressive increase in immigration in the 1990s (which included ethnic Greeks), the National Employment Development Plan leaves aside the complex problems associated with migrant labor. The main political forces recognize the importance of labor immigration, but the public discussion on this topic is sluggish. Society as a whole is still oriented toward the "nation of the Greek majority"; state programs aimed at recognizing cultural differences or protecting the social rights of migrants have not been developed, and local authorities are poorly involved in interaction with non-Greek population groups living in their territories. At the same time, according to survey data, there is a growing awareness in the country of the positive contribution of migrants to national economic development.
A number of new immigration countries are developing expert assessments of such contributions and systems of indicators that reveal the degree of integration of migrants. This is all the more important because for the European South, immigration from the Third World is not the only object of attention, and success in the adaptation of those arriving in the country largely depends on the implementation of a targeted and differentiated policy towards various ethnic groups. Italy is forced to accept refugees and migrants from Albania and the former Yugoslavia, while Spain and Portugal - from Latin America. Interaction with such groups is complicated by a whole range of social problems. Thus, the emergence of street gangs and the growth of crime in Spain is usually associated with the confrontation of groups from former colonies, as well as from Eastern Europe. And what is characteristic - the majority of immigrants themselves (up to 87% of those surveyed in Italy) believe that the level of tolerance towards crime is "too high". a council of well-known and successful Muslim figures Measures are being taken to encourage the participation of immigrants in existing trade union organizations, city councils and districts.
However, a significant part of them continues to hang like a burden on the social budget of the host countries. The lack of a targeted government policy to regulate integration fuels anti-immigration sentiment. In the countries of Southern Europe, it is widely believed that newcomers take away work from the local population, although they mainly fill those vacancies (primarily in the service sector) that are unacceptable to others due to very low pay. At the same time, according to surveys among Italians, it is the professional qualities and level of education, and not cultural characteristics (such as religion) that are preferred in a number of criteria for inviting people to work in the country, which indicates a purely rational and utilitarian assessment of the priorities of immigration politicians .
None of the developed countries has such a purposeful state policy of consolidating the nation on an ethnic basis, as in Japan. Back in 1986, Prime Minister Y. Nakasone openly called Japan "a country of one race." The idea of a monoethical nation, in which there is no place for other ethnic communities, continues to dominate state policy today. Immigration laws are very strict, with the non-Japanese population, including foreigners, ranging from 3.2 to 4.8%. Those who arrived in the country even in the middle of the last century are in the position of "guests". Today, different ethnic groups live in Japan - more than 700 thousand Koreans and 200 thousand Chinese, as well as representatives of the indigenous Ainu people (about 25 thousand people on Hokkaido). A special group is made up of about 3 million burakumin - ethnic Japanese, descendants of the historically established caste of "dirty" professions (butchers, tanners, gravediggers, scavengers). For centuries, despite the abolition of the caste system in 1871, they remained second-class citizens and were subjected to severe segregation.
In order to overcome discrimination against these people, who lived mainly in urban ghettos, an integration law was passed in 1969, during the implementation of which it was possible to significantly improve their living conditions. Significant progress has been achieved along this path (this was stated, in particular, by the national association for the struggle for granting burakumin equal social rights). But even today, unemployment among the descendants of Burakumin is twice the national average, and there are frequent cases of outright discrimination in hiring. Social segregation is actively resisted, especially in the field of education, but the availability of its highest level for burakumin is estimated at 60% of the average. The effective implementation of state assistance programs is also hindered by everyday chauvinism that has taken root in society.
The policy of integration of communities of other cultures has brought the most significant results in the countries of traditional migration, especially where it has been successfully incorporated into strategies to combat social discrimination. On the contrary, it was least successful where the orientation towards the "ethnic nation" model remained or where not only the number of communities of other cultures, primarily Muslims, grew rapidly, but also processes of their consolidation were underway. The same problems faced by all immigration states without exception stimulated the search for common approaches. Based on the analysis of national practices of state regulation of integration, we can illustrate the classification of regulation models as follows (see Fig.).
Picture. Integration of communities of other cultures in developed countries: classification of regulation models (as of 2005-2006)
1 Estimates are based on the analysis of aggregate indicators of the "European Citizenship and Inclusion Index" (European Civic Citizenship and Inclusion Index), which take into account the level of involvement of migrants in labor relations, the regulation of family reunification, long-term stay, naturalization, as well as the effectiveness of the application of anti-discrimination legislation. See: Country Summary Reports on the Transposition of the Racial Equality Directive (www.migpolgroup.com/reports/).
2 Cumulative assessments of the degree to which immigration and integration priorities are included in state policy, and representation (including self-representation) of migrants' interests - in the system of political institutions and/or civil society institutions. Made by the author on the basis of materials from country reports on immigration in 2005 (see: Current Immigration Debates in Europe: A Publication of the European Migration Dialogue; Migration Country Reports 2005. United Kingdom, Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Germany , Spain, Italy, Greece - www.migpolgroup.com/reports/), as well as materials from official government websites of countries of traditional immigration.
WHAT IS THE COMING DAY PREPARING? PROSPECTS FOR THE REGULATION OF MIGRATION AND INTEGRATION
Both objects of regulation - migration flows and the processes of integration of emerging communities of other cultures - are today in the focus of attention of all countries of Western democracy without exception. At the turn of the 21st century, in the context of globalization, the entire developed world became an enclave of immigration due to the aggravation of demographic problems.
States of traditional immigration turned to multicultural practices at a previous stage of development, in the last third of the past century. Searches for common approaches have been undertaken at the EU level. Here, in recent years, a number of decisions have been made on the coordination of national programs for regulating immigration, and in the future it is planned to create mechanisms for such coordination in relation to immigration from third countries. General principles for humanitarian migration (acceptance of refugees and asylum seekers) have been developed and applied. Within the framework of the EU, active monitoring of labor and humanitarian migration is carried out, centers for studying the problems of immigration and integration have been created. Their main task is to provide support for the implementation of common European principles of anti-discrimination legislation and, within these principles, a fair (fair) relationship with non-citizens.
However, the choice of priorities in the implementation of such a policy and model of regulation remains with the nation state. In receiving countries, there has been a convergence of legislation governing the entry of migrants and mechanisms for their inclusion in the national labor market. The ideas of quoting the influx of skilled labor and, especially, stimulating "desired migration" are gaining more and more popularity. An exam in the language and the basics of the history of the host country is introduced. Programs are being developed for the provision of housing and social services, designed to prevent the isolation of migrants from the national society. Most European countries include the solution of these problems in comprehensive social programs aimed at ensuring equal opportunities for access to the labor market. Therefore, especially great efforts are being made to involve the children of migrants in the system of primary and secondary education.
The cultural heritage of the Muslim world is being popularized. The Western intellectual community shows a steady interest in the work of people from the Islamic cultural tradition. Many of them bring fresh ideas and become new authorities in design, architecture, cinema. Elements of the traditions of ethnic groups and communities from non-European countries have become an integral part of the modern cultural landscape and everyday life, and this happened primarily on the wave of migration flows. African culture at the end of the 19th century inspired the development of plastic arts in the Old World and to this day retains its significance. However, the African continent itself remains almost exclusively the object of targeted social programs. Involved in their implementation through the system of network NGOs (Oxfam etc.) millions of citizens of Western countries.
Calculations of tax revenues to the budget from immigrants, carried out in recent years, indicate a steady increase in their contribution to the national economy. As noted in a report on taxes paid by immigrants to the UK treasury, "migration can stimulate economic development, capital accumulation and more flexible labor market policies. On the other hand, without successful integration, many immigrants find themselves on the economic and social periphery of the host community. In addition, , economic outcomes are only part of the picture of the massive impact of immigration on the national community, and the dynamism and diversity that migrants bring cannot be measured statistically. Among the factors affecting the level and quality of regulation, the key was the recognition by all European countries of their actual status as countries of labor immigration, and the immigrants themselves as a development resource. Therefore, the primary task is to develop quantitative and qualitative assessments of the needs of the labor market and social institutions.
The historical character of nation-building ("political" versus"ethnic" nation) still influences the choice of the model of regulation of immigration and integration. The countries of traditional immigration have consistently embodied the dream of forming a new cultural identity in the "melting pot" of the civic nation. The experience of the colonial past also remains significant for the choice of model. In the development and application of multicultural strategies, continuity is seen with the orientation towards polyethnicity inherent in the imperial tradition. Factors such as the presence of the problem of indigenous peoples and the level of ethno-national conflict in the host community also continue, although less than in previous decades, to affect the formation of integration models. Acceptance of religious and cultural diversity also depends to a certain extent on the degree of institutionalization of relations between church and state. Where the state, as in France, does not interact in any way with traditional religion, it is not inclined to recognize the special rights of other religious communities. But where, as in Great Britain, such interaction is institutionalized and at the same time not overloaded with ideological and political discussions, communities of other cultures can receive recognition and targeted support.
In those countries where these factors are significant individually (or in combination), the mechanisms for maintaining cultural diversity are included in state development strategies (multiculturalism) or are implicitly perceived as an important component of the development of the national community. However, in recent years, the ideas of multiculturalism have lost, at least in European countries, their former attractiveness. A complex of social problems remains unresolved, and the danger of growing alienation of the closed communities of other cultures that have developed here remains. In addition, Western countries are faced with the task of developing different approaches to different groups of immigrants and, accordingly, adjusting their regulatory priorities. As is known, the recipients of multicultural practices have so far been migrants and their descendants arriving in the country for permanent residence and work. The problems of refugees, temporary or illegal migration require a more differentiated approach and in many ways different solutions. The priority in this case is functional integration - the development of a set of knowledge and skills that allow newcomers to the country to independently provide for themselves. For EU countries, the problem of adaptation to new conditions of citizens coming for temporary and permanent work from Central Europe is also acute. The problem is all the more urgent in the light of the prospects for further enlargement of the European Union.
Models of integration policy are now being revised or substantially adjusted in all democratic countries that receive migrants without exception. The general direction of evolution is the formation of a more goal-oriented and targeted regulation policy in relation to specific groups of migrants. Multiculturalism retains its relevance where it is adopted as a public policy. But, regardless of whether such attitudes are declared at the level of state policy or implemented within the framework of specific social practices, the implementation of programs for the adaptation and integration of immigrants is increasingly delegated to local communities. It is through them that the implementation of the strategy of "unity in diversity" is recognized as the most effective. Cooperation of local public organizations and groups of citizens with representatives of other cultural religious and ethnic groups is carried out within the framework of initiatives to promote the national cultural heritage (joint holidays, festivals of ethno-cultural traditions) and at the level of institutions of primary socialization. Financing of such institutions is used, among other things, as a means of control over their activities.
In a number of European countries (Ireland, Sweden, Denmark, Holland, Belgium, Spain), immigrants received the right to vote in elections to local authorities. Political participation is seen as one of the most effective ways to stimulate socio-cultural integration. At the same time, the idea that integration and maintaining cultural diversity is a two-way street is gaining more and more understanding among representatives of local authorities, volunteer organizations, and religious communities. Community representatives are invited to take a significant part of the care and responsibility for their members and receive appropriate support from local authorities. With such a formulation of the issue, the right to cultural identity, freedom of speech and self-expression should be supported by a responsible and balanced attitude towards the exercise of their rights by both the majority and representatives of ethnic minorities. Ultimately, integration as "moving towards each other" changes both foreign cultural and host communities.
In this sense, counteracting fundamentalist and extremist sentiments within religious communities of other cultures, whose activities are organized in a "closed door" mode, remains a serious problem. Thus, more than a third of imams in France do not speak French, which creates essentially insurmountable obstacles to the development of intercultural dialogue. Orientation towards a moderate elite, rooted in the social structure of the host community, may, according to some experts, contribute to the development of interaction. The purposeful support of institutions that adhere to the so-called European Islam becomes a vital task. These are moderate variants of religious and cultural practices, following which not only does not cause a conflict of religious and civil identities, but also enhances the ethical motivation for their interaction. Significant are the opportunity to teach Muslim schoolchildren the basics of religion and culture (such an initiative is supported by the Vatican), and publishing activities, and interaction with religious institutions in countries oriented towards "average" Islam (such as Kuwait), and finally, the promotion of everyday experience and life strategies of those Muslims who have achieved success and are rooted in the host society. However, such measures cause a mixed reaction from that part of the Muslim community that strictly follows the letter of tradition.
In recent years, institutions have appeared in almost all Western countries that defend the interests of the Muslim community. They are inscribed in the existing system of functional representation. The problem is that the people delegated to them do not always have unconditional authority among the Muslim population. Another way to involve members of other cultural communities in the system of political participation is the direct representation of ethnic minorities in legislative and party bodies (as in the Parliament and the Labor Party of Great Britain or in Parliament and other political institutions in New Zealand). In total, there are about 30 Muslim deputies in the parliaments of European countries today. Representatives of the Muslim community, who are primarily perceived as "other cultures" due to their religious "otherness", are often included in such bodies as "dissidents", who disagree with the prevailing ideas about the "immutability of cultural traditions" (for example, in Holland). They defend the rights of members of their ethno-cultural groups from the standpoint of Western democracy. This is met with a harsh reaction, up to death threats, from religious fundamentalists. The social adaptation and integration of immigrants does not remove the issue of countering extremist sentiments both within communities of other cultures and on the far right of the political flank of Western countries.
The creation of a World Organization for Migration is widely discussed. Since December 2003, under the auspices of the UN, the Global Commission on International Migration has been working, its task is to create a framework infrastructure for formulating an answer to these problems. Cooperation with donor countries of human resources remains a potential means of solving them. The effectiveness of interaction is determined primarily by the nature of the political regime of the state, where migration flows come from. Practices of interaction between local communities of receiving and sending countries are actively developing. For many first-generation migrants, the opportunity to return leaves the potential freedom to make new life choices and improve social status in their home country. Contacts are maintained with families left behind and chances are used to introduce children who have grown up in the West to traditional values. However, as experience shows, such a sharp change in the institutions of socialization can fuel religious fundamentalism.
At the individual level, the problem of "double" identity, that is, the rootedness of its bearers in both traditional and host cultures, is still not solved today exclusively within the framework of an alternative choice between incompatible life strategies. Such an identity becomes a cultural norm, the result of cultural diffusion in the era of the information society (despite the fact that the idea of synthesis is far from acceptable for all those who have to face such a dilemma). The development of modern means of communication forms transnational spaces outside and beyond state borders. There is a need for new guidelines for individuals, groups, national communities. The very task of conceptualizing such communities is a serious challenge for political science. Determining the landmarks of national-civilizational identity and long-term development priorities therefore becomes relevant not only for Russia, but also for those countries that stood at the origins of modern European democracy. The problem is whether the European political and cultural tradition will be able to develop effective mechanisms for civilizational synthesis.
The question of the possibility of such a synthesis remains open. To what extent are developed countries ready to accept and integrate communities and groups of other cultures, and to what extent are such groups themselves, primarily those from the Islamic world, ready to get involved in the work of the social and political institutions of the West, which has provided its citizens with the highest standard of living in the world? How does the prospect of such inclusion correlate with the expressed desire to preserve one's own value and cultural orientations? And how is the fundamental question of correlating group identity and free individual choice resolved? How to compensate for the risks associated with globalization, including those caused by the movement of large-scale human flows? An assessment of the long-term prospects for the coexistence and interaction of cultural fields, which today give impetus to the development of "large regions" of the world economy, largely determines the responses to these and other challenges of globalization. The preservation and consolidation of a civilizational identity oriented towards the Christian tradition remains the basis for ensuring the viability of the world to which Russia belongs.
But the modern "world of worlds", about which M. Gefter wrote, requires constant and purposeful efforts to maintain it. These problems cannot be solved only by means of political and legal regulation. Ultimately, a solution is possible only at the level of dialogue between cultures and bearers of cultural traditions.
Sriskandarajah D., Cooky L., Reed H. Paying their way The fiscal contribution of immigrants in the UK. L., 2005. P. 12. In 1999-2000. the contribution of immigrants to the total tax revenues to the budget was 8.8%, in 2003-2004 - already 10%, and the growth rate of revenues from them exceeded the corresponding figures for the British by almost four times.
See: Commission of the European Communities. Communication on Immigration, Integration and Employment. Brussels, Com (2003) 336.
Cm.: Ramadan T. Western Muslims and the Future of Islam. Oxford, 2004.
Cm.: Bundeszentrale fur Politishe Bildung (www.bpb.ac)
