Social policy of the state as a tool of motivation of social development

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Article

Social policy of the state as a tool of motivation of social development

Tamara G. Grinenko, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (North-West Institute of Management, Branch of rAnEPA), Saint-Petersburg, Russian Federation

Abstract

social development state motivation

The article shows that the activities of the State in the field of social support and social protection are aimed at addressing the needs of the lower levels of Maslow's pyramid of motivation: physiological needs, the needs of a safe existence. Currently, we are fighting poverty, while we need to create conditions for the formation of an active life position of citizens, which is aimed at the development of the human capital of the country, on the quality of which the successes of modern society depend. This task is achieved by forming motivations of the highest levels of the pyramid: the need for social contacts, self-affirmation and self-expression. The development of the Concept and Program for Human Capital Development would allow to coordinate and link all activities of a socio-economic nature, both already being implemented in the country and formulated in the Address of the President to the Federal Assembly on January 15, 2020.

Keywords: motivation, stimulus, social policy, social state, human capital, social justice

In modern scientific literature, motivation is understood as the conscious behavior of the acting subject, aimed at achieving the goals [7]. The main conceptual problem is that in contemporary literature motivation is considered at the level of an individual or group, a collective as a concept of organizational management, personnel management, pedagogy, psychology, but not as a concept of management theory at the level of society as a whole. At the same time, state and municipal management nowadays conceptually proceeds from the management approach and actively uses concepts that have not been previously applied in the domestic practice of public administration: brands, image, territory marketing, etc. Therefore, to consider the motivation of society as a factor in state development, and to reveal the social policy of the state as a tool for motivating social development is an urgent task of state and municipal government at the present stage.

Motivation (from lat. Movere) -- an impulse to action, a psychophysiological dynamic process that controls the behavior of the subject, determining its orientation, organization, activity and stability; the subject's ability to actively satisfy his/her needs. Motivation of behavior is nothing but the characteristics of the ideal side of the action, such as intention, aspiration, desire. A motive is a material or ideal object, the desire to achieve which is the meaning of actual activity. The motive is given in the form of certain experiences, which are determined by positive emotions from the anticipation of achievement. In the opposite sense - without receiving anything -- negative.

Three main methods of motivation are determined:

organizational and administrative;

economic;

socio-psychological.

Such a classification is based on highlighting the direction of the impact on the needs of the subject.

Economic methods of motivation are supported and reinforced by economic incentives. Organizational and administrative methods are based on directives, secured by laws, the rule of law, i. e. act by applying administrative incentives. Socio-psychological methods are needed to increase social activity. With the help of tests, surveys, interviews and questionnaires, the interests and needs of the subject are identified. Socio-psycho- logical stimulation corresponds to his interests, religious, social and aesthetic preferences.

Actually, social policy is a system of incentives aimed at forming the motivation of society for an active life position. In the scientific literature, there are several approaches to the definition of the concept of “social policy”. The broadest definition interprets social policy as the actions of the authorities aimed at achieving the goals of society. This point of view is reflected in the works of P D. Pavlenko, T. I. Zaslavskaya, I. M. Lavrinenko, V. M. Kapitsyna [4]. In studies of other authors, social policy is defined as a system of social support for low-income and socially vulnerable segments of the population to ensure the necessary level of satisfaction of their needs [8]. Social policy is also understood as a public administration tool aimed at redistributing public goods in order to equalize existing social inequality [2]. In addition, there is an approach to understand social policy as a system of measures aimed at implementing the principle of social justice [1].

In modern studies of state and municipal government, social policy is mainly understood as social support and social protection of the population. Thus, the stimulating orientation of social policy disappears, which does not allow it to fulfill the role of an instrument of motivating citizens to an active life position in all spheres of society.

The social policy of the state is the most important area of government. It is social policy that displays the real level of socio-economic development of the country and the political orientation of government action. Therefore, social policy is a holistic system purposefully developed and implemented areas and activities aimed at meeting the needs of society in accordance with the level of its economic development and the strategic goal of public administration. In this case, social policy acts as an instrument of public administration, combining the state orientation of development with the initiative of society. The implementation of this function of social policy can only be effective when the society is oriented towards the fulfillment of the main strategic task, i. e. the motivation of society, citizens of the state is the most important factor in state development.

Today, the state's implementation of modern social policy does not show orientation toward strategic development tasks, but a tactical search for solutions to existing problems. Yes, of course, the number of poor in our country is prohibitive. And the category of this population must be supported. In the Address of the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin to the Federal Assembly on January 15, 2020, new state initiatives were formulated to support low-income citizens, while it was noted that 70-80% of low-income (that is -- poor) people are families with children. Yes, of course, demographic problems require urgent solutions, otherwise in 20 years they will become the main factor hampering our development. The proposed changes in the payment of maternity capital optimally reflect the features of the current stage of the demographic development of our country. This is, first of all, the generation of the 1990s - 2000s that came into childbearing age. During this period, Russia had a low birth rate. You also need to add the consumer life orientation of this generation, low willingness to enter into official marriages, the desire for a comfortable life or career advancement. Therefore, the birth of the first child is most often postponed to a later period, and the second, in this case, may not appear at all. The proposed payment of maternity capital for the first child is a good timely incentive. But it's important not only to give birth to a child, it is important that, becoming an adult, he can realize himself as efficiently as possible for the benefit of society. No matter how significant the stimulating role of social policy measures aimed at supporting vulnerable groups of the population is, it has a weak effect on the formation of citizens' motivation for social activity. The main reason for the situation is that we are fighting poverty, while it is necessary to combat the social failure of our citizens. And this task requires a focused integrated and systemic solution. First of all, we need to “reanimate” the main development goal of our country, defined by the Constitution of the Russian Federation: the Russian Federation is a social state. As you can see, in recent years, much has been done to support vulnerable segments of the population. But, if we analyze the proposed measures from the point of view of the theory of motivation and A. Maslow's pyramid known to all, then the actions of the state are aimed at solving the issues of satisfying the needs at the lower levels of the pyramid: physiological needs, the needs of a safe existence. These needs of the first two levels are solved by measures of a passive nature: people protect, support and help. But the essence of the social state is that it creates the conditions for every citizen to fulfill the needs of the highest levels of the A. Maslow pyramid: the need for social contacts, self-affirmation and self-expression. The needs of the three highest levels are associated with the personal development of a person.

The basic principle that determines the nature of the actions of the authorities aimed at the implementation of these needs is social justice. The content of this concept is culturally historically, socially, emotionally and psychologically determined.

What is the strength of the famous expression, which is considered the national idea of the Russian pre-revolutionary society -- “Orthodoxy, autocracy, nationality”? The point is that this expression very accurately reflects the idea of society about its unity, that the three main forces of social development are perceived as interconnected, represent a single whole, expressing the cultural and historical essence of the state, society, and man, they are inseparable from each other.

Actually, the semantic nature of this expression determines the essence of the principle of “social justice” for Russian society. The scientific literature constantly emphasizes the collectivist nature of the values of Russian society, but draws attention to the paternalistic nature of relations between power beholders and the individual. In terms of meaning, this is not at all true. Nevertheless, the choice of tools with which the state realized the interaction of power and society, especially in the Soviet period, formed just such a social perception of the principle of “social justice”. The social policy of the state, based on the redistribution of social benefits to equalize social inequality, reinforces this perception of the principle. Psychologically, this approach forms the stability of society, but with high demands on the obligations of the authorities and social infantilism of the individual. The hard and difficult period of our country's development is currently reinforcing this contradiction due to low salaries, meager unemployment benefits, the difficulty of finding jobs after 45-50 years, the excessive cost of educational and medical services, and the lack of social elevators. The generation of those who are 20-year-olds no longer hopes for state assistance, but blames it for their failure. There are objective reasons for this. At present moment, no conditions have been created to allow each person to realize themselves in society in accordance with their abilities. One of the important issues is identifying abilities. Many methods have been developed aimed at determining a person's predisposition to a particular activity, based on his abilities and personal characteristics. But such a state program, which should be implemented already in kindergarten, is absent. School psychologists also do not deal with issues of vocational guidance. There is no state concept for the development of the domestic labor market; there is no state policy on the development of the country's labor resources. Of course, the state is taking steps to streamline relations on the labor market: developing professional standards, establishing Qualification Assessment Centers, redistributing budget places between institutions based on their professional orientation, developing characteristics and directions for creating a digital society, etc. But in this case, we again see a reactive, rather than an active state policy. Moreover, it is not comprehensive, which does not make it possible to enhance the effectiveness of the measures taken, since there is no synergistic approach. Thus, large resources, both material and intellectual, are spent on implementing measures in the social sphere, but the result leaves much to be desired: sociologists call the generation of 20-year-olds “a generation without a future” [5]. It is not only about the fact that in the generations of one family poverty is reproduced, but also about the fact that young people stop dreaming, realizing that achieving a dream is unrealistic. It is not an active life position that is being formed, but social apathy. The young man chooses, so to speak, not a profession, but a job that would allow him not to be poor. The exam, which, according to officials, provides an opportunity for talented and able to get a good education and successfully implement, does not solve this problem. Thanks to USE scores, he enters the budgetary education of a prestigious institute (in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk, etc.), the young man still has to live on some money. And if parents have low incomes, then they cannot help the student. Quite often, such young people do not finish their studies, since they need to earn money for a living. Thus, the growing social stratification of society gives rise to distrust of the ability to change the social conditions of life; the goal formulated in the Constitution of the Russian Federation becomes illusory, even mythical. Under these conditions, no stimulation will form a motivation for social activity. Thus, the motivation of society, which can be formed on the basis of expectation (the theory of Victor Vroom) [6], does not receive confirmation by incentives, and the type of behavior of citizens is consumer in nature, and not creative. One cannot “exploit” the expectations of citizens for a long time. The result is fairly predictable: social stress and social apathy. We emphasize once again the timely nature of the government's appeal to the solution of social problems, which was recorded in the President's Address. But the issue of the formation of social activity of citizens remains on the agenda of the near future, because at the present time, in the era of innovative development, the formation of a digital society, the main force for the development of the country is human capital.

“How does human capital affect the “wealth of nations”?

First, he creates and distributes new technologies and products. Secondly, the owners of high human capital quickly master such technologies and implement them in production and everyday life, thereby generating a demand for innovation. More educated and qualified specialists are capable of more complex work, and the latter creates more added value per unit of time than labor of a low-skilled worker. “Among the externalities of human capital, there is a higher quality of social ties, civic activism and the culture of society” the report emphasized. It was prepared for the XIX April international scientific conference on the problems of economic and social development (April 10-13, 2018, Moscow) [3, p. 7].

According to the integral index of human capital, in 2017 Russia took 16th place. Our country has high indicators, characteristic of the “industrial economy of the twentieth century” [3, p. 15], but not for the post-industrial economy, where our indicators are rather low, therefore, our country ranks 89th in the indicator of “accessibility of skilled workers”. In the speeches of experts and scientists, it was emphasized that a “breakthrough in the development” of human capital is possible only on the basis of changes in three sectors: education, healthcare and the social support system [3, p. 30]. Thus, the authors raise the question of the complex nature of the transformations, but do not conceptually develop their proposals. Again, important, necessary, useful, and fairly financially costly measures in the areas of socio-economic development “dissolve”, and their complementarity and coordination are not ensured. At the same time, the report rightly noted that the contribution of human capital to the development of the country depends not only on its quality, but also on the actions of those who use it [3, p. 7].

Thus, the need has ripened for developing a Concept and a Program for the development of the country's human capital, and coordinating and linking in the program all social projects that are currently in force and which are expected to be put into effect in the near future, coordinating them in terms of time and resources. In this case, all projects, such as incentives, would work for the formation of motivation for social activity, for life success, for the growth of human capital in our country.

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About the author

Tamara G. Grinenko, Associate Professor of the Chaire of Social Technologies of North-West Institute of Management, Branch of RANEPA (St. Petersburg, Russian Federation), PhD in Philosophy, Associate Professor

Об авторе:

Гриненко Тамара Григорьевна, доцент кафедры социальных технологий Северо-Западного института управления РАНХиГС (Санкт-Петербург, Российская Федерация), кандидат философских наук, доцент

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