World Outlook and Institutional Foundations of State Confessional Policy in Modern Russia

Abstract

The article considers the main components of the mechanism of formation and implementation of the state policy related to religious confessions: worldview-evaluative, normative-legal, institutional-organizational, functional-activity. Based on the matrix developed by the author, an assessment is made of the degree of institutionalization and effectiveness of Russian state policy in the religious sphere. The conclusion is drawn that the salient features of the state confessional policy in modern Russia are: on the one hand, the existence of basic conditions and opportunities for ensuring the sustainable development of all religions without exception to provide citizens with freedom of conscience and satisfaction of religious needs, on the other hand, the presence of ineffective tools for the implementation of state policy in this area. The administrative-managerial system for managing state-confessional relations, both at the federal and regional levels, is not well regulated. This leads to a huge variety of patterns of interaction of power structures with religious associations, the absence of a single vertical of power. There are no general federal body for religious associations, system for forecasting the state of inter-confessional relations, as well as prompt response to the growth of inter-confessional tensions.