STATE POLICY AS A FORM OF TARGETED STATE ACTIVITY

The article examines state policy as an organized and purposeful activity of the state, which provides for the protection of public interests, ensures the adoption of balanced and justified state decisions, and contributes to the stable development of Ukrainian society. Issues of state policy formation in the system of planning and implementation of development plans of modern society are considered. It was determined that with the transition from bureaucratic forms to innovative methods of managing the state and society, state policy acquires certain signs of publicity, due to the involvement of both state and non-state public organizations in its implementation. It has been proven that the European integration of Ukraine is accompanied by changes in state policy, which is based on European values ​​and standards for the formation of a legal, social and democratic state. Therefore, it is better to use the term «public policy», as active purposeful actions of the state based on the cooperation of state institutions, civil society institutions, as well as non-state organizations and individual citizens. It is noted that the participatory theory of democracy should become a universal principle of organizing the public policy of the Ukrainian state. Because the basis of the effective functioning of participatory democracy is a developed civil society, as well as public trust in the activities of state and public institutions, that is, citizens' confidence in the correctness of the actions of public authorities to implement the goals announced by the state. It is substantiated that modern state (public) policy, firstly, is designed to ensure public expression of will, expression of interests and needs of the population and their practical implementation at the level of power institutions; secondly, it should be based on the principles of: openness, transparency and democracy; thirdly, in the process of development and implementation of political decisions, civil society institutions should be involved in this work. The specific characteristics of state policy as an active activity are singled out, which distinguish it from a whole array of other types of policies. In further studies, it is suggested to pay attention to the normative and legal regulation of state policy.