Social Policy as a Reflection of the Essence of Social Order

The article analyzes the social policy implemented over the past thirty years in the context of the social order that emerged after the dramatic events of the autumn of 1993. The author identifies and analyzes separately three periods (the 1990s; the early 2000s – early 2010s; the 2010s). The author analyzes these periods based on the concept that the social state is not a “social security” for the most disadvantaged, but a comprehensive mechanism for the state to influence all areas that affect the well-being of citizens, the policy concerning the income of the population, financing of social sectors, development of the real sector of the economy, as well as the financial capabilities of the state. The article shows that despite the presence of a constitutional norm on a social state, formation of the latter does not occur; on the contrary, regardless of the financial capabilities of the state, one observes dismantling of previous social achievements. The phenomena observed during these periods, such as: obvious savings on the population and social sectors with the simultaneous accumulation of large-scale fundsin reserve funds; the introduction of neoliberal approaches into the social sphere (the transition to a “service state”; the transfer of social benefits (education, healthcare) in the format of “services” and the commercialization of the activities of state institutions; pushing the population into the financial market to resolve vital issues (housing, medical care, education, future pension provision, etc.) indicate that social policy did not reflect the interests of the majority of citizens, but the interests of the political and economic elite and its foreign partners and patrons. With reference to the foreign experience of the formation of social states, the article emphasizes that the conglomerate of big capital and power overcame its social egoism only when the growth of internal social tensions against the background of global challenges was perceived by them as an existential threat.