Informal regulation of relations between state power and religion in the USSR: research methodology

Abstract:Introduction. The article defines the subject field, methodological approaches and methods of studying informal rules and practices typical for the sphere of regulation of state-religious relations in Russia (on the example of the Soviet period of national history). Modern studies of power regimes and models of legal regulation draw much attention to the issue, noting that informal rules and practices have a significant impact on formal norms, legal regulation and law enforcement practice. Methods. The authors describe the historiographical developments reflecting the national managerial model from the perspective of informality. The authors consider the possibility of using the methodological framework of Douglass North’s neo-institutional approach and Mary Douglas’s anthropological interpretation of institutional analysis in studying the sphere of religious institutions’ management. Thus, the authors propose an innovative interdisciplinary approach to the subject under consideration. Results. As a result, the authors’ vision of the subject, directions and methods of research in this area is proposed in consideration of the specifics of current historiography and available publications reflecting the peculiarities of Soviet informal practices of managing state-religious institutional interactions. The priority of verbal, personal orders and assignments over written instructions and directives is often considered to be one of the basic characteristics of the Soviet management model. In addition, the so-called “unwritten rules”, typical for the late Soviet model of legal regulation, are largely present in the modern situation of regulation of relations between the state and religious organisations. This proves the importance of studying the Soviet space of informal rules and practices in the religious sphere.