Maziy I. Government control over development of volunteer activities in Ukraine for bolstering national defense capability

This thesis work provides scientific reasoning of mechanisms for government control over development of volunteer activities in Ukraine in terms of bolstering the national defense capability, which identifies problems in organization and implementation of volunteer activities in Ukraine for the benefit of further addressing these issues by way of improving the corresponding mechanisms in this field. We have defined and characterized the organizational, legal, social and motivational mechanisms of government control over development of volunteer activities in Ukraine as regards bolstering the national defense capability, and revealed their main role aimed at ensuring further development of the volunteer movement. We have performed a systemic analysis of the legislative and regulatory framework for issues of legal regulation of volunteer activities in Ukraine, which indicates that formation of the national legal system in this field is undergoing a complicated process of harmonization with international legal and common European standards. We have also analyzed foreign experience in government control of volunteer activities in the social and security fields and established that theory and practice of volunteer activities in foreign countries enjoy a higher official status than in Ukraine. We have considered and characterized regulatory legal acts that regulate volunteer activities in the USA, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, Czech Republic, Italy, Latvia and Poland. Summarizing foreign experience, especially enrichment with ideas from various concepts (strategies, programs) and with practical experience in organizing volunteer activities provides grounds to suggest new lines and ways of developing volunteer activities in Ukraine. We have identified top-priority directions for improvement of government control over development of volunteer activities in Ukraine in terms of bolstering the national defense capability, in particular: reforming the system of national security and defense, and strengthening the role of volunteer movement in this process; improving legal regulation of volunteer activities in Ukraine with consideration of new threats to Ukraine’s national security and aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine; optimizing relationships between state authorities and institutions of civil society in the field of volunteer activities. The ways for improving government control over development of volunteer activities in Ukraine for bolstering the national defense capability include as follows: organizational, legal, social and informational. We have developed an author’s draft of the Concept for involvement of the public to development of volunteer activities in Ukraine for bolstering the national defense capability.