Stoliarova A. Political competence of citizens as a component in the process of institutionalization of interest groups in Ukraine

The dissertation presents the author’s assessment of the political competence of citizens as a component in the process of institutionalization of interest groups in Ukraine. Interest groups play a crucial role in democratic political processes. Their influence cannot be overestimated both in the electoral process and in governance. Institutionalization of interest groups in Ukraine is an integral part of democratization, European and Euro-Atlantic integration, as it contributes to the expansion on the active participation of citizens in politics, competition, pluralism and critical assessment of the actions of public authorities. In the context of large-scale Russian armed aggression, groups with priority of private interests continue influencing public policy to a certain extent, and their pressure is tangible with regard to some important issues on the agenda of society and public authorities. For victory and post-war reconstruction, it is necessary to overcome the system of interaction between public authorities, interest groups and civil societies, distorted due to non-consideration of public interest, and develop effective mechanisms for identifying and implementing public interest. This issue solution in favor of the public interest in the context of democratization requires increasing the level of political competence of citizens. The issue of moulding the political competence of citizens is one of the most urgent for modern Ukraine. The result of democratic transformations depends on the level of political competence of citizens. During electoral campaigns, citizens choose a representative government, and after elections they critically evaluate and monitor its activities. Dynamic and large-scale changes, aimed at expanding the space of political freedom and pluralism of interest groups in Ukraine are impossible without competent citizens who make rational choices. It is the ability of citizens to make choices that is the core of political competence. Citizens should have political competence in critical assessment of information, identify alternatives and choose one of them taking into account both their own and public interests. The fundamental condition for rational choice of public interest in the process of institutionalization of interest groups is the political competence of a citizen. Democratic transformations require increasing the efficiency of interaction between interest groups, public authorities and citizens, and that is why one of the key tasks of democratization is to increase the political competence of citizens. This actualizes the issue of studying the role of political competence of citizens in the process of institutionalization of interest groups in Ukraine. In the introduction, the author substantiates the choice and relevance of the topic of the dissertation paper, outlines the objective, tasks, defines the object and subject of research, highlights the scientific novelty, describes the methodological basis of the work, reveals theoretical and practical significance of the results obtained, reflects the forms of approbation of research results, the number of publications and the work structure.