INFLUENCE ON POLITICAL ACTIVITY AND ELECTORAL CHOICE OF KHAI STUDENTS

Abstract

The article discusses the necessity to study political PR as a sphere of public communication in the conditions of democracy development in Ukraine. The role and importance of political PR and PR technologies are increasing every year. Particularly active political PR is used in election campaigns, acting as an instrument for managing public opinion, electoral attitudes of voters and the behavior of politicians. Therefore, almost all political campaigns can rightly be called "PR", as the management of communication processes in them is central. On the basis of the results of the sociological research "Attitude of students of KhAI towards political PR and PR-technologies",  held at the National Aerospace University named after N.E. Zhukovsky "KhAI", the students’ opinion on the role and significance of PR in the modern Ukrainian society was studied. The study showed what exactly students understand as PR, as well as  their assessment of the quality of PR technologies and professionalism of "PR people" in the latest elections to the Verkhovna Rada and elections of the President of Ukraine. The analysis of the data obtained in the course of the study made it possible to obtain information about the students’ attitudes towards political PR in the modern conditions. More than half of the students surveyed (55.2%) noted that at present their attitude to political PR is negative, and only 10% is positive. Only 20% of respondents believe that the degree of professionalism of "PR people" in the last elections to the Verkhovna Rada and the president of Ukraine was high, others rated it as average and low. Therefore, 61.4% of students noted that the political PR in the last presidential and parliamentary elections did not affect their electoral choice. The main reason for this attitude to political PR and low evaluation of PR technologies is the use of "dirty" technologies in the electoral process and election campaigns. Moreover, the aggressiveness of some forms of political PR, dirty PR technologies, intimidation and populism have discouraged half of the respondents from the desire to participate in general in the presidential and parliamentary elections. But it is students who, for many political parties and socio-political movements, are the social basis, the connection which is significant and necessary. Therefore, the authors of the article tried to describe the reasons common to most countries for the emergence of "black" technologies. These may include: intensification of competition in general; a fairly low moral level of some politicians, as well as journalists, political scientists and PR specialists; there is an idea among politicians and political scientists of the exceptional effectiveness of such technologies; imperfection of legislation; relatively  low  level  of  political  culture  of  the  population.  Also, the reasons for the emergence and existence of "dirty" technologies, which are most typical for Ukraine, were analyzed, namely: political, geopolitical, national, cultural and legislative. The article considers methods of application of black PR, the negative moment of use of which is the reaction of the population. Most political technologists are inclined to think that it is the use of black PR that reduces the electoral turnout and even sometimes disrupts elections. People stop trusting politicians and this fact undermines the foundations of a democratic society. Serious work is needed to eradicate dirty technologies in the electoral process of Ukraine, to fight against black PR, not only on the part of individual politicians, but primarily on the part of the state and the public itself. Thus, the methods of combating this phenomenon at the level of society can be the following: politicians and scientists should clearly define what technologies are considered "black" or "dirty" and the use of which methods is unacceptable; improvement of the regulatory and legal framework for conducting electoral campaigns, the integration of the Ukrainian community of political technologists with the purpose of observing generally accepted moral and ethical norms; raising the  technological level of  elections and all political life, forming a critical public attitude towards black PR. To sum up, all this can weaken the influence of dirty technologies on the choice people and increase public confidence in political technologies and politics in general.