Problem aspects of the state consistency of unrecognized polity in scientific research and political practice

Abstract

The presented article discusses the theoretical and methodological foundations of the category of state solvency (“state capacity”) of unrecognized polities. The specificity of the factors of state consistency on the case materials of the Pridnestrovskaia Moldavskaia Respublika, the interdependence of the internal and external conditions of the viability of the authorities in ensuring the effective functioning of the state and society are shown, characteristic delegitimizing factors in the process of the formation of the new statehood are indicated. The article shows that assessments of the level of state consistency of developing and transitional countries, based on the criteria adopted in Western political science, are usually not always adequate due to the inconsistency of the category of consistency, as well as ideology and politicization used in Western political science. Low assessments of the quality of government and the solvency of the state itself can be used to discredit and delegitimize individual political regimes. It is concluded that the common criteria of solvency should be concretized and refined in relation to the historical, political and cultural characteristics of the countries in question. When analyzing new states, neoinstitutionalism is used in the article as the main methodological approach. The use of neoinstitutionalism, along with other political theories, makes it possible to perceive and interpret new polities as a self-sufficient state entity, in terms of their integrity, their inherent characteristics, needs and development trends. In the proposed article, the authors turn to the studies of foreign and domestic scientists in the field of the theory of state consistency, the legitimation of power (political scientists, lawyers, sociologists), to research on the functioning of government institutions in modern unrecognized states. Keywords–state consistency, legitimization, institutionalization, the post-Soviet space, polity, state education