The media often talk about the use of administrative resources in election campaigns. It is always rated as something categorically negative and illegal. But what is an administrative resource, what are its signs, history, and tricks? We will tell about this phenomenon, its characteristics, application experience and types.
The concept of "administrative resource"
Before defining this concept, it is worth understanding its etymology. An administrator is one who manages, to some extent it is synonymous with the word "manager." Not in vain in management there is such a thing as an administrative resource of the manager. And this phrase has no negative semantics. It refers to the capabilities and means of a manager to achieve goals and objectives. But today, more and more often, the concept of an administrative resource is recalled when talking about politics and elections, and there the phrase takes on a negative connotation. He is mentioned in connection with various abuses of power during the elections. But in the most general form, an administrative resource is a kind of managerial ability that allows you to do something, achieve some goals using managerial leverage. It can be used for your own or public purposes, it can be abused, and then ethical and legal consequences appear. It is in the meaning of abuse of administrative resources that a negative connotation appears, which is so popular today. Specialists believe that the peculiarity of the modern understanding of this phenomenon is that it applies only to public servants who use the existing power to achieve selfish goals in the broadest sense.
History of the phenomenon
It should be noted that the administrative resource is not a Russian invention, although the term appeared in our country. In 1995, Dmitry Olshansky, who headed the Center for Strategic Analysis and Forecasts, in his speech for the first time used this phrase to indicate some additional advantage used by parties during the election campaign. The phrase was immediately picked up by journalists and today is already a familiar, steady expression. An administrative resource appeared along with a bureaucratic management system; managers always sought to use their power to achieve some goals, most often personal ones. So, all democratic countries in their history have gone through the stages of forming an election system and trying to use managerial leverage as an advantage. In addition, in the field of business, an administrative resource has been used for a long time to obtain additional profit. It is believed that in our country this phenomenon has organically grown from the Soviet command-bureaucratic management system. For 70 years, the people of the country are accustomed to the fact that the government tells them who to choose, and this continues to work, despite the emergence of democratic elections. Researchers believe that the rampant abuse of these opportunities in elections is associated with totalitarianism or similar forms of power. Developed countries have already developed election control mechanisms, so this phenomenon is quite rare there. But in countries where democracy is still young and unstable, these mechanisms do not yet exist.
Administrative resource attributes
Researchers have not yet fully decided on the characteristics and features of this phenomenon. This sometimes leads to terminological confusion. In the broadest sense, an administrative resource can be recognized by the following criteria:
- Its subjects are connected with state power at any level, they use the mechanisms and apparatus of state administration of all three branches of government to achieve certain goals.
- The subjects of the resource initially support the ideology and position of the authorities, their activity is ensured by low staff rotation in the system and long-term contracts. Government officials for a long period of work in one place are overgrown with a number of connections that are used to achieve goals. They feel a certain impunity and confidence that they will never leave the apparatus, they can only change their position if the circumstances are bad.
- The condition for the existence of an administrative resource is the hierarchical organizational structure of the organization, where the head has leverage over his subordinates, he is free to make decisions for them. In such systems, managers often do not have personal responsibility, they only fulfill the "will" of the authorities.
- Directive relations between participants in the system. Orders cannot be discussed and questioned, they can only be followed. Therefore, the presence of an administrative resource creates a certain feeling of permissiveness for the manager, professional deformation occurs over time, and it seems to the manager that he can order his subordinate to do anything.
This is just an indicative list of features of the studied concept. In practice, he has a lot of forms and options.
Types of Administrative Resource
Since the use of the capabilities of the leader is found not only in politics, but also in business, problems arise in creating a single comprehensive classification of the types of this phenomenon. Therefore, at the first stage, it is worth highlighting two main types in accordance with the scope of implementation: business or politics. Also, the administrative resource can be classified by geography of coverage. In this case, local, regional and federal or national levels are distinguished. These varieties of administrative resources are inherent in both areas: politics and entrepreneurship. It is also possible to build a classification according to the sphere of sale of the resource, i.e., according to the branch of power in which it is applied. The use of administrative resources in election campaigns can be divided into the following groups: starting, soft, hard and total application.
The starting option is manifested in the fact that the candidate official has an advantage in the eyes of the electorate due to his endowment with power. The soft appearance is manifested in an indirect effect on voters and subordinates in order to push them to the desired action. Accordingly, the hard option is the pressure or promise of reward for the corresponding action. The total appearance is characteristic of totalitarian systems, in which case subordinates simply are not given the choice of options for action. The last two options are related to the violation of moral standards and laws of a democratic society.
Researcher A. Chuklinov identifies the power, institutional, budget and information types of administrative resources. There is also experience in classifying abuses of power according to the use of different public resources. In this case, they are talking about regulatory, institutional, informational, financial, legislative and law enforcement options. All of these typologies are not comprehensive and may overlap with each other.
Administrative resource subjects
Researcher D. Paramonov presents a list of potential subjects of administrative resources. In his opinion, the election management system is only being formed in Russia, and today a lot of forces are involved in the process, each of which has its own possibilities of influencing the electorate and election commissions. According to the researcher, graduates from various party schools, leaders of the Soviet-era apparatus who were able to maintain communication and management skills, heads of certain departments of administrations of different levels, employees of sociological and research centers, professional public relations specialists and advertisers with skills are the source of administrative resources, manipulation of public opinion and consciousness. The point of view of Paramonov has the right to exist, but still it is unnecessarily complicated. The main subjects of administrative resources are people holding various positions in government.
Factors Creating the Basis for Using an Administrative Resource
The Russian tradition of using power for personal purposes has ancient roots. Some find its origins in the oprichnina of Ivan the Terrible, some say that serfdom is the reason for everything. One way or another, the administrative resource in the election process is applied based on deep social and psychological factors, these include:
- The corruption of power. Officials are used to constantly monetizing their position. Therefore, they do not have moral obstacles, if necessary, to exert pressure on the electorate or commissions.
- Elite conspiracy. There are close personal relationships between officials at various levels, and they are “out of friendship” ready to help each other achieve certain goals.
- Fear. The most important motivator for the behavior of officials is the fear of “upsetting” the bosses, which is why local authorities are trying to predict the desire of the upper classes and fulfill their will in advance.
Administrative resource in politics
Today, the use of administrative resources in elections is the most visible form of abuse of authority by officials. This does not mean that such violations occur more in this area. They are simply more resonant and concentrated in time, in addition, the opposition and some media constantly draw attention to these facts. There are many options for influencing the outcome of the elections; we list only a few of them:
- Influence on the process of forming election commissions. They are made up of people who are obviously biased by the authorities, who will help to take the necessary actions during the election procedure and vote counting.
- Influence on the election process Election commissions have the ability to manipulate the number of voters, for example, to transport military personnel or prisoners to the polling stations. The use of administrative resources in elections is often associated with the circulation of ballots with the necessary choice, with fraud with absentee ballots. Organizing an early election procedure is also a great opportunity to falsify election results.
- Impact on campaigning. During the pre-election race, officials can give special opportunities to the right candidates and build obstacles - objectionable. This may be, for example, a disproportionate distribution of advertising sites or even the removal of unsuitable candidates from elections.
- The impact on campaign finance.
- Pressure on voters. It can be diverse, from bribery to threats.
Administrative Resource Functions in Elections
There is a tradition of evaluating the role of administrative resources during election campaigns exclusively negatively. And there is an explanation for this: officials influence the outcome of the elections and make the expression of public will meaningless. The electorate, over and over again faced with the fact that his opinion does not change anything, stops going to the polls, becomes apolitical. This, in fact, is also the goal of the current government. If no one comes to the polls, then there will be no need to falsify anything. But elections cannot be held without voters, so a system of forced attendance arises. It is not surprising that State Duma deputies have repeatedly raised the issue of introducing a mandatory parish for all citizens under the threat of sanctions. But the experience of Western countries shows that administrative resources can be good for elections. It can be seen that in some European states government officials have been entrusted with the task of monitoring the transparency of elections. And this system, surprisingly, works effectively.
How to use administrative resources in business
A post can be a great source of additional income. More often, an administrative resource is a way of enrichment than an influence on political events. Officials have many opportunities to get an entrepreneur to share part of the profit or even part with it. It can be direct corruption: for any permission, businessmen are forced to give bribes. This is the monetization of the position of an official. Also, bureaucrats have the opportunity to lobby for some decisions at different levels of government in order to receive payment for their participation. Many officials help relatives and friends fight competitors, including their official resources. For example, sending various checks to a businessman, hindering development, etc.
But there are administrative resources of the project that have nothing to do with corruption. Any business should be managed, and more often than not, the principle of one-man management works in it, that is, the top manager has the right to order subordinates to take some professional steps in the name of achieving the strategic goals of the company. If in this case legal and ethical methods of influencing an employee are used, then there is nothing offensive or unpleasant for subordinates in such actions of the head. In such a situation, an administrative resource is a method of managing a project or organization. It is the responsibility of the manager to manage subordinates, taking responsibility for decisions and their consequences.
