The Attitude of the Population to Digital Technologies of Public and Political Participation and Interaction with the Authorities

The article examines the issues of using digital technologies in the framework of social and political participation and communication between society and the authorities, as well as the attitude of the population to these practices. The data of the authors’ sociological research, including a mass questionnaire survey of the population of the Belgorod Region (N = 500), carried out using a quota age and sex sample, are presented. Based on the analysis of empirical data, the authors conclude that at present the Russian society recognizes the practice of using digital technologies in public and political participation and communication with the authorities only at the level of conventional consent. The reason for this may be the low level of institutionalization of digital interaction, the scattered use of digital practices, and the absence of relevant rules and regulations. At the same time, digitalization, being a spontaneous and poorly controlled process, carries multiple risks and threats to Russian society. However, the implementation of active measures to legitimize and institutionalize digitalization processes faces a number of problems, from excessive bureaucracy of government instruments to opposition from the network community. The solution to this problem can be the adoption of a new or modification of the existing social contract between public authorities and digital society. This will allow us to consolidate clear frameworks and norms for the use of digital practices, determine the boundaries of what is permissible and, finally, increase the efficiency of the public administration system by unlocking the potential of digitalization. At the same time, the stochasticity and unpredictability of digitalization makes it possible to assert about future, but not manifested yet threats, while a modified social contract can become one of the ways to prevent possible risks.