The problem of choice of public policy priorities: internal and external vectors

The purpose of the present study is to determine the priorities and imperatives of state policy, both domestic and foreign, from the standpoints of various methodological approaches. Traditionally researchers used only conservative and liberal approaches, rightly pointing out that the main determinants of the external and internal course of the state are material aspects, such as territory, social and political resources, military and technological power, economic potential. The scientific novelty of the study is as follows: the author suggest that the state policy should be analyzed from the standpoint of constructivism, which provides a more complete explanation of the role of foreign policy in the system of efforts made by the state. Based on examining the phenomena of identity and collective historical memory, constructivism proves that the state policy is determined by the place which the issues of domestic and foreign policy have in the structure of public opinion, as well as by the elite's ideas about national interests, by traditions of messianism or isolationism. Self-identification of the state, premised on the opposition “we” vs. “they”, builds a system of coordinates that serves a criterion for evaluating the current state policy and the level of realization of needs. Depending on how much reality corresponds to the fixed social images, the level of satisfaction with the current state of foreign or domestic policy changes. A high rate of inconsistency encourages a transition to a more active foreign policy, transforming it towards expansion. As a result of the study, it was revealed that the priority of an internal or external vector of the state policy is determined not only by military-economic and other material factors, but also by mental constructs that define nation self-consciousness and the place it fairly takes in the structure of international relations.