Youth protest activity: public sentiment, ideology and public policy

This paper examines the issues of youth integration into modern Russian society, as well as the problems that young people face during this process. The relevance of the study is due to the growth of protest activity among young people, which has been observed in recent years. The author believes that young people are an active social stratum of society, which strives to expand its horizons and quickly learns new things. However, attempts by young people to integrate into modern society are fraught with a number of difficulties and problems. Often young people are faced with misunderstanding and rejection of their views and approaches, vision of the future of the country, which, of course, significantly complicates the possibility of their integration into modern Russian society. The situation is aggravated by a number of prevailing stereotypes about young people: incompetence, inexperience, lack of necessary knowledge and skills. This leads to insufficient consideration of the interests of young people, to an increase in protest activity among young people, and to an increase in the overall level of social tension in Russian society. This is evidenced by public actions and events - the protest has become part of the political agenda. The most significant protest actions of recent years are events organized by supporters of the famous public figure Alexei Navalny. The triggers for the growth of protest potential should be called uncertainty in the future, the difficult economic situation, dissatisfaction with the quality of life. The article also analyzes the youth policy implemented by the state. According to the author, it is the state youth policy that should become an effective tool for solving existing problems. However, this policy is multidirectional. This is evidenced by the permanent transformations of the structure and governing bodies of such a policy. Despite the adoption of basic documents on youth policy, including the "Fundamentals of the State Youth Policy of the Russian Federation for the period up to 2025" and Federal Law N 489-FL of December 30, 2020 "On Youth Policy in the Russian Federation", the situation has not changed dramatically. The author formulates the main problems hindering the formation of an effective state youth policy, explores the mass consciousness, as well as the contradictions between the official doctrine and the attitude of young citizens to various negative manifestations of modern life and, in particular, to corruption. The article reveals the danger that corruption poses to the authorities and society as a whole: the destabilization of the socio-political situation, the growth of discontent among young people and in Russian society as a whole. To overcome the existing problems, an integrated approach is needed, the interaction of the scientific community, authorities, as well as various social groups based on consensus.