Social transformation in Russia in the 1990s: problems and chronology of social policy formation

After the USSR collapse, the refuse of the socialist way of the development and a sharp turn towards the capitalism, expressed in radical market reforms, the Russian state, which began to copy and transfer the experience of the Western countries development to Russian realities, faced a dual task - to form an economic policy based on market principles and based on the experience of Western countries, a new social policy. Western states are not unanimous on social issues, but social policies are formed and implemented by all. There are three basic models, in which the participation of the state in the realization of social goals is outlined in different ways. However, the Russian authorities are faced not only with the problem of choosing an appropriate model, but with the problem of adapting the state’s social obligations to the consequences of market transformations. The term «transformational model of social policy» even appeared in the scientific literature, indicating the process of transition, but it was not possible to describe this term, as approaches to social transformation in different countries did not repeat each other. Moreover, the practice of market economy transition in Russia and other countries with socialist biographies has shown different reactions to universal market laws and mechanisms. The Russian scenario was very painful for the economy and social sphere. It was established that the social sphere was transformed in three stages, but none of them had a systematic and complete form. Based on this information, we came to the conclusion that in Russia in the 1990s, the social transformation laid the groundwork for social policy but it did not lead to the formation of social policy itself, which is incorrect to interpret as a certain sum of social measures, because any policy, including social policy, is usually understood as a mechanism developed by the state for regulating social relations, aimed at their harmonization.