The article presents the results of factor analysis of reputation formation, allowing for the identification of a set of interrelated indicators that have a high degree of influence on the assessment of Russian power reputation as a whole (state and municipal authorities of the Russian Federation) and regional executive authority. The study is carried out on a wide empirical database – data from mass sociological surveys of the population conducted in 2021–2022 in 11 constituent entities of the Russian Federation and in 2025 – in the Smolensk region. One hidden factor was identified, which accounts for the bulk of the observed data redundancy, and a list of significant indicators of the formation of the reputation of the authorities affecting its assessment was compiled. The transition between regions is invariant for the obtained sets of indicators. The interpretation of the selected variables based on the results of research factor analysis allows us to conclude that two fundamental groups of indicators prevail: assessing the reputation of different levels and branches of power, higher authorities and officials, and meaningful characteristics of reputation, such as honesty, responsibility, justice, etc.

The article presents the results of a sociological study of the reputation of regional executive power by studying the opinion of the population of 11 Russian regions. Based on the normative approach – the list of indicators for assessing the effectiveness of the state executive power of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation in accordance with the Presidential Decree – the degree of division in public opinion of the significance of certain indicators for the formation of the power’s reputation is determined. The author reveals the fundamental unity of the reputational core of the regional executive power in such indicators as trust in the President and the head of the constituent entity of the Russian Federation, the level of poverty and the level of education, which are equally important for almost all regions. At the same time, there is a high unevenness in the degree of im-portance of reputational characteristics for one or another constituent entity of the Russian Federation, indicat-ing the regional specificity of the reputation content.

The article presents the results of the study of the reputation of the Russian power to identify the degree of strength/stability of links between the content characteristics of reputation, using the example of the opinion of residents of two subjects of the Russian Federation – the city of Moscow and the Republic of Komi. In the con-tent of the reputation core, the characteristics that are relatively stable due to their sharing by the majority, and less significant and more mobile characteristics are identified. To solve the problem of substantiating the posi-tion on the degree of stability or dynamism of reputation characteristics, the processing of respondents’ an-swers was carried out using NetworkX and Matplotlib libraries of the Python programming language. A funda-mental conclusion was obtained that there is the greatest strength and, accordingly, stability of the links be-tween the priority reputational characteristics of the Russian public power and further, in descending order, the increase in their dynamism. This conclusion also applies to the reputation of the regional executive power.

The importance of studying the reputation of authorities is connected, on the one hand, with the formation of a consolidated system of political power and, on the other hand, with the highly social orientation of the category of the 'reputation of authorities', re-flecting the value-based attitude of citizens towards them. The article presents the results of research aimed at the analysis of the reputation of Russian authorities, with a special focus on the regional branch of executive power. The paper examines the reputation of Russian authorities of different levels and branches using the example of regional exec-utive bodies. The author determines the structure and features of the reputation core of the conceptual category 'Russia's authorities' understood both as federal and municipal authorities of the Russian Federation as a whole. The article also offers a comparison of the reputation core of regional executive authorities with that of 'Russia's authorities' in general. The methods used in this research are expert assessment and population surveys conducted in six regions of Central Russia. The study has revealed the main character-istics constituting the reputation core of executive authorities and described their speci-ficity in different regions. Based on the results of the theoretical and empirical analyses, the author proposes a novel approach to defining the structure of the reputation core characteristic of the federal and regional executive authorities. The reputation core is a multi-component conceptual construct dominated by several integrating characteristics such as honesty, responsibility, justice, concern for and protection of citizens. No differ-ences in the structure of the reputation core of the federal and regional executive author-ities have been identified. However, the degree to which these characteristics manifest themselves varies. The reputation of regional authorities is assessed based on a system of values, expectations and the results of their work with the federal centre, citizens' ex-perience of communication with regional authorities and the assessment of their activity. The reputation of the regional executive authorities is characterised by lesser stability of the conceptual characteristics of the near periphery and greater dynamism of the outer conceptual boundaries, especially in specific regions.

The article presents the results of the study of the reputation of the Russian state and municipal authorities as a single category of public power. The peculiarities of the content core of the reputation, formed under the influ-ence of the factor of dichotomy “capital – province” on the example of the city of Moscow and 6 regions of the Central Federal District of Russia are determined. The prevalence of common reputational characteristics that are priorities was revealed: honesty of the authorities; care about the people, their protection; responsibility. In all regions of the CFD the priorities also include fairness, while for Moscow it is not so important. At the same time, communication, interaction with the population was included in the number of priority characteristics for the capital. The peculiarity of the province compared to the capital is the more pronounced nature of the reputa-tion core. The value component of the reputation of the Russian public authorities prevails over the pragmatic one both in the capital and in the province, while the weight of the latter is more significant in Moscow.

Значимость исследования репутации крупных институциональных политических субъектов связана, с одной стороны, со становлением единой системы публичной власти, с другой — с высокой социальной ориентацией категории репутации власти, отражающей ценностное отношение к власти граждан. Статья представляет результаты исследовательского проекта по изучению репутации российской власти. Рассматривается репутация ее уровней и ветвей на примере репутации региональной исполнительной власти. Ставится задача — определить особенности ее репутационного ядра, в том числе через сравнение с собирательной категорией «репутация российской власти», под которой понимается государственная и муниципальная власть Российской Федерации в целом. Основными стали методы социологического исследования — экспертная оценка и массовый опрос населения шести регионов Центральной России. Выявляются характеристики репутационного ядра с учетом его специфики в разных регионах. По результатам теоретического и эмпирического этапов исследования предложен авторский подход к определению структуры концептуального поля, единого для репутации российской и региональной исполнительной власти. Стержневая основа данного поля — многосоставное репутационное ядро. Определено преобладание интегрирующих признаков и характеристик в репутационном ядре российской и региональной исполнительной власти. Так, среди приоритетных репутационных характеристик как российской, так и региональной исполнительной власти выделяются честность, ответственность, справедливость, забота о народе, его защита. Установлено, что дифференцирующие признаки как таковые отсутствуют, меняется степень интенсивности проявления интегрирующих признаков для репутации региональной исполнительной власти. Ярче выражены ценностная основа отношения к власти, система ожиданий от власти, значимость личного опыта взаимодействия, восприятие власти по реальным делам. Репутацию региональной исполнительной власти отличает меньшая устойчивость характеристик ближней периферии и большая динамичность характеристик дальней и крайней периферии, особенно на уровне конкретных регионов.

The questions of classification of political metaphors are considered. This classification is necessary for the analysis of the data of sociological survey, which was conducted by the team of Smolensk University in 2022 in regions of Russia. The study of the reputational image of power (respondents' answers to the questions: "How would you draw the reputational image of Russian / regional power?") problematizes the principles of classification. The relevance of the study in working out the diagnosis of the reputational image of power. The novelty of the study is that the analysis was conducted on the basis of folk metaphorization, rather than professional political discourse, which researchers of political metaphorology and political semantics usually deal with. The empirical material for the problematization of the classification was the results of the sociological survey 2021, which included similar questions. The classification of power metaphors on the basis of major philosophical categories and structural relationships (space/time; living/artificial; human/ nature/society) is presented, as such principle allows capturing the real diversity and multidimensionality of figurative likenesses proposed by respondents. The results of the study of folk metaphorization adjust the existing classifications of power metaphors, do not fully coincide with the known classifications of metaphorical models of power, also adjust the ideas about the popularity of typical metaphorical models.

The article describes psychological features of reputational image of Russian power in general and regional executive power. We consider the possibility of using the power reputation potential as a value basis for increasing internal political unity of power and society, which helps to overcome the alienation between them, in the context of the state national security policy strategy implementation. The article presents the results residents of the Russian Federation perceptions research with the psychological dimension of power reputational image perception considering such parameters as attractiveness, power and activity, as well as analyzing the unconscious and rational elements. It is shown that Russian and regional executive power looks rather attractive (а positive reputation image), however, has its own characteristics. The Russian power in general is perceived as strong and active (the position in the international arena), passivity is noted in situations related to interaction with people (domestic policy issues). The regional executive branch is perceived as weaker, more dependent and passive. It is noted that the study of the Russian power reputation represents interest in the light of the constitutional consolidation of a unified system of public authority, which involves the coordinated action of different levels of government as a whole for the benefit of citizens.

The article is based on the data collected in the study of the Russian power reputation space. The study focused on both the Russian power in general (official state and municipal power) and the regional power including the state executive power of the region. The authors defined several levels (federal/regional/municipal) and branches (legislative/executive/judicial) of power as the coordinate system structuring the space of power; and for the regional executive power, also peculiarities of responsibilities carried by the subjects of power. The study aimed at identifying the core and periphery of the reputation space of the Russian power based on the results of the two-stage sociological study - expert assessments and mass survey. The authors argue that the reputation space of both the Russian power in general and the regional power is multi-component and formed by the reputation of different subjects of power with a high degree of mutual influence. The study revealed a significant difference in the definitions of the core of the reputation space by the population and experts. The federal power constitutes the core of the reputation space of the Russian power as structured by its levels, according to experts and public opinion. Experts believe that the executive branch constitutes the core of the reputation space as structured by its branches, while the influence of the reputation of different branches seems balanced for public opinion. The similar situation was identified in the reputation space of the regional power. The authors also identified the significant influence of the personification factor on the reputation space of both the Russian power in general and the regional authorities. This leads to a ‘shift’ of the reputational core, which becomes especially evident in public opinion on the role of the president’s reputation: every third respondent identifies it with the reputation of the entire Russian power.

The article presents the results of the research project on the reputation of the Russian power, which aimed at identifying and explaining the content of the concepts ‘Russian power reputation’ (state and municipal power) and ‘reputation of the levels and branches of the Russian power’ (on the example of the regional executive power), and at assessing their closeness in the conceptual field. The author developed and empirically tested (expert and public opinion polls were conducted in the regions of Central Russia in August - November 2021) a theoretical model of the ‘Russian power reputation’, which has not been independently studied before. The article presents the structure and content of the information field of this concept, which (with a certain degree of convention) is defined as twocored. The basic core is a semantic field of the category ‘reputation’, the substantive core includes characteristics of the concept ‘Russian power reputation’. The author identifies key characteristics constituting the basis of the substantive core or the near periphery of the basic core, and characteristics of the far and extremely far periphery. The content of the concept ‘Russian power reputation’ consists of two main blocks - institutional and activity - in their integrating characteristics (service to the people and effectiveness/efficiency of power). The institutional block characteristics prevail (especially in public opinion), which indicates the priority of the value content of reputation over the pragmatic one. Thus, a new concept is introduced into the scientific discourse - ‘Russian power reputation’, which means a complex national phenomenon of the historically determined social and political reality - it represents a value perception and relatively stable opinion of citizens about the authorities as based on certain experience of communication and estimates of their real actions which determine a sense of trust and embody the purpose of government - to serve the people - in a productive, effective way; and it reflects the system of citizens’ expectations and perceptions of a proper power (honest, responsible, fair, caring and protective).

The present paper is concerned with the everyday ‘world of laughter’. In it the communicative, spontaneous nature of everyday humor becomes most evident. The communicative method of research helps to reveal the process of a joke birth and to understand the mechanisms of its creation. Games, jokes, laughter of the contemporary citizen are fleeting and short-lived (as well as the routine of everyday life, which is usually ignored). That is why it is so important to collect facts, as they can be the basis for the revealing and conceptual interpretation of one of the most interesting and vivid forms of the language existence of the person. The study of the ‘laughing world’ of the everyday life and of its linguistic characteristics is one of the aspects of study of Russian culture. The material for the research was Moscovites’ speech. As a result of the recent overall political and socioeconomic restructuring, urban communication has significantly changed. It is characteristic of the modem Russian megapolis that contacts between strangers are established much more frequently. Among general tendencies in the change of urban communication there is the reinforcement of the dialogical nature of oral urban communication and of its individuality, and the revival of the ‘playing’ carnival element in the life of the city. Jokes and language games in everyday communication are inseparable from the situation (and often bom of it), they are communicative in their nature. A crucial factor for the realization of the ‘playing’ behavior is the orientation of the communication participants towards the ‘joking’ tone of the discourse, which is closely related to the parameters of space (inside the house/outside the house) and time (holidays/workdays). Further in the paper a variety of situation types, in which the ‘playing’ behavior of the citizens is realized in the most natural ways is realized, is considered. Special attention is paid to the market as a particular sociocultural space, the communicative peculiarities of which help the free manifestation of the ‘playing’ nature. In urban communication a number of situations emerging as reactions to various relevant events in the life of the society can be found in which ‘playing’ behaviour is realized. An example of such situations are meetings: in their communicative nature the features of folk street festivals and carnival can be observed. The liberation of the personal, ‘playing’ nature can be observed not only in the oral but also in the written form of urban communication in. An illustration is the changes of urban nominations. The communicative approach to the analysis of signboards reveals several important features distinguishing them from the nominations of the Soviet times. Among them there is the change in the nature of the role interaction between the sender (the namegiver) and addressee (the citizen), the change of the illocutionary goal of the words on signboards (from notification signs they changed into advertisement signs), as well as the change of their stylistic usage.

Резюме. Представлены результаты исследования уровня знаний населения о деятельности региональной власти как важнейшего элемента когнитивной составляющей политической культуры.Цель – определение уровня сформированности когнитивной составляющей политической культуры населения Смоленской области, в динамике 2016–2018 гг., в контексте изучения репутации региональной власти, что позволяет судить о том, формируется ли она на объективной основе или носит преимущественно поверхностный характер.Метод или методология проведения работы: основу исследования составляет социологический метод – представлены результаты анкетных опросов населения Смоленской области 2016 и 2018 гг.Результаты: в целом уровень когнитивной составляющей политической культуры населения в части знаний и информированности о деятельности региональной исполнительной власти недостаточно высок, преобладает обобщенное восприятие власти. В результате степень сформированности объективной основы репутации является недостаточной, что предопределяет потенциал формирования неадекватной репутации региональной власти вместо реальной.Область применения результатов: могут быть полезны органам власти для проведения целенаправленной государственной политики с учетом особенностей политической культуры населения, в первую очередь, в части объективного всестороннего информирования власти о своей деятельности.

Summary. The results of the study of the level of knowledge of the population about the activities of regional power as an essential element of the cognitive component of political culture are presented. Purpose is to determine the level of formation of the cognitive component of the political culture of the population of the Smolensk region, in the dynamics of 2016–2018, in the context of studying the reputation of regional regional power, which makes it possible to judge whether it is formed on an objective basis or is mainly superficial. Methodology: the basis of the study is the sociological method – the results of questionnaires of the population of Smolensk region in 2016 and 2018 are presented. Results: in general, the level of cognitive component of the political culture of the population in terms of knowledge and awareness of the activities of the regional executive power is not high enough, the generalized perception of power prevails. As a result, the degree of formation of an objective basis of reputation is insufficient, which determinates the potential to form an inadequate reputation of regional power instead of real. Practical implications: they can be useful to authorities for conducting a targeted state policy, taking into account the peculiarities of the political culture of the population, primarily in terms of objective comprehensive informing of the authorities about their activities.