The Phenomenon of Bizantinism in the political culture of contemporary Russia

In this article an attempt is made to evaluate the influence of the Byzantine past on political culture of contemporary Russia. For this, a phenomenological constructivist approach is used that allows us to view political culture through routine actions, the periodic implementation of which by symbolically meaningful representatives of society (by the head of state and the head of the church) makes it possible to achieve solidarity. Within the limits of the selected methodological direction, an analytic model for the studying of political culture is created, three components of legitimation and identification processes are singled out: everyday practices, institutional stratification and plausibility constructions. They find their expression in ceremonial practices, their institutionalization and role distribution between the head of state and the head of the church, as well as in mythical representations that determine the symbolic significance of certain actions. So, to trace the evolution of cultural forms and meanings, first the Byzantine religious-political culture is studied, then the assimilation of the Byzantine tradition by Russian political culture and the further transformation of the first one are studied, and, finally, the practices of legitimization and identification by the power elite of contemporary Russia are reviewed.