The subject of the study is the discursive strategies for implementing the concept of a social state in regional political discourse. The focus is on the relationship between the symbolic representation of social policy and its actual resource provision, which is particularly relevant for multi-ethnic regions with a high dependence on federal funding. The aim of the work is to identify and analyze the features of representing the principles of a social state in the public speeches of the Head of the Kabardino-Balkar Republic, K.V. Kokov, during his first term of office (2019–2024). The research is aimed at testing hypotheses about the dominance of social themes in rhetoric, the correspondence of declared priorities to budget expenditures, and the role of communication strategies in strengthening trust in state institutions under conditions of objective socioeconomic constraints. The methodological foundation consisted of a quantitative and qualitative content analysis of a text corpus amounting to 1.1 million characters (412 unique speeches) using the Voyant Tools instrument. To verify the rhetorical accents, a comparative analysis of the dynamics of budget expenditures on the social sphere for the same period was applied. The scientific novelty of the study lies in the empirical refutation of the thesis about the purely symbolic nature of social policy at the regional level. Contrary to widespread beliefs about the gap between rhetoric and actual government actions, in this case, a high degree of correlation between discursive practices and budgetary priorities has been documented quantitatively for the first time. Conclusions: 1) In K.V. Kokov’s public discourse, the social agenda is consistently dominant (healthcare – 285 mentions, social protection – 195, education – 189), demonstrating an evolution from situational mobilization during the pandemic to the institutionalization of a comprehensive approach. 2) The share of social expenditures in the KBR budget increased from 70% to 74%, which confirms the resource provision of rhetorical statements, despite the region's high dependence on federal transfers. 3) The legitimacy of power is established through appeals to traditional values, ethnocultural codes, and specific results, which allows for the formation of sustainable trust in institutions. The results can be used to optimize public communication models in multi-ethnic regions.
Aramisov et al. (Sun,) studied this question.